National Social Investment Programmes in Nigeria:A Descriptive Analysis of the Socio-Economic Contributions of N-Power Programme in Benue State

This study analysed the socio-economic contributions of N-Power programme amongst the beneficiaries of the scheme in Benue State.Prior to the introduction of N-Power programme,successive administrations in Nigeria have made concerted efforts towards improving the standard of living of the citizenry through the execution of various welfare or social intervention programmes,but not much successes were recorded.Learning from the mistakes of the past regimes,and by way of deliberate state policy,the Buhari’s government initiated a multi-pronged social investment policy,one of which is the N-power programme that came onboard in 2016,which also doubles as the subject of this study.To achieve the goal of this study,a combination of desktop research and survey design was employed.Questionnaires were administered to 390 respondents through a combination of stratified and random sampling techniques.The results of the survey were matched with that of the secondary data obtained through online websites and other related sources.The result indicated that N-Power made positive contributions to the socio-economic life of the beneficiaries in Benue State:specifically,the scheme contributed in poverty eradication,employment generation,skills acquisitions and capacity building.However,some aspect of our findings revealed that the programme has a number of challenges such as:inadequate cash support,delay in monthly cash transfer to beneficiaries,distance participants had to move to their work stations,absence of posting in N-Teach scheme,and lack of adequate working tools amongst others.To salvage this problem the paper recommended the following solutions:expansion of the scheme to cover N-Teach and other aspects,increment in the monthly cash transfer to cushion the high rate of inflation,support for the participants/beneficiaries in transportation and logistics,enrolment of more youth into the various schemes,proper monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the schemes amongst others.

A novel one-time-programmable memory unit based on Schottky-type p-GaN diode

In this work,a novel one-time-programmable memory unit based on a Schottky-type p-GaN diode is proposed.During the programming process,the junction switches from a high-resistance state to a low-resistance state through Schottky junction breakdown,and the state is permanently preserved.The memory unit features a current ratio of more than 10^(3),a read voltage window of 6 V,a programming time of less than 10^(−4)s,a stability of more than 108 read cycles,and a lifetime of far more than 10 years.Besides,the fabrication of the device is fully compatible with commercial Si-based GaN process platforms,which is of great significance for the realization of low-cost read-only memory in all-GaN integration.

Pixelated non-volatile programmable photonic integrated circuits with 20-level intermediate states

Multi-level programmable photonic integrated circuits(PICs)and optical metasurfaces have gained widespread attention in many fields,such as neuromorphic photonics,opticalcommunications,and quantum information.In this paper,we propose pixelated programmable Si_(3)N_(4)PICs with record-high 20-level intermediate states at 785 nm wavelength.Such flexibility in phase or amplitude modulation is achieved by a programmable Sb_(2)S_(3)matrix,the footprint of whose elements can be as small as 1.2μm,limited only by the optical diffraction limit of anin-house developed pulsed laser writing system.We believe our work lays the foundation for laser-writing ultra-high-level(20 levels and even more)programmable photonic systems and metasurfaces based on phase change materials,which could catalyze diverse applications such as programmable neuromorphic photonics,biosensing,optical computing,photonic quantum computing,and reconfigurable metasurfaces.

Teaching Reform and Exploration of Practical Courses Based on Programmable Control

As the country continues to promote the development of intelligent manufacturing,all industries are carrying out enterprise automation upgrading,the Pearl River Delta Intelligent Manufacturing Conference held in March 2024 provides a direction guide for each enterprise on how to integrate the intelligent manufacturing technology into each link and provide direction guidance for enterprises to create new models and new business formats.College teachers,in focusing on the teaching process,should closely match the enterprise and social needs and cultivate excellent students.As the core controller of automation control,the application of programmable controllers in teaching is particularly important.In practical classes,by setting progressive difficulty,project guidance,team collaboration,and other links,students can master the automation equipment design of programmable control in repeated practice.

TV Programmes

TV Programmes, Monday,June 12,2002 (CCTV) Channel 1 18:00 TV Classroom: Computer 18 : 30 Popular Music 19 : 00 News 19 : 30 Weather Report 19:40 Today's Focus(焦点)

Antibiotic stewardship programmes in intensive care units:Why,how,and where are they leading us

Antibiotic usage and increasing antimicrobial resistance(AMR) mount significant challenges to patient safety and management of the critically ill on intensive care units(ICU). Antibiotic stewardship programmes(ASPs) aim to optimise appropriate antibiotic treatment whilst minimising antibiotic resistance. Different models of ASP in intensive care setting, include "standard" control of antibiotic prescribing such as "de-escalation strategies"through to interventional approaches utilising biomarkerguided antibiotic prescribing. A systematic review of outcomes related studies for ASPs in an ICU setting was conducted. Forty three studies were identified from MEDLINE between 1996 and 2014. Of 34 nonprotocolised studies, [1 randomised control trial(RCT), 22 observational and 11 case series], 29(85%) were positive with respect to one or more outcome: These were the key outcome of reduced antibiotic use, or ICU length of stay, antibiotic resistance, or prescribing cost burden. Limitations of non-standard antibiotic initiation triggers, patient and antibiotic selection bias or baseline demographic variance were identified. All 9 protocolised studies were RCTs, of which 8 were procalcitonin(PCT) guided antibiotic stop/start interventions. Five studies addressed antibiotic escalation, 3 de-escalation and 1 addressed both. Six studies reported positive outcomes for reduced antibiotic use, ICU length of stay or antibiotic resistance. PCT based ASPs are effective as antibiotic-stop(de-escalation) triggers, but not as an escalation trigger alone. PCT has also been effective in reducing antibiotic usage without worsening morbidity or mortality in ventilator associated pulmonary infection. No study has demonstrated survival benefit of ASP. Ongoing challenges to infectious disease management, reported by the World Health Organisation global report 2014, are high AMR to newer antibiotics, and regional knowledge gaps in AMR surveillance. Improved AMR surveillance data, identifying core aspects of successful ASPs that are transferable, and further well-conducted trials will be necessary if ASPs are to be an effective platform for delivering desired patient outcomes and safety through best antibiotic policy.

Training Teachers for Extensive Reading Programmes

It has been suggested that the success of an ER project can largely rely on several elements,such as the selection of appropriate materials,establishment of management system,workshop for training teachers. Among those,teachers play an indispensable role due to the fact that it is the teachers who are capable of turning conceptions into actions,who get students engaged and bridge and gap between the goals of the programme and the reality in classroom. This paper is an attempt to outline a detailed picture to demonstrate how to offer effective training courses which can enable teachers to play"multiple roles"to make great contribution to the development of an ER project.

Development of the Life Gatekeeper suicide prevention training programme in China:a Delphi study

Background Youth suicide has been a pressing public mental health concern in China,yet there is a lack of gatekeeper intervention programmes developed locally to prevent suicide among Chinese adolescents.Aims The current Delphi study was the first step in the systematic development of the Life Gatekeeper programme,the first gatekeeper programme to be developed locally in China that aims to equip teachers and parents with the knowledge,skills and ability to identify and intervene with students at high risk of suicide.Methods The Delphi method was used to elicit a consensus of experts who were invited to evaluate the importance of training content,the feasibility of the training delivery method,the possibility of achieving the training goals and,finally,the appropriateness of the training materials.Two Delphi rounds were conducted among local experts with diversified professional backgrounds in suicide research and practice.Statements were accepted for inclusion in the adjusted training programme if they were endorsed by at least 80%of the panel.Results Consensus was achieved on 201 out of 207 statements for inclusion into the adapted guidelines for the gatekeeper programme,with 151 from the original questionnaire and 50 generated from comments of the panel members.These endorsed statements were synthesised to develop the content of the Life Gatekeeper training programme.Conclusions This Delphi study provided an evidence base for developing the first gatekeeper training programme systematically and locally in China.We hope that the current study can pave the way for more evidence-based suicide prevention programmes in China.Further study is warranted to evaluate the effectiveness of the Life Gatekeeper training programme.

Low-loss chip-scale programmable silicon photonic processor

Chip-scale programmable optical signal processors are often used to flexibly manipulate the optical signals for satisfying the demands in various applications,such as lidar,radar,and artificial intelligence.Silicon photonics has unique advantages of ultra-high integration density as well as CMOS compatibility,and thus makes it possible to develop large-scale programmable optical signal processors.The challenge is the high silicon waveguides propagation losses and the high calibration complexity for all tuning elements due to the random phase errors.In this paper,we propose and demonstrate a programmable silicon photonic processor for the first time by introducing low-loss multimode photonic waveguide spirals and low-random-phase-error Mach-Zehnder switches.The present chip-scale programmable silicon photonic processor comprises a 1×4 variable power splitter based on cascaded Mach-Zehnder couplers(MZCs),four Ge/Si photodetectors,four channels of thermally-tunable optical delaylines.Each channel consists of a continuously-tuning phase shifter based on a waveguide spiral with a micro-heater and a digitally-tuning delayline realized with cascaded waveguide-spiral delaylines and MZSs for 5.68 ps time-delay step.Particularly,these waveguide spirals used here are designed to be as wide as 2μm,enabling an ultralow propagation loss of 0.28 dB/cm.Meanwhile,these MZCs and MZSs are designed with 2-μm-wide arm waveguides,and thus the random phase errors in the MZC/MZS arms are negligible,in which case the calibration for these MZSs/MZCs becomes easy and furthermore the power consumption for compensating the phase errors can be reduced greatly.Finally,this programmable silicon photonic processor is demonstrated successfully to verify a number of distinctively different functionalities,including tunable time-delay,microwave photonic beamforming,arbitrary optical signal filtering,and arbitrary waveform generation.

Evaluation of BSc Radiologic Sciences and Medical Imaging Technology Programmes in Sudanese Universities from Students’ Perspective

This study sets the objective to involve undergraduate students in the evaluation of radiologic sciences and medical imaging technology programmes in Sudanese universities. Based on the analysis of survey results in which the participants (BSc students undertaking radiologic sciences and medical imaging technology programmes at university level) are asked to answer both closed and open-ended questions, the study seeks to reveal the participants’ perceptions and introspections about the radiologic sciences and medical imaging technology programmes in Sudan. It also attempts to explore the participants’ suggestions and recommendations as to enhance the quality of these programmes with an eye to helping syllabus designers to improve these programmes, thereby bettering healthcare services for the larger good to the community. A brief cross-sectional survey is completed by a total of 105 radiologic sciences and medical imaging technology students, i.e. 39 (37.1%) third-year students and 66 (62.9%) fourth-year students. The majority of participants is satisfied with the programmes, indicating that they are up-to-date and ran abreast with the latest developments in the field. Very few suggest that the programmes should be reviewed for revision, implying that there is room for improvement. Some participants recommend that more training hours in modern imaging modalities (e.g. MRI, CT and U/S) should be introduced. Only one participant recommends the introduction of advanced training centres.

Forests Policies and Programmes in India: Implications for Climate Change Adaptation

Climate change is a major global environmental and developmental challenge and climate proofing of vulnerable sectors, programmes, natural systems and communities by integrating adaptation and mitigation options into planning process are increasingly becoming an integral part of development. The basic premises on which this could happen are the national and sectoral policies that govern any programmes and actions implemented on ground. This study reviews existing policies, plans and programmes and their implications for climate change. Based on the analyses, key areas of research, policy initiatives and institutional and capacity development needs have been identified, to facilitate climate change adaptation. The forest policies formulated so far in India have been broadly aimed at conservation, reduction of pressure on forests and provisioning of biomass to the large forest dependent population for their fuel and fodder needs apart from generating revenue through production and sale of timber. However, these have not been formulated with climate change as a consideration and therefore may become less effective as climate change and its impacts become increasingly evident. The study clearly identifies that the current policies and programmes have elements/features and activities that directly or indirectly contribute positively towards adaptation, although the primary implications are towards biodiversity and to some extent ecosystem functioning. It finally highlights the need for incorporating climate change concerns in forest sector development programmes and also to address the issue of climate change.

Exhibition Programmes in Beijing CCPIT 2002

The 28th China Fur & Leather Products FairDATE: 16-19Jan2002 FREQUENCY: Annual FOUNDED YEAR: 1975 APPLICATION DEADLINE:

Stakeholders’ Participation in Agricultural Farmers’ Extension Services Programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Case of the Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) Programme in Uganda

The paper presents findings from a study carried out to assess the contribution of stakeholders’participation on the performance of the national agricultural farmers’extension services programme in Uganda known as Operation Wealth Creation(OWEC).Specifically,the study sought to establish how participatory planning,budgeting,monitoring and evaluation(M&E)respectively contributed to the performance of OWC in selected district in central Uganda.The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design using both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis techniques and employed both questionnaires and interview guides on key participants in the programme.Findings of the study indicated positive relationships between stakeholders’participation and programme performance with participatory planning,budgeting and M&E all having positive significant effects on the performance of OWC programme.The study concluded that indeed stakeholders’participation contributed to improved performance of the OWC programme.The study recommends increased funding and M&E of the agricultural extension programmes for improved performance.

Programmable Logic Controller Block Monitoring System for Memory Attack Defense in Industrial Control Systems

Cyberattacks targeting industrial control systems(ICS)are becoming more sophisticated and advanced than in the past.A programmable logic controller(PLC),a core component of ICS,controls and monitors sensors and actuators in the field.However,PLC has memory attack threats such as program injection and manipulation,which has long been a major target for attackers,and it is important to detect these attacks for ICS security.To detect PLC memory attacks,a security system is required to acquire and monitor PLC memory directly.In addition,the performance impact of the security system on the PLC makes it difficult to apply to the ICS.To address these challenges,this paper proposes a system to detect PLC memory attacks by continuously acquiring and monitoring PLC memory.The proposed system detects PLC memory attacks by acquiring the program blocks and block information directly from the same layer as the PLC and then comparing them in bytes with previous data.Experiments with Siemens S7-300 and S7-400 PLC were conducted to evaluate the PLC memory detection performance and performance impact on PLC.The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system detects all malicious organization block(OB)injection and data block(DB)manipulation,and the increment of PLC cycle time,the impact on PLC performance,was less than 1 ms.The proposed system detects PLC memory attacks with a simpler detection method than earlier studies.Furthermore,the proposed system can be applied to ICS with a small performance impact on PLC.

Sustainable Learning of Computer Programming Languages Using Mind Mapping

In the current era of information technology,students need to learn modern programming languages efficiently.The art of teaching/learning program-ming requires many logical and conceptual skills.So it’s a challenging task for the instructors/learners to teach/learn these programming languages effectively and efficiently.Mind mapping is a useful visual tool for establishing ideas and connecting them to solve problems.This research proposed an effective way to teach programming languages through visual tools.This experimental study uses a mind mapping tool to teach two programming environments:Text-based Programming and Blocks-based Programming.We performed the experiments with one hundred and sixty undergraduate students of two public sector universities in the Asia Pacific region.Four different instructional approaches,including block-based language(BBL),text-based languages(TBL),mind map with text-based language(MMTBL)and mind mapping with block-based(MMBBL)are used for this purpose.The results show that instructional approaches using a mind mapping tool to help students solve given tasks in their critical thinking are more effective than other instructional techniques.

High-Bandwidth,Low-Power CMOS Transistor Based CAB for Field Programmable Analog Array

This article presents an integrated current mode configurable analog block(CAB)system for field-programmable analog array(FPAA).The proposed architecture is based on the complementary metal-oxide semiconductor(CMOS)transistor level design where MOSFET transistors operating in the saturation region are adopted.The proposed CAB architecture is designed to implement six of thewidely used current mode operations in analog processing systems:addition,subtraction,integration,multiplication,division,and pass operation.The functionality of the proposed CAB is demonstrated through these six operations,where each operation is chosen based on the user’s selection in the CAB interface system.The architecture of the CAB system proposes an optimized way of designing and integrating only three functional cells with the interface circuitry to achieve the six operations.Furthermore,optimized programming and digital tuning circuitry are implemented in the architecture to control and interface with the functional cells.Moreover,these designed programming and tuning circuitries play an essential role in optimizing the performance of the proposed design.Simulation of the proposed CMOS Transistor Based CAB system is carried out using Tanner EDA Tools in 0.35μm standard CMOS technology.The design uses a±1.5 V power supply and results in maximum 3 dB bandwidth of 34.9 MHz and an approximate size of 0.0537 mm2.This demonstrates the advantages of the design over the current state-of-the-art designs presented for comparison in this article.Consequently,the proposed design has a clear aspect of simplicity,low power consumption,and high bandwidth operation,which makes it a suitable candidate for mobile telecommunications applications.

NewBee: Context-Free Grammar (CFG) of a New Programming Language for Novice Programmers

Learning programming and using programming languages are the essential aspects of computer science education.Students use programming languages to write their programs.These computer programs(students or practitioners written)make computers artificially intelligent and perform the tasks needed by the users.Without these programs,the computer may be visioned as a pointless machine.As the premise of writing programs is situated with specific programming languages,enormous efforts have been made to develop and create programming languages.However,each program-ming language is domain-specific and has its nuances,syntax and seman-tics,with specific pros and cons.These language-specific details,including syntax and semantics,are significant hurdles for novice programmers.Also,the instructors of introductory programming courses find these language specificities as the biggest hurdle in students learning,where more focus is on syntax than logic development and actual implementation of the program.Considering the conceptual difficulty of programming languages and novice students’struggles with the language syntax,this paper describes the design and development of a Context-Free Grammar(CFG)of a programming language for the novice,newcomers and students who do not have computer science as their major.Due to its syntax proximity to daily conversations,this paper hypothesizes that this language will be easy to use and understand by novice programmers.This paper systematically designed the language by identifying themes from various existing programming languages(e.g.,C,Python).Additionally,this paper surveyed computer science experts from industry and academia,where experts self-reported their satisfaction with the newly designed language.The results indicate that 93%of the experts reported satisfaction with the NewBee for novice,newcomer and non-Computer Sci-ence(CS)major students.

Jointly Promoting Human Rights Development and Firmly Rejecting Hegemonic Acts—Commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action

China is an advocate and practitioner of the spirit of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action,and actively participates in and contributes to global human rights governance.Over the past 30 years,China has continuously promoted the implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action in China and globally,leading to historic achievements in China’s human rights endeavors.

Beijing Peaceland Foundation Holds Technical Exchanges and Training Programme of Rescue and Disaster Relief in Tanzania

From November 4th to 12th,2023,the Beijing Peaceland Foundation organised a technical exchanges and training Programme of rescue and disaster relief in Tanzania.The training included first aid,fire prevention,rescues in water areas and mountainous regions,drone application,etc.