Salem Journal of Science, Information & Communication Technology

Analysis of transfer ration of radionuclides concentration of Water to Fish (Bonga Shad) and Sediments to Fish (Bonga Shad) samples of the Coastal communities of Okrika, in Rivers State, which lies between latitude: 40.43'44" N and 40.45'57" N and ranged from longitude: 70.3'20" E to 70.6'42" E. Nigeria using gamma spectroscopy method with NaI (TI) detector. The transfer factor of radionuclides from for Sediments to Fish, ranged from 1.28 - 21.57 with a mean value of 8.35± 6.61, 0.19 to 5.74 with a mean value of 2.37 ± 2.60 and 1.49 -5.74 with a mean value of 2.82 ±1.29 for 40K, 238U and 232Th respectively, and the magnitude of the transfer factor is of the order 40K > 238U > 232Th. The Transfer factor of radionuclides from the Water to Fish ranged from 0.77 to 3.79 with a mean of 3.79 ± 2.05, 0.26 to 47.73 with a mean 6.58 ±15.52 and 0.94 – 3.43 with a mean value of 2.02 ± 0.90 for 40K, 238U and 232Th respectively, and the magnitude of the transfer factor is of the order 238U > 40K > 232Th. These results obtained are all higher than the stipulated reference point of 1.0 which indicates that bioaccumulation of radionuclides exist in the Fish (Bonga Shad) samples from the intake of radionuclides from water and sediments of the Coastal communities of Okrika. 

Dual contraceptive use is a critical approach to preventing unintended pregnancies and reducing the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Despite their significance, knowledge, and utilisation of dual contraceptive methods among women living with HIV in Oyo State, Nigeria. This study examined the extent of awareness regarding dual contraceptive utilisation among sexually active women with HIV in Oyo State. The study applied a descriptive research design and employed a structured questionnaire to gather data from respondents receiving treatment at specific health facilities delivering ART services in Oyo State. Participants were selected through systematic random sampling at three health facilities: Adeoyo Maternity Health Centre, Lad Medical Centre, and St. Anne's Hospital. Descriptive statistics with the aid of IBM SPSS Software application were employed to evaluate the respondents' comprehension of the advantages and functions of dual contraceptive methods. The study's results indicated that respondents' levels of knowledge were inconsistent. Although a significant number of participants were aware that dual contraceptive methods can prevent HIV transmission to sexual partners and reduce the risk of other sexually transmitted infections, their understanding of other aspects of dual protection was restricted. The suggestion that women living with HIV should combine condom use with other modern contraceptive methods was met with significant disapproval by a substantial number of respondents. The study concludes that sexually active women living with HIV in Oyo State are aware of some of the benefits of dual contraceptive use; however, comprehensive knowledge is still lacking.

Now a day’s there is an increasing recognition that freshwater is a valuable resource due to overexploitation and pollution. Wastewater discharge contains several harmful substances or chemicals, which may cause adverse environmental impacts such as changes in aquatic habitats, species composition, and a decrease in biodiversity (Li, et al., 2024). All of these impacts lead to a less valuable environment, a less prosperous economy, and ultimately, a diminished quality of life. Recent studies have highlighted the complex interactions between multiple pollutants in sewage and their synergistic negative effects on freshwater ecosystems (Patel & Sharma, 2023). Furthermore, the impact of emerging contaminants, such as microplastics present in wastewater, on freshwater biodiversity is a growing area of concern (Khan & Ahmed, 2025). Several substances are present in sewage, which can potentially impact seafood, plant and animal communities in different ways.  Common pathogens such as Vibrio spp., Salmonella, Shigella, Listeria monocytogenes, and Aeromonas spp. Are frequently Associated with seafood-related illnesses, particularly when products are consumed raw or Undercooked, or harvested from contaminated waters. The risk is exacerbated in environments with inadequate sanitation, improper handling, or cross-contamination during processing and Distribution.The presence of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) strains further complicates treatment and control Efforts, making routine surveillance, stringent hygiene practices, and public education essential. This article therefore advocates for preventative strategies—such as monitoring harvest waters, enforcing seafood safety regulations. It also recommends that proper cooking is critical to reducing the incidence of foodborne infections and that continued Research and a One Health approach are needed to manage the evolving risks of bacterial Pathogens in seafood and safeguard public health.

Supercapacitors have emerged as promising energy storage devices owing to their high-power density, rapid charge-discharge capability, and long operational lifespan. However, optimizing their design and operating conditions remains a complex task due to the presence of multiple conflicting objectives, including energy density, power density, cost efficiency, and cycle life. This study proposes an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven multi-objective optimization framework that integrates evolutionary algorithms such as Genetic Algorithms (GA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), and the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) with neural network-based surrogate modeling. The surrogate model is trained to approximate the nonlinear relationships between design parameters and performance metrics, thereby reducing computational and experimental burden during optimization. NSGA-II is employed to generate Pareto-optimal solutions that capture the trade-offs among competing objectives, enabling informed decision-making in material selection and structural configuration. The results demonstrate that the proposed AI-based framework significantly accelerates the design process, minimizes experimental costs, and enhances the efficiency of supercapacitor performance optimization. This approach provides a robust, scalable, and data-driven methodology for advanced energy storage system development.

This study evaluates Public Relations Strategies for Conflict Resolution in Nigerian Universities using a Case Study of Rivers State University. The objectives included identifying the specific public relations strategies employed by the university in addressing conflicts such as student fee protests, staff union disputes, and community-related tensions, and assessing their effectiveness in preventing, managing, and resolving conflicts among stakeholders. The research was anchored on three theoretical frameworks: the Excellence Theory of Public Relations, the Conflict Transformation Theory, and the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT). A mixed-method survey research design was adopted, combining quantitative and qualitative approaches for a comprehensive analysis. The total population of 30,462 comprised 12 Public Relations staff members, 2,450 academic and non-academic staff, and 28,000 students. Using Taro Yamane’s formula, a sample size of 350 respondents was determined. Data were collected through structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, validated by experts and tested for reliability. Quantitative data were analyzed using simple percentages and Weighted Mean Scores (WMS), while qualitative data were analyzed thematically. Findings revealed that Rivers State University employs a combination of dialogue, stakeholder meetings, community engagement, and internal communication channels to manage and resolve conflicts among students, staff, and external stakeholders. Public relations strategies such as timely communication, dialogue facilitation, and participatory decision-making were found effective in preventing and managing conflicts. The university has also introduced innovative PR initiatives such as stakeholder forums, participatory dialogue series, and trust-building workshops that foster mutual respect and institutional harmony. The study concluded that public relations play a vital role in fostering peace, understanding, and cooperation within the university community. It emphasized that effective PR practices have contributed significantly to building trust, promoting transparency, and preventing conflict escalation. It further suggested the enhancement of participatory communication, increased funding and autonomy for the PR department, and continuous capacity-building programmes for PR officers to strengthen conflict management effectiveness.

Further development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and, especially, in such complex systems as Deep Learning (DL) and Large Language Models (LLM) resulted in their widespread application to the essential fields of human activity, such as healthcare, finance, and education. Non-linear, complex designs of these high-performance models, however, make them black boxes that are hard to understand, and their inner workings and decision-making are hard to interpret. This has brought up a high concern on the issue of trust, accountability, and ethical governance. This paper evaluates how the Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) can alleviate this issue by rendering black-box models more transparent, understandable and interpretable to end-users and stakeholders. XAI solves the problem of interpreting complex algorithms and making them human friendly by offering ways of describing the processing of input data and decision formation. The significance of XAI is supported by the necessity to comply with the regulation, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that requires accountability of the automated decision-making, as well as the requirement to be fair, to detect and reduce biases hidden in the models. The three primary approaches of XAI methods are; Model-Agnostic Post-Hoc Interpreters (MAPHI): Techniques that are used after a model is trained, such as LIME and SHAP, that explain a prediction locally or globally; Intrinsically Interpretable Models (IIMs): Models that are inherently interpretable, such as decision trees though they can be less predictive power than LLMs; Overarching Frameworks and Auditing (OFA): Governance frameworks such as Responsible AI (RAI) that enact principles like Fairness, The problems of XAI, including the inherent trade-off between model accuracy and interpretability and the threat of explanation hacking are also addressed. To solve these problems, models such as OpenXAI are being studied to standardize the technical critique of the methods of explanation in terms of such important measures as faithfulness, stability, and fairness. Finally, XAI is not merely a technical requirement but an ethical foundation of successful AI implementation, as it is necessary to make the systems more human-centred and transparent, to allow building more trust and to enable the responsible AI development.

Invasive flora species (IFS) pose a significant threat to wetland biodiversity and the ecosystem services upon which local communities depend. This study investigated the ecological effects of invasive flora in the marshlands of Ikeduru, Imo State, Nigeria. The research mapped the spatial distribution of dominant invasive species, assessed their perceived impact on livelihood-critical ecosystem services, analyzed statistical relationships between invasive coverage and native biodiversity and soil/water quality, and developed a community-inclusive management framework. Data were collected via systematic field surveys using quadrats and transects, GPS mapping, laboratory analysis of soil and water samples, and a structured EEIFSESMI instrument administered to 396 households across 12 randomly selected communities. Results indicated a high prevalence of Nymphaea lotus (White Lotus) and Pistia stratiotes (Water Lettuce), with distinct aggregation patterns along disturbed edges. A significant negative correlation was found between invasive species coverage and native plant diversity indices (Shannon-Weiner, p

The sustenance of the global economy hinges on the ability of developing nations to maintain the stability of the banking systems in their countries. There are globally accepted Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) and planning systems, but in Nigeria, the effectiveness of such systems is greatly reduced in the light of the peculiar convergence of severe localized risks and systemic weaknesses. The present contribution, then, is the result of a systematic review involving ten selected journals and a strategic gap analysis, to develop a customized BCDR for the Nigerian Financial Services Sector. The review found the following three most important gaps: (1) Lack of specificity to the cyber (fraud) architecture in the sub-region which is particularly susceptible to financial fraud interdiction and advanced social-engineering scams. (2) Lack of coherent models for recovery with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and reputational losses, regulatory compliance, and other model recoveries interwoven. (3) A strong need to localize the metrics, such as Customer Accessibility, Recovery Time Objective, and other indicators of success, which are global to infrastructure realities (e.g., grid instability, fiber vulnerability). The suggested Strategic Roadmap is built on three focused pillars (Secure, Adapt, and Measure), aiming at assisting financial entities to obtain a resilience framework that incorporates technology with sustainability. The framework focuses on delivering more than just uptime; it aims to provide uninterrupted customer access, regulatory provision, and operational trust. It will facilitate advanced work on resilience computational models with multiple recovery levels, predictive risk models, and other AI-based perturbation models meant for developing economies.

The adoption of ICT tools for examination is seen as the use of Computer Based Testing (CBT) system, electronic examination platforms, biometric verification or remote proctoring system for the purpose of examining effectively and efficiently, aimed toward cubing examination malpractice and enhancing data management. But in Nigeria, just like some other developing countries, the adoption of new technologies comes with different challenges despite its numerous proposed benefits. This research aims to look at the absolute preparedness of the rural communities in the south-south south area of Nigeria towards the adoption of this technology for examining student living in those areas. Quantitative data analyses research methodology was explored to analyze data gotten from questionnaire and interviews. And visualization was done employing the very rich and vivid features of Microsoft Power BI. The results show from the students perspective that 75% respondent do not think they are ready for the process because 20% out of this group have not seen while 51% have only seen these ICT tools from a distance but have never touched or used them, 22% have seen and touched but not very acquainted to be able to use it for theory examination and the remaining percentage that prove to be familiar with it can only boast on their familiarity based on the usage of android phones and not computers itself. From the staff perspective, the facilities are available in schools but lack of power supply and teachers to teach those subjects and do practical are scarcely available therefore, the computers are kept without being used and over the time their efficiency is reduced.

This study aims at evaluating work-life balance in modern organization by examining the role of the internet in Niger Delta Development Commission. To achieve this, the study raised four objectives which were to; find out the extent to which internet used for work in Niger Delta Development Commission; determine how often members of staff of NDDC use the Internet to reach their work-life balance; ascertain the influence of work-life balance on job satisfaction of employees in NDDC. This study was anchored on three theories; Technological Determinism theory and Border, Boundary theory and Ecological System Theory. The study adopted the survey research design with questionnaire and interview guide as data gathering instruments. The population of the study comprised all the staffs of NDDC headquarter. Therefore, the total population of the study of this study is 879, and Taro Yamane sample size determination was used to arrive at the sample size of 275. Data obtained from the instrument were analyzed using Weighted Mean Score (four point Likert scale). The finding of this study showed that the internet is often used for work in the NDDC. The findings of this study showed that the staff of NDDC constantly use the interment to reach work-life balance. Based on the strength of the finding, the study concluded that the internet is often used for work in the NDC. The study also concluded that the staff of NDDC constantly use the interment to reach work-life balance. The study recommended that organizations should ensure that they equip their offices with modern equipment especially internet facilities so as to enable their workers achieve work-life balance. The study also recommended that organizations and the NDDC in particular should always provide free Wifi for their workers to ease the burden of work on then.

Infertility affects millions of couples globally, with in vitro fertilization (IVF) emerging as a common assisted reproductive technology (ART). Despite its success, predicting IVF outcomes remains complex due to the multifactorial nature of fertility. This study presents a deep learning-based approach to predict IVF success in Nigeria by analyzing and comparing the predictive power of male and female fertility factors. A comprehensive dataset comprising clinical and laboratory data from both partners was collected and preprocessed. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) were employed to develop models trained on male-only, female-only, and combined datasets. Evaluation metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and AUC-ROC were used to assess performance. The results reveal that models trained on combined male and female factors significantly outperformed those trained on individual datasets, with an overall accuracy of 87.3% and an AUC of 0.91. Female age, oocyte quality, and endometrial thickness were identified as strong predictors, while sperm morphology and motility also showed substantial influence. These findings highlight the importance of integrated data analysis for improving IVF prognostication. This research underscores the potential of AI-driven decision support systems in enhancing clinical strategies and personalized treatment planning for infertile couples.

Creation of Green Cities involves designing well ventilated houses, apartment blocks and buildings that welcome natural lighting and consume less electric power. Designing green cities is not at all difficult. By so doing you will be creating sustainable environment. This paper examines the current state of green cities and strategies to increase green cities. Data for the study were derived from primary and secondary sources. The poor quality of Nigerian urban environment has been attributed partly to the inadequate, misuse and mismanagement of urban open spaces. It exerts major strain on the physical outlook on the nation's cityscape and a negative effect on the welfare and productivity of the residents. The green cities have an important multifunctional role in improving the living environment: pollution control; water conservation; soil erosion control; diminishing bacterial impact on man and animals by purifying the atmosphere; mitigating urban climate; and improving the quality of urban living through the psychological and sanogenic effect. Green cities require a multidisciplinary and collective approach for it to succeed. Many agencies and ministries must come together to create green cities. On a large scale all the Nigerian people need to be mobilized to adopt life styles that promote sustainable cities development.

A study was conducted of radionuclides concentration and radiological hazards in Fish (Bonga Shad) samples between latitude: 40.43'44" N and 40.45'57" N and longitude range of of 70.3'20" E to 70.6'42" E of the Coastal communities of Okrika, in Rivers State, Nigeria using gamma spectroscopy method with NaI (TI) detector. The average activity concentration of radionuclides of ranged from 104.88 to 1271.04 with a mean value of 551.47±336.50 Bq/Kg, varied from 1.04 to 49.35 with a mean value of 13.67±14.47 Bq/Kg and ranged from 4.47 to 16.62 with a mean value of 8.81±3.32 Bq/Kg in terms of 40K, 238U, and 232Th respectively. The Radium equivalent (Raeq) ranged from 30.05 to 170.99 with a mean value of 68.73Bq/Kg which is lesser than the recommended limit of 370 Bq/Kg. The Total effective dose ranged from 22.49 to 106.49 with a mean value of 38.58±27.54 𝝁𝑺𝒗/𝒚, which is below the safe limit of 70𝝁𝑺𝒗/𝒚 (UNSCEAR) and far lesser than the recommended limit of 1mSv/y(ICRP). The Internal Hazard index (Hin) ranged from 0.11 to 0.60 with a mean value of 0.22±0.16 which is below the safe limit of 1.0 (UNSCEAR). These values implies that the exposure or ingestion of Fish (Bonga Shad) samples of coastal communities of Okrika pose no radiological risks.