An electrically-operated California Bearing Ratio (CBR) machine was designed, fabricated with locally-sourced materials, calibrated and tested with the aim of providing high precision machine obtainable at lower cost. Materials were selected based on the ability to withstand mechanical loads, stiffness and dimensional stability, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, machinability and cost-effectiveness. The major component parts were designed using standard equations. For material components such as the loading frame, CBR moulds and reaction rings, mild steel was used, hardened medium carbon steel was used for the plunger, while high-grade spring steel was used for the load-measuring components for high elastic recovery. Calibration result gave proving ring constant as 0.02 kN/div. CBR test results on soil samples under unsoaked conditions gave CBR values ranging from 4.85 – 6.91 %, indicating poor to fair soils requiring stabilization or treatment for subgrade material. For soil tested under soaked conditions, the lowest CBR value of 0.82% showed poor subgrade soil that requires substantial stabilization, while the sample with the highest CBR value of 3.15% requires significant improvement. Statistical analysis of data using Minitab software version 2018 applied Fisher Pairwise tests for differences of means at 95% level of significance, which showed that soaked 2.5mm and unsoaked 5mm samples with P = 0.007 and soaked 5mm and unsoaked 5mm with P = 0.14 are significantly different for the top, and soaked 2.5mm and unsoaked 5mm having P = 0.028, are significantly different for the bottom. CBR values for all other top and bottom samples are not significantly different.

Background: Extra-short dental implants have emerged as a reliable option for rehabilitating posterior areas with limited vertical bone availability. However, clinical evidence regarding their use as single-unit restorations under immediate loading protocols in the mandibular first molar region remains scarce. Purpose: To evaluate implant survival, marginal bone loss, and biological and prosthetic complications associated with single extra-short implants (5.5 and 6.5 mm) immediately loaded in the mandibular first molar position. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted including 19 patients rehabilitated with 19 extra-short implants placed in the mandibular first molar region between June 2019 and June 2023. All implants were restored with single screw-retained crowns on a unitary transepithelial abutment and immediately loaded within 24 hours. Implant survival and marginal crestal bone loss were assessed radiographically. The mean follow-up period was 38.6 ± 10.5 months. Results: No implant or prosthetic failures were recorded during the follow-up period, resulting in a cumulative survival rate of 100%. Mean marginal bone loss was 0.36 ± 0.13 mm mesially and 0.60 ± 0.16 mm distally. No clinically relevant biological complications were observed. Conclusions: Within the limitations of this retrospective study, immediately loaded single extra-short implants placed in the mandibular first molar region demonstrated favorable clinical outcomes. Careful case selection, conservative surgical protocols, and standardized prosthetic design appear to be key factors for achieving predictable results in this demanding clinical scenario.

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is fundamentally reshaping the legal profession, presenting both unprecedented opportunities for efficiency and innovation, and profound ethical and professional challenges. This article argues that the imperative for robust AI ethics must be conscientiously integrated into legal education, particularly within vocational institutions like the Nigerian Law School (NLS). Drawing on an analysis of AI’s role, history, and defining characteristics, the article identifies critical ethical sustainability challenges, including algorithmic bias, data privacy breaches, challenges to academic integrity (such as plagiarism and unauthorized content generation), and the critical issue of accountability for AI-generated legal errors. The article proposes that legal education must shift its focus from preventing AI use to teaching responsible, ethical use, equipping future practitioners with the requisite technical literacy, critical thinking, and human judgment necessary to mitigate risks and uphold core professional duties, such as competence, integrity, and the duty not to mislead the court. Ultimately, fostering a culture of ethical and responsible AI engagement is essential to ensure the long-term viability and integrity of the legal profession in the digital age.

Digital health change has now become a strategic priority in the world health care system, but it has been indicated that investing in technology does not guarantee a better outcome in healthcare. Efforts that are made at the organisational and managerial levels are critical determinants of whether the digital health initiatives will deliver anything significant. The purpose of this research was to investigate how a change management affects the work of digital healthcare on the example of a knowledge transfer mediator, and the evidence accessible and applicable in large healthcare systems, i. e. Saudi Arabia was considered. A qualitative systematic review approach was chosen with the help of the Preferred Reporting Items Systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) framework. The systematic search through five academic databases revealed 200 records out of which 20 qualitative and mixed-method studies that were peer-reviewed were incorporated in the eventual synthesis. The results demonstrate that the core of the successful use of digital health implementation relates to the transformational leadership and organized change management practices. Nevertheless, they have a significant indirect effect on the digital healthcare performance, and this effect happens due to effective knowledge transfer mechanisms. Knowledge transfer can assist healthcare professionals to gain, exchange and implement digital competencies which creates a process of embedding digital tools into common clinical and organisational practice. This review finds that digital healthcare performance is the product of the synergy between leadership, change management, and knowledge transfer instead of technology. The implications that these findings could have on healthcare leaders and policymakers are significant, and the change management and organizational learning institutionalization must be put into place with the digital health strategies in ingrained in order to create sustainability in improvement of performance.

Plants are continuously exposed to diverse environmental stresses, including drought, salinity, temperature extremes, and nutrient limitations, which significantly constrain agricultural productivity and ecosystem stability. Understanding how plants perceive, integrate, and respond to these stresses at the genetic level has become a central focus of modern plant science. Recent advances in genomics, transcriptomics, and functional genetics have revealed that plant adaptation to environmental stress is governed by complex, multilayered regulatory networks rather than single stress-responsive genes. These networks involve stress-sensing mechanisms, signal transduction pathways, transcriptional reprogramming, and post-transcriptional regulation, collectively shaping plant performance under adverse conditions. Genetic variation within and among plant species provides a critical resource for stress tolerance, enabling plants to optimize growth, metabolism, and reproductive success in fluctuating environments. Moreover, emerging tools such as genome-wide association studies, epigenetic profiling, and genome editing technologies have accelerated the identification of key genetic determinants underlying stress resilience. Integrating genetic insights with physiological and ecological perspectives has enhanced our understanding of how plants balance stress tolerance with growth and yield. This trade-off is particularly relevant under climate change scenarios. This review synthesizes recent progress in elucidating the genetic mechanisms that drive plant adaptation and performance under environmental stress. It highlights major stress-responsive gene families, regulatory networks, and adaptive strategies, and discusses how these insights can be translated into crop improvement programs. By bridging fundamental genetic research with applied plant breeding, this review underscores the potential of gene integration to develop resilient plant systems capable of sustaining productivity in increasingly challenging environments.

A company's success hinges significantly on its board's effectiveness in providing strategic leadership and promoting independence in its stakeholder relationship. To achieve this, the board must have independent non-executive directors with the necessary qualifications, responsibilities, and appointment processes. However, determining who qualifies as an independent non-executive director and establishing their true independence remain critical in corporate governance. This article aims to provide comprehensive answers to these questions and to offer a deeper understanding of independent non-executive directors under the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 and the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance 2018. The article proposes that to ensure the true independence of independent non-executive directors, their appointment and removal should involve a more rigorous process that includes a special resolution. Dissenting members should have the right to question appointments or removals to ensure that the appointed person protects the rights of the minority and other stakeholders. By emphasising the importance of independent non-executive directors and advocating for a more robust appointment and removal process, this article contributes to the scholarship on corporate governance and promotes best practices for board independence.

In this article, I discuss the ways in which technology has been used to build, implement, and maintain an automated report for the purpose of reporting swap transactions that are covered by the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) and Dodd-Frank Act (DFA) Rule 12b-2. The automated report will use advances in technology, including but not limited to Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Natural Language Processing (NLP), to enhance the regulatory reporting process, exception management, and compliance with EMIR, DFA and across all regions of the globe. All automated reports will be designed so that companies can minimize their need to perform manual processing and maximize the quality, accuracy, and transparency of their reports by converting them to a single format and standardizing the way they collect and submit data to regulators. By utilizing the advanced analytics capabilities in combination with a real-time monitoring, companies will benefit from more timely swap reporting and will ultimately enhance the efficiency of markets for all types of securities. The automated reporting of swaps improves the environment for regulatory reporting in regard to the marketplace, provides a new baseline for the financial services industry's compliance with regulation, eliminates or reduces the possibility of violating regulatory requirements within the financial services sector, decreases the cost of regulatory penalties associated with non-compliance, and improves the reputation of the organization overall.