Development of CUiris: A Dark-Skinned African Iris Dataset for Enhancement of Image Analysis and Robust Personal Recognition

Iris recognition algorithms, especially with the emergence of large-scale iris-based identification systems, must be tested for speed and accuracy and evaluated with a wide range of templates – large size, long-range, visible and different origins. This paper presents the acquisition of eye-iris images of dark-skinned subjects in Africa, a predominant case of verydark- brown iris images, under near-infrared illumination. The peculiarity of these iris images is highlighted from the histogram and normal probability distribution of their grayscale image entropy (GiE) values, in comparison to Asian and Caucasian iris images. The acquisition of eye-images for the African iris dataset is ongoing and will be made publiclyavailable as soon as it is sufficiently populated

Automatic Electrical Appliances Control Panel Based on Infrared and Wi-Fi: A Framework for Electrical Energy Conservation

-Today, proprietary home automation targets very specific applications which operate mostly on a cable based infrastructure. In contrast to that, our implementation builds on a wireless platform for the automatic control of house hold electrical appliances. The nodes gather sensor readings in a home and transmit them to a central automation server. There, the readings are matched against a list of script statements. When there is a match, a specific action is performed. An important property of the system is that the control of all home appliances is done by means of the ubiquitous Infrared and Wi-Fi wireless technologies. This way, the co-operation between manufacturers is not a necessity in order to connect devices to the home automation network

The Dynamics of Ports Reforms in Nigeria: Implications for Sustainable Ports Operations

Over the time Nigeria economy is largely public sector driven, in which the seaports were not left out: managed by Nigerian Port Authority (NP A). With the seaports under the autonomous of NPA were faced with strangulating problems ranging from inefficiency of it services rendered, insecurity of ships and cargo, lack of modern infrastructures, inefficiency of the NPA staff and excess bureaucracy and sharp practice (corporate) these factors make port tariff on import and export higher than they need to be, couple with the technology trend in maritime transport which required huge capital fund. The government call for ports reforms; a reform that will liberalized and deregulate the seaport by the use of concession contract, this mandate the NPA to transfer terminals operators while NPA concentrates to play the role of landlord oversight functions. The government went further to reform the import guidelines procedures and documentation requirement, changing it form Pre-shipment Inspection (PSI) to Destination Inspection (DI). The Seaport reforms which government introduced in 1996 eliminated the crippling delays in the clearance of import goods in the ports. This research study will examine the dynamics of port operations, the contribution of private operator in seaport operations, and services; technological development: considering the variable attached to seaport operations. Furthermore, this research analyze private sector capital investment in port and maintenance of infrastructures, superstructures and the contract of concession with other practicing nations, while from drawn questionnaire and secondary data the research will examine how and if Nigeria will benefit in the area of capacity building, physical development and if at all there is competition among the terminal operators considering there role in the concession regime. Finally, emphasis and comparison will be laid on cargo throughout, ship tum around, clearing procedures and port charges with the involvement of private participation. DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/11-7-01 Publication date:August 31st 202

SUBSURFACE FLOW CONSTRUCTED WETLAND SYSTEM VEGETATED WITH PHRAGMITES KARKA IN THE TREATMENT OF DYE-RICH WASTEWATER

Some major parts of tropical Africa, especially in West Africa are nowadays grappling with the problem of degradation of the quality of fresh water by the introduction of effluents containing dyes from textile industries. In this study a low cost and economical method of treating dye-rich effluent using locally available macrophyte was investigated. The pilot Constructed Wetland (CW) consists of 1200 × 1000 × 1000 mm plastic tanks, filled with 500 mm deep 10-15 mm size granite overlaid with 150 mm thick sand (Cu = 1.15 and Cc = 6.8) substrate. The substrates had an hydraulic conductivity of 0.002 m/s. The pilot CW was planted with Phragmites Karka Retz. at 200 mm c/c to provide a high density bed. Irrigation was done intermittently at 6 days retention period with 0.05 m3 indigo dye rich wastewater from the local tie and dye textile industries and plant growth monitored. Physico-chemical parameters, Cr, Pb, Cu, Zn and Fe removal were also evaluated. The study revealed a 24 % growth rate reduction in the plants irrigated with indigo dye-rich wastewater. Reduction of TDS (50 %), TSS (66 %), EC (46 %) were also observed and the heavy metals evaluated showed an uptake of 64 %, 68 %, 78 %, 58 %, and 68 % for Cr, Pb, Zn, Cu, and Fe respectively by the CW. Phragmites karka as a macrophyte in Constructed Wetland was found to be efficient in dye-rich wastewater treatment.     &nbsp

Hand Image Feature for Human Identification

This paper presents an algorithm for efficient personal identification using robust hand features. The feature is extracted from hand boundary points and print of hand palm. The centre of gravity of the edge map of the hand image is determined to serve as a reference point. Thereafter City block distances between the reference point and hand boundary points are found. These distance feature vectors are compared using Euclidean distance measure for effective image classification. The proposed algorithm will improve personal identification in access control and attendance recor

Vertical Off-line Signature Feature Block for Verification

Handwritten signature image is normally used as a mark of endorsement of written document. Signatures of the same person vary and they can be forged by imposters. Effective feature extraction algorithm is needed in off-line signature verification. Robust features capable of increases interpersonal variation and decreases intra personal variation are required. This work presents robust signature feature that can be used to build effective off-line signature verification system. Signature processing is performed and the preprocessed signature image is vertically divided into sixteen smaller image blocks through the center of gravity. Three features are extracted from these smaller image blocks. Feature vector is formed and are passed to Support Vector Machine (SVM) for training and classification. The proposed signature feature vector increases the accuracy of tested off-line signature verification syste

Assessing the Prognostic Significance of CD8+ T-Cell Counts in Determining the Risk of Myocardial Infarction in the Setting of HIV Infection

There is a growing body of research to suggest that Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection is associated with an increased risk for myocardial infarction (MI) although the underlying processes remain unclear. An assessment of MI risk using a commonly-available measure of the immune status is therefore of Public Health importance. CD8+ and CD4+ T-cell counts are periodically measured in the routine management of HIV-infected patients. However, CD8+ T-cell counts are often not reported or are simply incorporated into the calculation of a CD4+/CD8+ ratio. Total CD8+ T-cell counts have been shown to be associated with an increased risk for MI in at least one recent study. A few other studies have examined this association indirectly by using the CD4+/CD8+ ratio, but only considered MI surrogates (e.g. subclinical coronary atherosclerosis) as an outcome. Also, measuring cell-surface markers of CD8+ T-cell activation and HIV-specific CD8+ T cell counts is costly and often not requested in the routine management of HIV infection. This study investigated the association between total CD8+ T-cell counts and MI risk among a large cohort of HIV-uninfected and HIV-infected Veterans. Using Cox proportional hazard regression models, the results suggest that MI risk is associated with a high CD8+ T-cell count of ≥1066 cells/ mm3 (Adjusted HR = 1.82, P <0.001, 95% CI: 1.46 to 2.28). They also suggest that the risk for MI posed by total CD8+ T-cell counts should be interpreted in the context of CD4+ T-cell clinical cut-points, or the overall immune status. The degree of MI risk in the cohort differed depending on the level of the immunosuppression. Total CD8+ T cell-counts seemed to modestly improve the risk stratification provided by CD4+ T-cell clinical cut-points, though the mechanisms are still unclear. Future studies will be instrumental in understanding the role of the immune system in MI risk prediction

Pollution Studies on Ground Water Contamination: Water Quality of Abeokuta, Ogun State, South West Nigeria

Changes in water levels in wells reflect changes in recharge to, and discharge from an aquifer. Generally groundwater is rain water or water from surface water bodies, like rivers, lakes or streams that permeate into the soil and bedrock and is stored underground in the pores spaces between soil particles. Groundwater pollution occurs when hazardous substances come into contact and dissolve in the water in the soil or on the surface. Groundwater is generally less susceptible to contamination and pollution when compared to surface water, naturally impurities in rainwater or surface water which replenishes groundwater systems, get removed while infiltrating through soil strata. In Nigeria, groundwater is used intensively for irrigation and domestic purposes, a variety of land and water-based human activities are causing pollution of this precious resource. Its over-exploitation is causing aquifer contamination in certain instances, while in certain others its unscientific development with insufficient knowledge of groundwater flow dynamic and geo-hydro-chemical processes has led to its mineralization. Adequate supply of safe and portable fresh water is an inevitable factor for socio economic development.  Although the recent global attention focuses on how the current and foreseeable water crisis and associated consequences would be addressed, quite a lot of factors such as  low level of education, insufficient budgetary funding, inefficient government policies,  drought are increasingly contributing to the pollution of domestic water in Nigeria. Keywords: Nigeria, Groundwater, Pollution, soil strata, Qualit

Climate Change Dynamics and Imperatives for Food Security in Nigeria

Decadal variability in African rainfall is projected from General Circulation Models (GCMs) to continue under elevated greenhouse gas scenarios. Effects on rain intensity, spatio-temporal variability of growing seasons, flooding, drought, and land-use change impose feedbacks at regional-local scales. Yet, empirical knowledge of associated impacts on crop yield is limited; thus, we examined the imperatives for food security in Nigeria. Bivariate correlation and multiple regression suggests impending drought in the northern region where livestock farming is predominant. Relative contributions of climate independent variables in determining crop yield by backward selection procedures with stepwise approach indexed the impacts of annual climate variability by a parameter computed as annual yield minus mean annual yield divided by the standard deviation. Results show Z-distribution approximately 5 to + 5, when 3 indicate impacts significant at 95% confidence levels. In conclusion, we established the interwoven relationship between climatic change and food security