Managing High Runoff Discharge in the Urbanized Basins of Asa River Catchment Area of Ilorin, Nigeria

Incidence of flood has been on the increase in Ilorin for sometime; and this exemplifies the problem operating in most urban centres in Nigeria. Increase in runoff production in an urbanized catchment is a function, among other factors of to increase in percentage paved area brought about by deforestation activities and poor environmental attitude of the people. This study examines the relationship between runoff discharge and basin characteristics in Ilorin. Data used were collected directly from the field over a period of one calendar year. Rainfall data were collected in each basin using a standard rainguage of 20cm orifice while basin discharge was collected twice daily (8.00am and 6.30pm) using fabricated staff gauge graduated in centimeter. Basin morphometric attributes were computed from topographic map while landuse map was prepared from satellite imagery. Soil samples were collected and analysed for particle size distribution. The result obtained indicates that basin size and landuse have profound influence on the explanation of discharge in the basins. The study thus, recommends a number of options to efficient basin management in the city. Keywords: Managing; High runoff discharge; Urbanized basin; Asa river catchment; Ilorin; Nigeri

Agroforestry farmers’ perception of climate change in Ibadan, Nigeria

This study assessed the perception of Agro forestry farmers in Ibadan,Oyo state, Nigeria to climate change (rainfall and temperature) using questionnaires and interviews. Multistage sampling technique was used to draw agroforestry farmers from the population. A total of 120 respondents were selected from eleven (11) communities in Ibadan. Data collected on perception to climate change was coded and analyzed using stata. Result showed that 84% of the Agroforestry farmers perceived a change in rainfall onset with 48% perceived late rainfall onset, 32% early rainfall onset and 4% perceived fluctuation in the onset of rainfall. For rainfall cessation, majority (78% ) of the agroforestry farmers perceived a change in rainfall cessation in the last 20 years. About 48% perceived early cessation of rainfall while 30% of them perceived late cessation. As to the duration of rainfall, 83% of the respondents perceived a change, while 8% do not perceive change and 8% do not know if there is any change. It was also revealed that education level and farming experience of the farmers as well as extension visits are significant factors affecting the farmers perception on climate change.This study shows that the agroforestry farmers in Oyo state have a good understanding of the changing climate. There is therefore need for planned adaptation strategies to enhance resilience of the farmers to climate change and variability. Key words: Climate Change, perception, agroforestry, adaptatio

Analysis of Independence of Available Infrastructure on Geographical Location of Public Secondary Schools in Ondo State, Nigeria

This paper has attempted to study the availability of infrastructural facilities in public secondary schools in Ondo State, Nigeria. Six local government areas (LGAs) were randomly selected with due consideration to the geo-political set-up of the State. Quantitative methods of analysis that were used include both descriptive and inferential statistics. The descriptive statistical techniques were tabular presentation and bar chart while the inferential statistical technique applied is chi-square analysis. The inferential statistics revealed that enrollment of students in secondary schools depends on gender and on Local Government Area. Also, the level of equipping of laboratories, availability of information technology facilities,  portable water supply and supply of electricity depend on Local Government Area while availability of library in secondary schools is independent of Local Government Area. Conclusively, much still need to be done in the area of infrastructural development in public primary and secondary schools in Ondo State towards the achievement of the vision 20: 2020 goal of Nigeria as one of the 20 most developed economy of the world in terms of education. Keywords:  education, infrastructure, information technology, chi-square, enrollment

Automated classification of African embroidery patterns using cellular learning automata and support vector machines

Embroidery is the art that is majorly practised in Nigeria, which requires creativity and skills. However, differentiating between two standard embroidery patterns pose challenges to wearers of the patterns. This study developed a classification system to improve the embroiderer to user relationship. The specific characteristics are used as feature sets to classify two common African embroidery patterns (handmade and tinko) are shape, brightness, thickness and colour. The system developed and simulated in MATLAB 2016a environment employed Cellular Learning Automata (CLA) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) as its classifier. The classification performance of the proposed system was evaluated using precision, recall, and accuracy. The system obtained an average precision of 0.93, average recall of 0.81, and average accuracy of 0.97 in classifying the handmade and tinko embroidery patterns considered in this study. This study also presented an experimental result of three validation models for training and testing the dataset used in this study. The model developed an improved and refined embroiderer for eliminating stress related to the manual pattern identification process

A review: Intelligent controllers for tropical food storage system

Food security can be assured by improving on post harvest storage methods. Food stored under improper storage conditions are prone to increased respiration and transpiration processes which often result in depletion and weight loss of edible material. Storage temperature and relative humidity are major factors that ultimately determine product quality and quantity. This paper presents a survey on methods of post harvest storage systems. The indigenous methods of tropical food storage common to the West African region are discussed. The attendant problems associated with these methods are highlighted. Intelligent control methods are also discussed. A novel intelligent controller is proposed to sustain product quality and quantity by optimizing the storage process

Effect of Values Clarification Counselling Technique on Aggressive Behaviour among Senior Secondary School Students in Kontagora Metropolis, Niger State

This study examined the effect of values clarification counselling techniques on aggressive behaviour among senior secondary school students in Kontagora metropolis, Niger State. Pretest posttest quasi experimental research design was adopted. The target population for the study consists of senior secondary school students. A sample size of 15 participants was purposively selected from senior secondary school two students for the study consisting of 11 males and 4 females. An instrument titled Students Aggressive Behaviour Questionnaire (SABQ) was used to obtain data for both pre and posttest. The intervention sessions lasted for ten weeks (two sessions of 60 minutes each per week) during the third term 2021/2022 academic session. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistical tools of mean, standard deviation and inferential statistical tools of paired sample t-test. The findings revealed that values clarification counselling technique had a significant effect on hostile, emotional and relational aggressive behaviour among students with t=11.00, p=.000; t=6.15, p=.000 and t=7.54, p=.000 respectively. It was concluded that values clarification counselling technique was effective in reducing aggressive behaviour among senior secondary school students. It was therefore recommended among others that, school counsellors and psychologists should employ values clarification counselling techniques in reducing aggressive behaviour among senior secondary school students

Increased central adiposity may not underlie the marked elevation of IL-6 in Diabetes Mellitus patients in South-West Nigeria

Background: Chronic inflammation is linked to disorders of obesity, insulin resistance and DM2. This reflects as increase in proinflammatory cytokines including IL-6. In Nigeria, there is no study that has measured IL-6 in diabetics, in spite of having the highest number of diabetics in Africa. Methods: The twenty-eight DM2 patients and 13 controls recruited for this study had their BP, BMI, waist circumference (WC) and waist-hip-ratio (WHR) measured. They also had fasting plasma IL-6, fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol (TC), Triglyceride (Tg), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), urea, creatinine, aspartate transaminases (AST), alanine transferases (ALT), total protein (TP) and albumin determined. Results: Mean age was 51.83 years ± 13.28, with diabetics significantly older than controls (56.61yrs. ±9.62 vs. 41.54 years ± 14.53) P < 0.05. The mean IL-6 in diabetics (194.77pg/ml ± 166.16) was significantly higher than controls’ (26.29pg/ml ± 6.65) at p < 0.01. No significant difference in mean BMI in diabetics and controls. But WC and WHR of diabetics (100.75cm ± 18.47; 1.01 ± 0.14) were significant higher than in controls (88.77cm ± 13.36; 0.88 ± 0.07) at p < 0.05 (WC; p value 0.043) and p < 0.01(WHR; p value 0.002). Among diabetics, there were significant correlations between IL-6 and Tg (p<0.01, r = 0.007**), IL-6 and LDL-C (p<0.05, r = 0.028*), IL-6 and AST (p<0.05, r = 0.041*) and IL-6 and ALT (p<0.01, r = 0.004**) Conclusion: Elevated IL-6 in DM2 patients in South West Nigeria correlates with liver transaminases and not increased markers of central adiposity

Hardware design, development and evaluation of a pressure-based typing biometrics authentication system

The hardware design of a pressure based typing biometrics authentication system (BAS) is discussed in this paper. The dynamic keystroke is represented by its time duration (t) and force (F) applied to constitute a waveform, which when concatenated compose a complete pattern for the entered password. Hardware design is the first part in designing the complete pressure-based typing (BAS) in order to ensure that the best data to represent the keystroke pattern of the user is captured. The system has been designed using LabVIEW software. Several data preprocessing techniques have been used to improve the acquired waveforms. An experiment was conducted to show the validity of the design in representing keystroke dynamics and preliminary results have shown that the designed system can successfully capture password patterns