Morphometric and Morphological Analysis of Gullies in Lafia LGA, Nasarawa State, Nigeria

This study assessed morphometric of gullies in Nasarawa State Soil erosion is among the most endemic environmental problems of modern times Both primary and secondary sources of data were used for this study As ample of 36 gully sites were carried out in three Local Government Areas representing the study area for this research work Information on gullies morphometric morphology soil particles size and the coordinate of each identified gullies site were taken from the field Instruments such as hand auger global position system GPS photograph Abeny level linen tape ranging poles pegs and measuring tape and field observation methods were also adopted The results generated from the field were subjected to statistical and laboratory analysis The results of the findings revealed that 44 4 of the gullies in the study area are discontinuous gullies 55 6 were continuous gullies while gullies in the study are at their 5 and above development 58 3 of the sampled gullies were at a stable state of development while 41 7 of the gullies were at an unstable state of development It was also revealed that 38 9 of the sampled gullies in the study area were long-narrow gullies while 22 2 were linear shaped gullie

Modeling and analytical simulation of anterior polymerization in the presence of an inert material

The ability to fabricate advanced materials with specific properties efficiently requires a complete understanding of the polymerization kinetics and the effect of several preparative variables such as temperature, monomer and initiator. This paper presents an analytical method for describing anterior polymerization in two adjacent thin layers. Both the initial temperatures and initial monomer and initiator concentrations are assumed to depend on the space variable. We prove the existence and uniqueness of solution of the model by actual solution method. The equations are solved using parameter-expanding method and eigenfunctions expansion technique. The results obtained were discussed. The study shows that the Frank-Kamenetskii number and frequency factors of the two reactions have significant effects on the propagation of the polymerization wave.Keywords: Polymerization, anterior polymerization, polymers, Arrhenius kinetics, parameter-expanding method, eigenfunctions expansion techniqu

Patients’ Perspectives on Their Safety: A Qualitative Study in Two Public Health Facilities in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Background: Safe healthcare environments influence patients’ valuation of care received and impact on better health outcomes. It has been recognized that patients can contribute invaluably in improving the quality and safety of healthcare services they receive.Objective: To explore the perspectives of patients on their safety in healthcare.Methods: A qualitative study comprising of four (4) focus group discussions (FGDs) with six to eight participants was conducted in two public health facilities in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Patients admitted in medical wards (male and female) were recruited through a purposive sampling technique after obtaining their verbal informed consent to participate. A topic guide, containing open ended questions that explored patients’ opinions on their safety in healthcare was used for the discussions. All FGD sessions were recorded, transcribed and coded using thematic analysis.Results: The participants consisted of 15 females and 13 males in FGD sessions that lasted between 55 to 90 minutes. All participants were Hausa speaking, with varying levels of education. Six (6) themes were generated which the patients perceived to play a role in their safety in healthcare. These themes are: choice of hospital, patient satisfaction, patient experiences, patient engagement, communication openness and suggestions by patients for improvement.Conclusion: The findings of this study have highlighted both positive and negative perspectives of patients regarding their safety in healthcare. The patients provided some recommendations for areas where improvements are required for improved patient safety. These include infrastructural improvements, staffing, and availability of medicines, amongst others

Imaging with Hexagonal Segmented Mirror

Different hexagons configuration aperture models of the optical telescope mirror is carefully considered in this study. The point spread function and the modulation transfer function of a reference star using different hexagons configuration are computed and the quantitative assessment for the results are described. It has been shown that the height of the point spread function decreases rapidly when the area of the circular aperture of the optical telescope is 18 times the area of the individual hexagon to be arrange to fill this aperture. No significant change has been noticed as the area of the this aperture exceeds 121 times the area of the individual hexagon

Real Time Turbulent Video Perfecting by Image Stabilization and Super-Resolution

Image and video quality in Long Range Observation Systems (LOROS) suffer from atmospheric turbulence that causes small neighbourhoods in image frames to chaotically move in different directions and substantially hampers visual analysis of such image and video sequences. The paper presents a real-time algorithm for perfecting turbulence degraded videos by means of stabilization and resolution enhancement. The latter is achieved by exploiting the turbulent motion. The algorithm involves generation of a reference frame and estimation, for each incoming video frame, of a local image displacement map with respect to the reference frame; segmentation of the displacement map into two classes: stationary and moving objects and resolution enhancement of stationary objects, while preserving real motion. Experiments with synthetic and real-life sequences have shown that the enhanced videos, generated in real time, exhibit substantially better resolution and complete stabilization for stationary objects while retaining real motion.Comment: Submitted to The Seventh IASTED International Conference on Visualization, Imaging, and Image Processing (VIIP 2007) August, 2007 Palma de Mallorca, Spai

Application of Statistical Design to Optimize the Preparation of Barium Titanate Nanopowders via Oxalate Precursor Method

Nanocrystalline barium titanate (BaTiO3) powders have been synthesized by oxalate precursor method. Statistical design (Box-Behnken) is used to study the effect of main three parameters: calcination temperature (800-1200 °C), calcination time (0.5-4 hrs), and oxalic acid mole ratio (0.5-1.5) related to barium and titanium added at constant Ba/Ti mole ratio 1 on the formation of BT powders. Barium titanate particles were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The statistical design showed that conversion of barium titanate increases by decreasing the oxalic acid mole ratio and decreasing the calcination temperature and calcination time. XRD showed that single phase of barium titanate is formed at calcination temperature starting from 800 °C, oxalic acid mole ratio 0.5 and calcination time 2.25 hrs. The average crystallite sizes at different conditions are in the range between 36 to 91 nm. SEM micrographs showed that the produced pure BT nanopowders were formed in the tetragonal structure shape