Empowerment in their hands: use of WhatsApp by women in Nigeria

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are reported to hold a lot of promise for sustainable development, poverty reduction and the empowerment of marginalized groups, such as women and minorities in developing countries. This paper discusses the relationship between women’s empowerment and ICTs, by investigating the promise of empowerment associated with the use of WhatsApp by women in Nigeria. It draws upon Sen’s Capability Approach (CA) to explore some implications of the use of WhatsApp mobile application on human development. We employed Sen's five instrumental freedoms to evaluate how WhatsApp has empowered women by concentrating on the opportunities provided for expanding their freedom to participate in social, economic and political activities. Our analysis shows that WhatsApp can contribute to the empowerment of women by enabling their freedoms to participate in developmental activities; however some contextual factors impede the ability of the women to take full advantage of these developmental opportunities that WhatsApp offers. The paper concludes with some implications for policymakers advancing an agenda for "ICTs for Development”

An evaluation of safety risk factors during installation and dismantling of tower cranes in construction sites

The construction industry plays a central and significant role in the economy of any nation. One of the major reasons for ineffective project delivery in the Nigerian construction industry is the improper assessment of risk factors. The industry however is currently facing a lot of challenges which include constant increase in the rate of accidents on construction sites which could be dueto ineffective safety management as construction companies are usually interested in maximizing their profit in order to secure funds for new investments, and cover possible expenses associated with the occurrence of risk factors during construction. Installation anddismantling of tower crane had been previously looked at as a general safety issue until, recent research showed that about 69% of accidents related to tower cranes in Korea from 2001-2011, occur during installation and dismantling process. In view of this, this paper aimed at evaluating safety risk factors during installation and dismantling by determining their probability of occurrence and degree of impact with a view to establishing the most significant ones. This is why a well-structured questionnaire was designed to collect data with respect to their probability of occurrence and degree of impact using a 5 point Likert scale. Responses from the administered questionnaire and interactions were collated, interpreted and analysed using descriptive statistics (mean) and results presented in tables. Results showed that abrasion (wear and tear of components such as bolts, nuts, or pins) is the most probable factor with a mean value of 3.63. Fracture of a wire rope during dismantling had the highest degree of impact with a mean valueof 4.63. The research concluded that fracture of a wire rope during dismantling and abrasion (wear and tear of components such as bolts, nuts, or pins) are highly affecting factor on safety during installation and dismantling. Adoption of a preventive maintenance strategy or routine check on the tower crane parts and components could help minimize the probability of occurrence and impact of the safety risk factors on site. Keywords: Accident, Hazard, Safety risk, Tower crane, Probability, Construction industry.&nbsp

A User Readiness Model of Social Media for Learning among Polytechnic Students in Nigeria

The adoption of Internet resources for learning continues to grow in the world today. Despite the abundant benefit of utilizing social media due to the growth of web 2.0, an internet resource for communication and interaction, its use has not been fully embraced as a teaching tool in Nigeria. Social media is becoming a prominent communication tool and found to be facilitating teaching and learning activities among students. However, the user readiness of social media in learning by the students has been challenging. Despite the wide acceptance of social media (such as Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp, e.t.c.) amongst Nigerian polytechnic students, they do not utilize it for academic pursuit. This study examined the Use of Social Media among students in Nigerian Polytechnics. The main objective of this study is to find out the user readiness’ factors that influence the use of social media by the students in Nigerian Polytechnic. The evaluation results show that social media is an indispensable Internet platform among Nigerian Polytechnic students

External Environmental Factors and Failure of Small and Medium Enterprises in Kano Metropolis

This study examines the relationship between external environmental factors and failure of SMEs in Kano metropolis, using samples of failed SMEs in Kano metropolis. Questionnaire was used to collect primary data from the sampled failed SMEs using snow ball method. The data was analyzed using multiple regression technique and descriptive statistics in order to establish the significance of the estimated relationships. The outcome reveals that external environmental factors have significant impact on the failure of SMEs in Kano metropolis, and inadequate infrastructure (II) is the major contributing factor to the failure of SMEs in the Kano; followed by market competition (MC), market demographics (MD), and financial inadequacy (FI). In order to reduce SMEs failure and achieve significant positive contribution of SMEs sub-sector to the economic development of the state, the study recommends that government and relevant stakeholders should create an enabling business environment with adequate infrastructures, fear competition, sound market places and financial support

DFT, RHF and MP2 based study of the thermodynamic, electronic and non-optical properties of DNA nucleobases

Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA is a molecule that contains the instructions an organism needs to develop, live and reproduce. These instructions are found inside every cell, and are passed down from parents to their children. In this study, the DNA nucleobases, that is. Adenine (A), Guanine (G), Cytosine(C) and Thymine (T) have been investigated by employing quantum chemical methods calculation. The thermodynamic parameters such as entropy, enthalpy, heat capacity and zero point vibrationional energy, non optical linear properties (dipole moment and mean polarizability) and Mullikan charges were calculated using Restricted Hartree–Fock (RHF), Moller-Plesset Second Order Perturbation Theory (MP2) and Density FuTheory (DFT), B3LYP and LSDA methods with 3- 21G, 3-21+G and 6-31G basis set . In addition, HOMO-LUMO energy gap of each of the molecules was calculated. The high value of HOMO-LUMO energy gap indicates the high stability of the molecules in chemical reaction. Of the four molecules, guanine has the highest value of HOMO- LUMO energy gap which implies that it is the most stable molecule in chemical reaction. The values of the dipole moment obtained were in agreement with the experimental values. For instance, the dipole moment of guanine at B3LYP/6-31G was calculated as 7.2D while the experimental value is 7.1D. Gaussian 03 package was used to perform all the calculations. Results from comparison of the DFT, MP2 and RHF methods shows close results and can be seen to support one another.Keywords: DNA, Nucleobases, HOMO-LUMO, DFT, RHF and MP

Evaluation of motor deficits and perihaematomal neuronal degeneration in a mouse model of cerebellar haemorrhage

Improved clinical imaging and early surgery, when indicated, have been shown to decrease mortality rate after cerebellar haemorrhage. Nonetheless, the long term functional outcome in the majority of the survivors is still very alarming; irrespective of whether they receive surgical or conservative management. Evidently, the development of definitive medical treatment to use alone or in combination with surgery in order to improve outcome in this condition is hampered by lack of proper understanding of the disease pathophysiology. Following cerebellar haemorrhage, brain tissue inside the hematoma can be considered equivalent to the ischemic core in ischaemic stroke, and is unlikely to be salvageable. However, delayed neuronal loss due to various secondary injury mechanisms might continue in the vicinity of the haemorrhage and this could contribute to the persistent disability in the patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate the histomorphological changes of the perihaemorrhagic tissue after experimental cerebellar haemorrhagen in mice. We hypothesized that delayed neuronal degeneration occurs in the perihaematomal area after intracerebellar haemorrhage. Adult male Swiss albino mice were stereotactically infused with collagenase type VII (0.4U in 1ml saline) unilaterally in to the cerebellum, following anaesthesia. The animals in the sham group were injected with normal saline, while the control animals were not injected with anything. Motor deficits were assessed using open field and composite score for evaluating mouse model of cerebellar ataxia at 1, 3, 7, 14 and 21 days after collagenase infusion and the animals were sacrificed at the same time interval for evaluation of perihaematomal neuronal degeneration using haematoxylin and eosin staining and Annexin V-FITC/ Propidium iodide assay. At the end of the study, it was found that infusion of 0.4U collagenase produces significant locomotor and ataxic deficit in the mice especially within the first week post surgery and this gradually improved within three weeks. Neuronal degeneration evident by cytoplasmic shrinkage and nuclear pyknosis was observed at the perihaematomal area after one day; especially at 3 and 7 days post haemorrhage. By 21 days, both the haematoma and degenerating neurons in the perihaematomal area were phagocytosed and the remaining neuronal cells around the scar tissue appear normal. Moreover, Annexin-V/propidium iodide–positive cells were observed at the perihaematomal area at 3 and 7 days implying that the neurons likely die via apoptosis. It was concluded that a population of potentially salvageable neurons exist in the perihaematomal area after cerebellar haemorrhage throughout a wide time window that could be amenable to treatment

Factors affecting orifice discharge in a multi-outlet irrigation pipe

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1979 A28Master of Scienc

Proposed Control Charts For Monitoring Cumulative Counts Of Conforming Items And Ratio Of Two Variables

This research provides a derivation of the analytical formulae to compute the average time to signal (ATS) value of the exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) cumulative count of conforming (CCC) chart using the Markov chain technique. In the current literature, this chart is evaluated using simulation. Additionally, the variable sampling interval (VSI) EWMA CCC chart is also proposed to increase the sensitivity of the basic EWMA CCC chart in detecting process shifts. The optimal designs of the VSI EWMA CCC chart are obtained based on the Markov chain procedure by minimizing the expected delay time in detecting a process shift. The optimal parameters that minimize the average time to signal (ATS) criterion are provided and can be directly used in practice. Four charts, i.e. the basic CCC, VSI CCC, EWMA CCC and VSI EWMA CCC charts are considered in the numerical comparison using the ATS criterion. The VSI EWMA CCC chart has an impressive performance in comparison to the basic CCC, VSI CCC and EWMA CCC charts. An illustrative example via real data from an injection moulding process producing an array of micro-prism of an optical element is given to demonstrate the implementation of the VSI EWMA CCC chart in practice. In addition, this research proposes a two-sided run sum ratio chart to monitor the ratio of two normal variables. A Markov chain procedure is applied to evaluate the statistical performance of the chart based on the average run length (ARL) and expected average run length (EARL) criteria. Numerical comparisons with the Shewhart ratio and synthetic ratio charts based on the zero state analysis reveal that the run sum ratio chart has a better sensitivity in most cases

The Contribution of ICTs to Women Empowerment: A Capability Perspective

This paper examines the developmental impact of ICTs on African society by concentrating on the use of WhatsApp; a mobile social media platform. Specifically, we investigate the promise of empowerment associated with the use of WhatsApp by Women in the remote city of Kano, Nigeria. We employed the five instrumental freedoms of the capability approach to evaluate how WhatsApp has empowered women by concentrating on the opportunities provided for expanding their freedoms to participate in social, economic and political activities. Our analysis shows that WhatsApp can contribute to the empowerment of women by enabling their freedoms to participate in developmental activities, however some contextual factors impede the ability of the women to take full advantage of these developmental opportunities WhatsApp offers. The paper concludes with some implications for policy makers advancing an agenda for “ICTs for Development”

A dai-liao hybrid conjugate gradient method for unconstrained optimization

One of todays’ best-performing CG methods is Dai-Liao (DL) method which depends on non-negative parameter  and conjugacy conditions for its computation. Although numerous optimal selections for the parameter were suggested, the best choice of  remains a subject of consideration. The pure conjugacy condition adopts an exact line search for numerical experiments and convergence analysis. Though, a practical mathematical experiment implies using an inexact line search to find the step size. To avoid such drawbacks, Dai and Liao substituted the earlier conjugacy condition with an extended conjugacy condition. Therefore, this paper suggests a new hybrid CG that combines the strength of Liu and Storey and Conjugate Descent CG methods by retaining a choice of Dai-Liao parameterthat is optimal. The theoretical analysis indicated that the search direction of the new CG scheme is descent and satisfies sufficient descent condition when the iterates jam under strong Wolfe line search. The algorithm is shown to converge globally using standard assumptions. The numerical experimentation of the scheme demonstrated that the proposed method is robust and promising than some known methods applying the performance profile Dolan and Mor´e on 250 unrestricted problems.  Numerical assessment of the tested CG algorithms with sparse signal reconstruction and image restoration in compressive sensing problems, file restoration, image video coding and other applications. The result shows that these CG schemes are comparable and can be applied in different fields such as temperature, fire, seismic sensors, and humidity detectors in forests, using wireless sensor network techniques