Modeling the risk of transmission of schistosomiasis in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State, Nigeria using satellite derived environmental data

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease and its distribution, in space and time, can be influenced by environmental factors such as rivers, elevation, slope, land surface temperature, land use/cover and rainfall. The aim of this study is to identify the areas with suitable conditions for schistosomiasis transmission on the basis of physical and environmental factors derived from satellite imagery and spatial analysis for Akure North Local Government Area (LGA) of Ondo State. Nigeria. This was done through methodology multicriteria evaluation (MCE) using Saaty’s analytical hierarchy process (AHP). AHP is a multi-criteria decision method that uses hierarchical structures to represent a problem and makes decisions based on priority scales. In this research AHP was used to obtain the mapping weight or importance of each individual schistosomiasis risk factor. For the purpose of identifying areas of schistosomiasis risk, this study focused on temperature, drainage, elevation, rainfall, slope and land use/land cover as the factors controlling schistosomiasis incidence in the study area. It is by reclassifying and overlaying these factors that areas vulnerable to schistosomiasis were identified. The weighted overlay analysis was done after each factor was given the appropriate weight derived through the analytical hierarchical process. The prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis in the study area was also determined by parasitological analysis of urine samples collected through random sampling. The results showed varying risk of schistosomiasis with a larger portion of the area (82%) falling under the high and very high risk category. The study also showed that one community (Oba Ile) had the lowest risk of schistosomiasis while the risk increased in the four remaining communities (Iju, Igoba, Ita Ogbolu and Ogbese). The predictions made by the model correlated strongly with observations from field study. The high risk zones corresponded to known endemic communities. This study revealed that environmental factors can be used in identifying and predicting the transmission of schistosomiasis as well as effective monitoring of disease risk in newly established rural and agricultural communities.EM201

Perception of Appropriateness of Nigeria’s Computer Science Students’ Curriculum in Providing Technical Skills and Knowledge for the Labour Market

This study examined the perception of students on the contents of the computer programme’s curriculum, describing the extent to which they perceived the course content to be up-to-date, industry relevant and adequate. Also, the determining factors for choosing Computer Science as a discipline among the students were examined. The study further investigated the relationship between their perception of the curriculum and how the curriculum has been able to build their technical skills. Two hundred and eighty-three final year students responded to a survey from four selected universities in South west, Nigeria. Spearman Rank correlation shows a significant relationship between student’s perception of their course curriculum and technical skills acquired. Also, students reported reputation and personal interest as the most rated factor that influenced the choice of their course of study while social activities and advice were the least ranked factors that influenced their choice of the discipline. This study concludes that the curriculum is relevant to the technical skills requirement of the students and the industries. The paper recommends an inclusive-based approach to curriculum design and development to guarantee industry uptake after graduation

Assessment of crop raiding activities of wild animal species in Kainji Lake National Park, Nigeria

The study focused on the assessment of crop raiding activities in some communities around Zugurma sector of Kainji Lake National Park, Nigeria. The study identify the species of wild animals that raid farms, farm produce that were affected in the area, seasons such activities occurred and level of destruction to farm products in the study area. Two hundred questionnaires were administered purposely to some farmers in the support zones communities with close proximity with to park boundaries and only one hundred and seventy four questionnaires were retrieved. The communities sampled were Felegi, Shafinni, Babugi, Fanga, and Ibbi. Direct observation and personal interview using an interpreter was employed to source for information. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings from this study revealed that Primates (Erythrocebus patas and Chlorocebus aethiops tantalus) had the highest percentage of raid in farm with (44.7%) while Ground Squirrel (Xerus erythopus), Western Hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus), Grimm’s Duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia) and Bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus) were the least raiders with (3.3%) respectively. This study also revealed that maize (zea mays) is the mostly raided crop with (19.1%) while cassava (Manihot esculentus) was the least with (2.5%). It was observed that crop raiding activities occur all year round with (43.7%) while less activity occur during the dry season with (27.6%) due to the fact that most crops had been harvested. The level of destruction caused by wild animals is very high with (94.3%) respondents attesting to this fact. The study shows that raiding activities affect farmlands that are very close to park boundaries more therefore, it is advisable for farmers to site their farmland far from park boundaries or cultivate crops that may not be destroyed by wild animals when they farm close to park boundaries.Keywords: Assessment, Crop Raiding, Primates, Protected Areas, Respondent

Adolescents Health and Management of Sexual Risk Taking Behaviour among Selected Secondary School Students in Osun State, Nigeria.

The study aimed at assessing adolescents health and management of sexual risk-taking behaviorus among selected Senior Secondary School Students in Osun State, Nigeria. A sample of 810 students was selected through multistage sampling technique. A self-designed instrument was used to collect data from the respondents. Apart from the face validity of the instrument, its reliability was determine through the pilot study carried out among 20 Senior Secondary School Students of the Seventh-day Adventist School, Ife, it yielded test retest reliability of 0.82: Data collected were analyzed using descriptive analysis of percentages. The results showed that majority of respondents (74.1%) were between 13-15 years while 7.4% were between ages 19 and 21: 58.9% respondents were Christians, 31.4% Muslims 4.8% traditional religion and 4.9% of respondents did not respond. Majority of respondents (735) 90.8% were not sure of what sexual and reproductive health was all about, while only 24.7 (200) agreed that reproductive health deals with both male and female organs. 25.8% of respondents said they willingly had their first sexual experience, 19.4% said they were persuaded to do it, 14.1% were forced to do it and 0.6% were not sure of how they had the experience. High percentage (52.4% of the respondents took no precautionary measure in their first sexual intercourse. Majority of the sexually active respondents (65.9%) said they over heard or currently experience some signs of STDs such as gonorrhea, syphilis and PID. Similarly, some of these respondents (24.7%) managed these conditions through self medications by buying drugs from the chemists while 26.9% went to hospital for treatment. It was concluded that opportunity should be created through awareness campaign for adolescents to develop awareness on their sexuality. Key words Adolescent, Health management, sexual risk-taking, behaviours, secondary school student

Assessment of minerals composition of natural salt licks, in Kainji Lake National Park, Nigeria

The study was carried out to determine the quantities of essential elements composition of natural salt lick, at the three (3) different horizons in Oli range, Borgu sector of Kainji lake national park. Field survey and focus group discussion were used through the help of experienced park rangers to locate the commonly utilized saltlick spots. Nine (9) samples of soil were collected from three (3) different spots, two (2) saltlick spots and one (1) control spot each from three horizons (O, A, & E).Mineral element were determined for soil pH., potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, organic carbon, organic matter nitrogen were used respectively. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Duncan Multiple Range test was used to compare themeans. Results indicated that calcium content of the saltlick at second horizon (A layer) was (15.13± 0.81b) differs significantly (p<0.05) from calcium content of the saltlick at first and third horizon (O layer) (4.03±0.81a) and E layers (1.53 ± 0.81a) respectively. Magnesium content followed the same trend. Layer (A) was where high concentration of salt-licking was observed in all the spots sampled. The study also revealed that natural licks had higher level of essential elements than the control samples. Keywords: Salt lick, Mineral elements, Horizon and Soil Profil

Failure Mode and Cost Effect Analysis of a Model Bone Crushing Hammer

Critical investigation of strength properties of materials is required in Engineering practice to ensure an enhanced service life. Globally, industrialists are struggling to increase cost savings from lost production due to the failure of machine, while customers are concerned about the safety and reliability of the products. Hammer mills are prone to various modes of failure like chemical failure, erosive failure, abrasive failure and fatigue failure. The effect of these failure modes is always detrimental to the operation of the machine and its efficiency. Hence, forensic investigation is essential to determine the failure modes and their effects on hammer mills for bone crushing. Field investigation was carried out to monitor the hammer mill in operation for 12 months with a production of 20 bags per hour. The total production per day for 8 hours is expected to be 160 bags at a given speed. Thus, the cost of machine downtime on production is huge. The Pareto method was used to determine the effect of downtime on revenue and production for a period of one year. The hours of failure were between 1 to 2 hours per day. The loss in revenue was calculated using the variation of number of failure with time, as obtained from hammer mill. The outcome showed that hammers investigated failed as a result of abrasive wear, fatigue, impact, and chemical wear, respectively. The cost of downtime was found to be $ 37,745,809,920.00 CAD for the period of study. Based on findings, wide ranging factors are required to evaluate the performance of the hammer mill for improved productivity and efficiency. These are proper material selection, design and appropriate operational parameters. However, there is need for optimisation of the hammer material via heat treatment methods as this will reduce the yearly cost of production, downtime of the milling machine for bone crushing as well as improvement in productivity

Performance enhancement using appropriate mass charge of R600a in a developed domestic refrigerator

This paper presents performance analysis of a domestic refrigeration system using R600a as refrigerant. Investigation was conducted experimentally to select an appropriate refrigerant mass charge for the system and to compute the cooling system performance characteristics under ambient temperature of 29 oC. The choice of the hydrocarbon refrigerant (R600a) became so imperative due to notable influence of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) on global warming and ozone depletion. UNFCCC and Montreal Protocol regulation have banned the use of halogenated refrigerants in cooling and heating systems. The paper reveals that the power consumed by the system using mass charge of 15 g refrigerant was reduced by 9.3 and 10.9% compared with the 10 and 25 g refrigerant mass charges respectively. In addition, the results show that the coefficient of performance (COP) of the refrigeration system while working with 15 g is 24.7 and 20.2% higher than when the system worked with 10 and 25 g refrigerants mass charge respectively. More so, the system attained an evaporator air temperature of -12 oC in 2 hours, which makes 15 g charge refrigerant appropriate for the running of the developed system that has a volume capacity of 68 liters

Effect of Case Hardening on the Wear and hardness properties of Medium Carbon Steel for Bone Crushing Application

The majority of wear-related problems are connected to crushing machines because hammer failure frequently causes machine failure which eventually leads to machine downtime. Therefore, improving the reliability of crushing materials is necessary for effective production. This research investigation focused on the development of crushing material with appropriate strength properties that can function in critical, impact-prone, corrosive, and abrasive conditions. The current study used palm kernel shell, coconut shell, and sawdust powder as the media for medium carbon steel in order to valorize the agro waste. Carburising media PKS-composition, CS-composition, and SD-composition were changed to 40%: 30%: 30%, PKS-composition 100%, CS-composition 100%, and SD-composition 100%. The process was carried out in 1 hr (60 mims), 1 hr:30 mins (90 mins), 2 hr (120 mins), 2 hr:30 (150 mins), and 3 hr (180 mins) soak period with varied carburising temperatures of 900, 950, 1000, and 1050 °C. However, several characterisation and mechanical tests were carried out using an optical microscope, a spark spectrometer, a scanning electron microscope coupled with an energy dispersive spectrometer, wear tester to explore their microstructural features. Vicker's hardness tester, sliding wear tester, and a thermal gravimetric analysis testing machine were also employed. In order to establish reasons for failure other than the cyclic loading on the materials, the results were compared with the properties of as-received un-failed, and carburised medium carbon steel. The results of carburisation show that PKS penetrates carbon at a rate that is noticeably higher than that of other materials at various temperatures and times, indicating that carbon diffuses deeply into the material. Hence, this enhances the wear resistance, and sample's hardness number but decreased its impact toughness respectively