Towards Semantic Integration of Heterogeneous Sensor Data with Indigenous Knowledge for Drought Forecasting

In the Internet of Things (IoT) domain, various heterogeneous ubiquitous devices would be able to connect and communicate with each other seamlessly, irrespective of the domain. Semantic representation of data through detailed standardized annotation has shown to improve the integration of the interconnected heterogeneous devices. However, the semantic representation of these heterogeneous data sources for environmental monitoring systems is not yet well supported. To achieve the maximum benefits of IoT for drought forecasting, a dedicated semantic middleware solution is required. This research proposes a middleware that semantically represents and integrates heterogeneous data sources with indigenous knowledge based on a unified ontology for an accurate IoT-based drought early warning system (DEWS).Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, In Proceedings of the Doctoral Symposium of the 16th International Middleware Conference (Middleware Doct Symposium 2015), Ivan Beschastnikh and Wouter Joosen (Eds.). ACM, New York, NY, US

Constraints to Proper Administrative Staff Training in Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, Nigeria

The study examined the constraints to training programmes offered to administrative staff of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria. The primary data were sourced from respondents with the aid of key informant interview (KII) administered on the Administrative Officers in charge of Staff Training and the officer in charge of Budget & planning section. The secondary data was generated from records obtained from the Training and Development section as well as Budget and Planning section of the Registry in the University. It was discovered that there were constraints to proper administrative staff training and development programmes.  One of the constraints is late arrival of invitation fliers from the organizers of training programmes as well as delay in obtaining funds from the Bursary department even after necessary approval. It was established that LAUTECH do sponsor training programmes only that there is always room for improvement.  It is therefore suggested that more people should be allowed and encouraged to attend training programmes that is relevant to their jobs as frequently as possible to enhance better performance and reduce staff turnover. Keywords: Constraints, Administrative staff, Training

Diversity Combiner in Adaptive Modulation over Fast and Frequency Selective Environment

Signal over fast and frequency selective channel suffers from Doppler and delay effects due to propagation mechanism such as reflection, refraction and diffraction resulting in poor quality reception. Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC) and Adaptive Modulation are some of the techniques previously used to address this problem, but each of these techniques suffers from signal fading and interference distortion as result of weak signal and delay spread respectively. Therefore, an Adaptive modulation technique which incorporates MRC is developed over fast and frequency selective Rayleigh fading channel. The system model in this study employed 10,000 bits randomly generated, gray encoded and modulated with M-ary Phase Shift Keying (M-PSK). The signals were filtered using square root raised cosine filter and then transmitted over fast and frequency selective Rayleigh fading channel. At the receiver, two paths at 100km/hr and 200km/hr were combined using MRC, the channel was estimated using Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) to change the constellation size of the modulation in accordance with the severity of fading. The process was simulated using MATLAB software package. The performance of the proposed system was evaluated using Bit Error Rate (BER) at mobile speeds of 100km/hr and 200km/hr. At Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) of 10dB, the BER values of 0.0003, 0.0013, 0.0686, and 0.3009 were obtained for conventional MRC with BPSK, QPSK, 8PSK, and 16PSK signaling scheme respectively as against 0.0011 for adaptive MPSK at a mobile speed of 100km/hr while at 200km/hr, the BER values of 0.0134, 0.0161, 0.1947, 0.4116 were obtained using MRC with BPSK, QPSK, 8PSK and 16PSK respectively as against 0.0134 for adaptive MPSK. In conclusion, adaptive modulation incorporating MRC gave the best result due to lower BER values obtained at all SNR considered. The effect of fast and frequency selective Rayleigh channel has been reduced at high speed. Keywords: Adaptive Modulation, Maximal Ratio Combining , M-PSK, Rayleigh Environment, Bit Error           Rate (BER), Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR)

Serum Lipid Indices and Renal Function Among Persons with Chronic Kidney Disease in Jos, North Central Nigeria

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Influence of Different Fertilizer Types on the Growth and Yield of Two Varieties Cucumber (Cucumis melo)

The growth, yield and nutritional quality of Poinsett and Marketmore varieties of cucumber in response to compost and NPK fertilizer application were evaluated at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria. The six fertilizer combinations are T1 (0 kg N), T2 (100% NPK, 600 kg NPK 15:15:15), T3 (100% Tithonia compost (TC), 5 tons/ha), T4 (75% NPK + 25% TC), T5 (50% NPK + 50% TC) and T6 (25% NPK+ 75% TC). The treatments were arranged as 6 × 2 factorial scheme in Randomised Complete Block Design with three replicates. Data were collected on growth parameters, fruit yield, calcium content and iron content. Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance and difference among treatments means was computed using Least Significant Difference at 0.05 probability level. The results revealed that at the point of maximum growth Poinsett cucumber variety produced significant longer vine (173.78cm); higher number of leaves (23.56) and more robust stem girth (3.01 cm) than the other variety. At 8 weeks after sowing (WAS) the longest vine length (216.67cm) and number of leaves (29.33) were obtained from cucumber plants treated with 5 tons/ha. Varietal effect was not significant (p≤0.05) on cucumber fruit yield and firmness. The vine length, fruit girth, stem girth, number of leaves were significantly influenced by the application of 5 tons/ha. At 8 WAS, the longest vine 216.67cm and highest number of leaves (27.33) were recorded from 5 tons/ha, while the widest stem girth (2.10cm) was gotten from 50% NPK + 50% TC treated cucumber. Fruit yield was significantly improved by the application of different combination of fertilizer. Plant that received fertilizer had significant better fruit yield compared with non-fertilized one. However, the use of 50% NPK + 50% TC gave the highest fruit yield. The study concluded that combine application of 300 kg NPK + 2.5 ton/ha TC would be sufficient for production of the two varieties tried in this study. Keywords: Cucumber; farmyard manure; inorganic fertilizer; growth; yield. DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/9-14-03 Publication date:July 31st 201

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF AN IMPROVED ITU-R RAIN ATTENUATION PREDICTION MODEL OVER MALAYSIA EQUATORIAL REGION

Attenuation due to rainfall is one of the most fundamental constraints on the performance of satellite links above 10 GHz. This work presents the results of rain attenuation measurement using radar data collected from MMD and DIDM Malaysia. The results were compared with newly improved ITU-R P530-16 and four other selected tropical rain attenuation prediction models. The statistical analysis showed that ITU-R P 530-16 has significantly addressed the problem of rain attenuation underestimation prediction as presented by older version of the recommendatio

Retinal cells derived from patients with DRAM2-dependent CORD21 dystrophy exhibit key lysosomal enzyme deficiency and lysosomal content accumulation

\ua9 2024 The Author(s)Biallelic mutations in DRAM2 lead to an autosomal recessive cone-rod dystrophy known as CORD21, which typically presents between the third and sixth decades of life. Although DRAM2 localizes to the lysosomes of photoreceptor and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells, its specific role in retinal degeneration has not been fully elucidated. In this study, we generated and characterized retinal organoids (ROs) and RPE cells from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from two CORD21 patients. Our investigation revealed that CORD21-ROs and RPE cells exhibit abnormalities in lipid metabolism, defects in autophagic flux, accumulation of aberrant lysosomal content, and reduced lysosomal enzyme activity. We identified potential interactions of DRAM2 with vesicular trafficking proteins, suggesting its involvement in this cellular process. These findings collectively suggest that DRAM2 plays a crucial role in maintaining the integrity of photoreceptors and RPE cells by regulating lysosomal function, autophagy, and potentially vesicular trafficking

Intermittent preventive treatment with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine is effective in preventing maternal and placental malaria in Ibadan, south-western Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Intermittent preventive treatment with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPT-SP) is currently the recommended regimen for prevention of malaria in pregnancy in endemic areas. This study sets out to evaluate the effectiveness of IPT-SP in the prevention of maternal and placental malaria in parturient mothers in Ibadan, Nigeria, where the risk of malaria is present all year round.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>During a larger study evaluating the epidemiology of congenital malaria, the effect of malaria prophylaxis was examined in 983 parturient mothers. Five hundred and ninety eight mothers (60.8%) received IPT-SP, 214 (21.8%) received pyrimethamine (PYR) and 171 (17.4%) did not take any chemoprophylactic agent (NC).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The prevalence of maternal parasitaemia in the IPT-SP, PYR and NC groups was 10.4%, 15.9% and 17% respectively (p = 0.021). The prevalence of placental parasitaemia was 10.5% in the IPT-SP, 16.8% PYR and 17% NC groups, respectively (p = 0.015). The prevalence of maternal anaemia (haematocrit <30%) was 5.7% vs. 8.9% vs. 13.4% among the IPT-SP, PYR and NC groups respectively (p < 0.0001) while that of pre-term delivery (GA <37 weeks) was 10.5%, 19.2% and 25.3% among IPT-SP, PYR and NC groups respectively (p < 0.0001). Babies born to mothers in the IPT-SP, PYR and NC groups had mean birth weights of 3204 ± 487.16, 3075 ± 513.24 and 3074 ± 505.92 respectively (ρ < 0.0001). There was a trend towards a lower proportion of low birth weight babies in the IPT-SP group (p = 0.095).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>IPT-SP is effective in preventing maternal and placental malaria as well as improving pregnancy outcomes among parturient women in Ibadan, Nigeria. The implementation of the recently adopted IPT-SP strategy should be pursued with vigour as it holds great promise for reducing the burden of malaria in pregnancy in Nigeria.</p