Prediction of Soil Temperature at Various Depths Using a Mathematical Model

This study discusses variation of soil temperature with depth using mathematical models at Ataoja School of Science, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria. Average conditions were assumed. The annual soil temperature cycles were modeled with fairly good accuracy. Differences in measured and predicted soil temperatures were determined at annual levels at depths 0cm (top soil), 10cm, 30cm and 50cm. For the annual cycle, the absolute errors ranged from 0.5oC to 7.8 oC with an average of 2.7 oC at the soil surface (0cm). At the 10cm depth, the errors ranged from 0.1 oC to 4.5 oC with an average value of 2.0 oC . At the 30cm depth, the absolute errors ranged from 0.05 oC to 2.9 oC with an average of 1.7 oC. The highest average absolute error was 2.7 oC while the lowest average absolute error was 1.7 oC.Keywords: Soil temperature, transient heat flow, simulation, homogenous

Estimation of Global Solar Radiation in Ibadan, Nigeria using Angstrom - Prescott and Glover - Mcculloch’s Model

In this study, the data of mean daily bright sunshine hour for Ibadan was obtained from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) at Ibadan. It was used to estimate the monthly mean global solar radiation for Ibadan (latitude and longitude ). The data considered were for a period of 2008 to 2012. Angstrom-Prescott, and Glover & McCulloch’s Models were then used to estimate the mean monthly global solar radiation at Ibadan based on the monthly mean bright sunshine hour data of Ibadan. A new sunshine based model is also proposed to estimate global solar radiation at Ibadan for a period of five years (2008 – 2012). The performance of the models are evaluated by some statistical analysis like mean bias errors, root mean square error, mean percentage error, Nash- Sutcliffe error and coefficient of correlation in order to know the most suitable model. It was discovered that the month of August is the least amount of measured global solar radiation averaged for five years (2008 – 2012) at Ibadan is 9.77kW/m2. The most suitable model for Ibadan is Model 2 (Glover & McCulloch’s Model). The results obtained were validated with data of monthly mean global solar radiation data for Ibadan, obtained from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibada

The Pricing of Audit Services in Nigeria Commercial Banks

This  study investigates the determinants of audit fees in commercial banks in Nigeria.  Data were collected from a sample of banks mostly quoted on Nigerian Stock Exchange.  Consistent with previous studies, the result of our data analysis showed that bank size,  degree of bank complexity and transaction and saving accounts to total deposit ratio are positively related and statistically significant to audit fees charged by the auditors.  Even though , non performing loan  is positively related to audit fees , it is statistically insignificant.  While, the risk weighted capital adequacy ratio is negatively related and statistically insignificant to audit fees. Keywords: Audit fees, commercial banks, firm size, subsidiaries, auditor

Alcoholic Beverages and the Health of Young Persons: How Do Undergraduate Students in Remo, Southwest Nigeria See It?

Background: Young people were hitherto assumed to be very healthy until various lifestyle-related illnesses were reported among them. Excessive alcohol intake, often driven by a wrong perception of its consequences, is associated with several diseases and nutritional disorders. This study, therefore, assessed the perception of alcoholic beverages and their associated factors among undergraduate students in the Remo area of Ogun State. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 420 undergraduate students in the Remo Area of Ogun State, southwest, Nigeria, selected via multi-stage sampling. Data was collected using a validated, semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS 23.0. Relevant descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated, with p<0.05. Results: The mean age of respondents was 20.12±2.2 years. About 98% of respondents were full-time students. Alcoholic beverages were perceived to be stress relievers (55.1%); social drinks (57.1%); aphrodisiacs and performance enhancers (71.5%); promoters of male-female bonding (43.9%). Less than 5% were willing to recommend them to friends. Conclusion : Perception of alcohol consumption was good (83%) among respondents. It was associated with a history of alcohol consumption and religion. Adequate and targeted nutrition education should be made available to undergraduate students of tertiary institutions on the ills of excessive alcohol consumption

Effects of Remittance Inflows on Economic Growth of Nigeria

This study investigates the impacts of remittance inflows on the economic growth of Nigeria.  We employed remittance inflows, and some other traditional sources of economic growth, such as Gross Capital Formation, Foreign Direct Investment, openness and foreign exchange rate to evaluate the influence of remittance inflows on economic growth of Nigeria. Co integration and causality tests were deployed to analysis the data collected, the result of our study revealed that there are long run equilibrium relationship among the variables that were employed.  Furthermore, the causality test shows a uni-direction causality from Gross Domestic Product to Remittance Inflows Gross, Capital Formation to Remittances, and Remittance Inflows to Openness. Keywords: Remittance inflows, Economic growth, Cointegration.

An Experimental Evaluation of LTA on the performance of a drone

aerodynamically created via the air by the motion of an air foil, hot air stays upward using a light lifting gas. This distinctive feature can provide them with a high payload to weight ratio having long endurance, which this research investigates. The experiment set up for comparison is simply a test designed to determine the battery performance of a drone. The test takes into account the time the drone can last while performing a simply hover at 3 meters with no accessories attached to it (i.e. no mount or camera). It also takes into account the time taken to recharge the battery and the battery consumption while the battery is idle. The aim of the experiment is to evaluate if the LTA concept increases battery performance by comparing its flight time while performing a hover at 3 meters with the results of the DJI inspired drone using MATLAB and SIMULINK. The result shows a total number of 565.7928 seconds (9.43 minutes) battery time for the first model and 581.1097 seconds (9.69 minutes) battery time for the second model. This result looks promising for the LTA concept considering that the battery supplies current for a total of 10 minutes for a 30-minute flight as opposed to a DJI Inspired 2 drone that requires current discharge through the entire 30-minute fligh

RADIOACTIVITY CONCENTRATION AND DOSE ASSESSMENT OF SOIL SAMPLES IN CEMENT FACTORY AND ENVIRONS IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

The main natural radioactive materials that contribute externally and internally to man and his environs are radionuclides emanating from gamma series of 238U, 232Th, as well as 40K isotope, alpha and beta sources. Also, human activities such as mining and milling of uranium and phosphate, tobacco smoking, oil exploration, air transportation, coal-fired power station, and so on can trigger The technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (TENORMs). It is imperative to monitor the terrestrial background radiation of radionuclides emanating from these sources in order maintain a safe environment for humans. This study measured the activity concentration of 238U, 40K and 232Th in soil samples from cement factory and environs using the NaI(TI) detector, in three zones in Ogun State, Nigeria. The activity concentrations obtained for the three zones are in the order 238U < 232Th < 40K respectively. The radiological parameters estimated from the activity measured were all within the recommended permissive limit except for the annual gonadal doses from the cement factory and its environs, which are higher than the global standard by the factors of 1.03 and 1.07 respectively. This study therefore concludes that people living and working in these areas might be exposed to high radiation burden as a result of cumulative effect of the emission from the factory

GC-MS analysis and physiochemical properties of Enterolobium cyclocarpum (elephant ear) seed oil

Background: The present study aimed to extract, evaluate the physicochemical properties, and chemical characterization of the seed Enterolobium cyclocarpum. E. cyclocarpum is a legume of the Leguminosae family. It is used as foliage, for animal feeding and oil is extracted for several application in folk medicine for the treatment of sore throat, colds, diarrhea, headache, intestinal ailments, and stomachache. The leaf infusion is used as a laxative In the West Indies; seeds are chewed for a sore throat.Methods: Three hundred grams (300 g) of each of the pulverized samples were extracted with 100% hexane using Soxhlet extractor to produce a light-brown oil of low viscosity. The physicochemical properties of the oil were analyzed using AOAC standard methods, while the oil components were characterized on an HP-5MS column Gas Chromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS).Results: The yield of the oil is very low (only 4.11 % by weight), Fatty acid composition showed that undecanoic acid methyl ester (36.68%) was the dominant fatty acid, followed by 3-linoleic acid (25.04%), and 2-linolelaidic acid methyl ester (12.98%). Physicochemical properties of themed oil were moisture content (0.85%); refractive index (25oC), 1.45; Specific gravity, 0.86±0.02; iodine value, 68.55±0.02/100 g of oil; peroxide value, 6.58±0.03 meq. O2/kg of oil; free fatty acids, 2.63±0.01 mg of KOH/g of oil; acid value, 5.26±0.02 mg of KOH/g of oil; saponification value, 189.00±0.03; Unsaponifiable value, 0.66±0.01%.Conclusion: This study has shown that the seed oil of E. cyclocarpum displayed properties and constituents as a substitute oil for industrial, pharmaceutical, and domestic applications

Cortical AAV-CNTF gene therapy combined with intraspinal mesenchymal precursor cell transplantation promotes functional and morphological outcomes after spinal cord injury in adult rats

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) promotes survival and enhances long-distance regeneration of injured axons in parts of the adult CNS. Here we tested whether CNTF gene therapy targeting corticospinal neurons (CSN) in motor-related regions of the cerebral cortex promotes plasticity and regrowth of axons projecting into the female adult F344 rat spinal cord after moderate thoracic (T10) contusion injury (SCI). Cortical neurons were transduced with a bicistronic adeno-associated viral vector (AAV1) expressing a secretory form of CNTF coupled to mCHERRY (AAV-CNTFmCherry) or with control AAV only (AAV-GFP) two weeks prior to SCI. In some animals, viable or nonviable F344 rat mesenchymal precursor cells (rMPCs) were injected into the lesion site two weeks after SCI to modulate the inhibitory environment. Treatment with AAV-CNTFmCherry, as well as with AAV-CNTFmCherry combined with rMPCs, yielded functional improvements over AAV-GFP alone, as assessed by open-field and Ladderwalk analyses. Cyst size was significantly reduced in the AAV-CNTFmCherry plus viable rMPC treatment group. Cortical injections of biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) revealed more BDA-stained axons rostral and alongside cysts in the AAV-CNTFmCherry versus AAV-GFP groups. After AAV-CNTFmCherry treatments, many sprouting mCherry-immunopositive axons were seen rostral to the SCI, and axons were also occasionally found caudal to the injury site. These data suggest that CNTF has the potential to enhance corticospinal repair by transducing parent CNS populations

Design and construction of remote patient monitoring device

Health care services are important part of the society, automating these services lessen the burden on humans and eases the measuring/monitoring process. The construction of local remote patient monitoring system (RPMS) was done using the Arduino Uno connected to the global system for mobile (GSM) module SIM 800a, heart pulse sensor and body temperature sensors. It worked with 5 V power supply and the output is read on the liquid crystal display (LCD). The constructed device was tested by measuring the body temperature, heart pulse and electrocardiogram (ECG). The testing was conducted on 5 willing students and the values measured were within the normal body temperature between 36.1 to 37.2 oC. The device also sent message to alert the doctor when the value went below the prescribed value. The response time of the the device to send and receive short message service (SMS) is between 6 s to 13 s. The RPMS worked as intended and when improved upon by neater coupling and packaging, it will be a sellable low-cost product to the country locals as health care monitoring device