Development of a Voice Controlled Electric Wheelchair to Aid the Movement of the Physically Challenged

Nigeria is said to have the highest number of physically challenged in Africa and second only to India in the world. Traditional Electrical Wheel Chair has some limitations. In order to assist the physically handicapped, this paper presents the development of a voice controlled wheelchair. The user can control the wheelchair by voice commands, such as “jagaba (go forward)” in Hausa. A grammar-based recognition parser was used in the system. The system comprises of a wheelchair motorize by a DC motor, works on inputs such as voice commands via an android phone and navigates according to the command and battery powered. Voice command input was taken from android mobile and converted into text which is transmitted to microcontroller via Bluetooth module to control the operation of DC motors. Also an IR detection system was used to detect the obstacle in the path of wheelchair to avoid its collision. The chair enables the handicapped person to independently move around. A running experiment with three (3) persons was carried out on speech recognition. 95.4% and 94.0% of the movement command and the verification command were obtained respectively. Keywords: Control, Home Navigation System, Microcontroller, Physically Challenged, Voice Command, Voice Recognition and Wheelchair

The Use of Internet Facilities in Teaching and Research by Academic Staff of School of Management and Information Technology, Modibbo Adama University of Technology Yola

The study investigates the use of internet facilities by the academic staff of School of Management and Information Technology (SMIT) in Modibbo Adama University of Technology (MAUTECH), Yola. Literatures have been reviewed based on the objectives of the study. The findings of the study will be used to improve teaching and research not only in SMIT but to the entire university and the society at large. The study use the survey research design, the population of the study consist of all the 62 academic staff of SMIT comprising of the Departments of Accountancy, Economics, Information Technology, Library and Information Science and Management Technology. Questionnaire was used to collect data. The data collected have been analyzed through descriptive statistics using frequency table and percentage. The study revealed that the University provide staff of the University with Internet access at a fee and also academic staff of SMIT use Google, Yahoo and free database search engines for their teaching and research. Recommendation for the university management to provide free Internet access to the university community to encourage and enhance teaching and research was made

Interaction between phosphorus fertilizer and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal inoculants on yield components of cassava in northern Guinea savanna alfisols of Nigeria

Field experiment was carried out in the Northern Guinea Savanna agro-ecology of Nigeria to examine the interaction between Phosphorus (P) fertilizer and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal (AMF) inoculants on cassava yield components. The experiment was laid in a split plot design with P fertilizers as main plot and AMF inoculants as subplots. There were three rates of P (0, 17.5, and 35 kg P2O5 ha-1) and three levels of AMF inoculants (Control, Glomygel and Mycodrip). The result showed a significant interaction between P and AMF in root/shoot ratio and mycorrhizal response ratio. Highest root/shoot was recorded with combination of 17.5 P2O5 ha-1+ control which depict increased sink strength. However, at 0 kg P2O5 ha-1, Glomygel and Mycodrip were 65.5% and 21.5% respectively greater than control. Mycorrhizal response was also shown to be highest with application of 0 kg P2O5 ha-1 + Glomygel showing much influence of the inoculants where no P was applied. Single effects of P and AMF showed that dry yield components were significantly (p<0.01) increased. The root dry weight was increased by 3.21 and 5.16 t ha-1as a result of application of 17.5 kg P2O5 ha-1 and 35 kg P2O5 ha-1respectively over application of 0 kg P2O5 ha-1. Glomygel and Mycodrip inoculants recorded 28% and 4% total plant dry yield increment respectively over control. This study shows that both P and AMF increased dry yield of cassava in Northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria. The reproducibility at scale and in time is required for proper recommendation.Keywords: AMF inoculants, Cassava, Alfisol, Mycorrhizal response, P fertilizers

Response of grain legumes to rhizobial inoculation in two savanna soils of Nigeria

Three inoculation trials with soybean, cowpea and groundnut were conducted on Eutric Cambisols (EC) and Rhodic Nitisols (RN) in a greenhouse. Five rhizobial inoculants: MAR 1495, TSBF Mixture, Legumefix, HiStick and IRJ 2180A were tested on each crop to determine their response to soil type and ability to form symbiotic relationship with the crops. Generally, response to inoculation was found to be significantly higher (P < 0.05) in EC than RN. In soybean and groundnut trials, highest nodulation in both soils was recorded by strain MAR 1495 followed by TSBF Mixture and these were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than other inoculants and control. A similar trend, though only in EC, was observed in N uptake and in nitrogen fixation but no significant difference was observed in dry matter yield. Cowpea trials did not show response to inoculation nor was there difference between the soils. Instead, control treatment surpassed all the inoculated treatments in nodulation at P < 0.05. Nitrogen uptake and N2 fixation of control also surpassed those of inoculated treatments. Rhizobia strains MAR 1495 and TSBF Mixture showed similar ability to improve the productivity of soybean and groundnut thus can be used as common inoculants for the two crops

Fungal pathogens associated with tomato wicker storage baskets

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Influence of inorganic fertilizer and spacing on growth and yield of two maize cultivars under Striga hermonthica infestation

Field experiment was conducted during the 2013 rainy season at Lapai and Mokwa in the Southern Guinea savanna of Nigeria, to evaluate the reactions of maize cultivars to nitrogen and intra-row spacing in a Striga hermonthica infested field. The treatments consisted of two maize cultivar (Local (kabako) and SAMMAZ 16), four levels of nitrogen fertilizer (0, 60, 120 and 180 kg N ha-1) and three intra-row spacing (20, 25 and 30 cm). The treatments were factorial combined and laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design and replicated three times. Results revealed that plant height, number of leaves and days to 50 % anthesis of Local maize cultivars responded significantly with 60 kg N ha-1 at 9 WAS. 180 kg N ha-1 and 25cm intra-row spacing in combination with SAMMAZ 16 recorded the highest grain yield, 100 grain weight, stover yield, shelling percentage and harvest index. The local cultivars supported greater Striga infestation at 20 cm intra-row spacing and 180 kg N ha-1 was found remarkable for Striga suppression at 9 WAS in this study. From these findings, it could be concluded that the above combinations can be used for effective management of Striga hermonthica for optimum yield of maize.Keywords: spacing, maize cultivar, nitrogen fertilizer, Striga hermonthic

Occurrence and dissolution of rigor-mortis in Bagrus bayad macropterus and Mormyrus rume from River Rima Sokoto

A total of eighty nine samples comprising 45 B. bayad and 44 M.rume from River. Rima were subjected to evaluation of rigor-mortis occurrence and dissolution; Total weight and total length of the species were measured using electric top loading balance (16000gm) and measuring board, respectively. Stop watch and calibrated thermometer were used for recording time and temperature to determine rigor mortis duration and temperature effect. The results showed that the duration from capture to dissolution of rigor was higher in M.rume than B. bayad, despite the fact that temperature ranges were similar. Factors such as size distribution and level of exhaustion might have contributed to the variations. In the light of the above, it is recommended that factors resulting to rapid exhaustion of B. bayad be looked into with a view to lowering it and subsequent elongation of the rigor period

Parental knowledge and impact on growth in children with congenital heart diseases in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital

Abstract: Objectives: Parental knowledge of a child’s heart disease, treatment and prevention of complications may promote a better health related behavior towards the care of the child. Most of these children often present with failure to thrive which the parents may not associate with the disease. This study is aimed at determining the knowledge of parents of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) and the impact of the disease on their growth.Methods: This was a cross sectional study consisting of parents and children with CHD attending the Pediatric Cardiology Clinic of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. Relevant information was gotten from pre-tested questionnairescontaining data such as age, anthropometric parameters, educational level of parents and knowledge of their children’s cardiac defect.Results: Out of the one hundred and three parents recruited in this study, ninety-one (88.3%) of the parents knew the correct cardiac diagnosis. which had no statistically significant association with their educational status. There was statistically significant association between maternal educational status and ability to name the medications (X2= 27.01, df=12, p=0.008). A total of sixty nine (67%) children have a WAZ score of ≤−2 and &lt;3 while forty five (43.7%) have an HAZ of ≤−2.Conclusion: Adequate knowledge will ensure better compliance to medications which can reduce morbidity and early mortality before surgical intervention. Therefore continuous patient/caregiver education is imperative for their long time survival because even surgery may not completely eliminate all complications associated with it.Keywords: Congenital heart disease, Parental knowledge, growth

Probabilistic Evaluation of Eurocode 5 Fire Design Criteria of a Timber Portal Frame

Structural reliability analysis for a three-hinge timber portal frame subjected to fire was undertaken. Eight modes of failure were identified for the frame and limit state function was formulated for each failure mode. The limit state functions were based on the Eurocode 5 design criteria. Uncertainties in the timber material properties were generated from laboratory test results performed on five commonly used timber species in Nigeria, namely Alstonia boonei (Ahun), Triplochiton Scleroxylon (Obeche), Terminalia Ivorensis (Idigbo), Terminalia superba (Afara) and Lophira Alata (Ekki). Uncertainties in loading and geometrical properties were obtained from international references. The limit state functions were evaluated using nonlinear constrained optimization technique. The optimization was executed using Genetic Algorithms(GA) based First Order Reliability Method (FORM) algorithm, through a developed computer programme in MATLAB. The results indicated that, the predominant mode of failure for a three-hinged timber portal frame in fire is the failure of the rafter-column connection that resulted to least safety levels for all the considered fire exposure times. Also, it was observed that at the critical mode of failure the portal frame can sustain fire for up to 50 minutes before failure, however, the target safety index of 3.8 recommended in the Eurocode can only be achieved at fire exposure time less than or equal to 25 minutes.http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v34i1.