Engineering Geology of Failed Sections of Isua – Idoani Road Southwestern Nigeria

There is an increasing incidence of road failures in Southwestern Nigeria Many asphalt roads have failed sections soon after construction and in any case rarely reach their design life before major repair is required.Numerous studies of failed sections of roads in Southwestern Nigeria have suggested the link between underlying geology and road failures.Engineering geological investigations of failed sections of Isua-Idoani road in Ondo State, Southwestern Nigeria has been were conducted with a view to determining the influence of the geology to the incidence of road failure along the stretch of the alignment. The geological mapping of the road alignment reveals that the road stretch was founded on two different lithologies, which are quartz-schist and granite-gneiss. The natural moisture content of the subgrade soils ranges from 6.5 to 19.6%, liquid limit from 24.1 to 55.1%, plastic limit from 9.1 to 21.2, plasticity index 5.2 to 21.2%. The grain size analysis shows that the amount of fines ranges from 29.2% to 60.8%. The linear shrinkage between 5 and 11.4%, free swell between -16.67 and 41.94%, maximum dry density between 1520 Kg/m³ and 1780Kg/m³.The results of the study show that the lithology is not the dominant reason for the failure of the road sections studied. Similar failures occur on stretches founded on the quartz-schist as well as granite gneiss (see Adeyemi 1995 and Jegede 1998). The poor geotechnical properties of the subgrade soils as indicated by the low maximum dry density; high linear shrinkage, high liquid limit values, high amount of fines and particularly poor drainage is the greater culprit in these cases. The results of the study suggest that closer attention need to be placed on the groundwater regimes of streams and rivers valleys along roads. Keywords: Engineering Geology, Road pavement failure, Geotechnical properties, Southwestern Nigeria 

Depression, Anxiety and Smart phone Addiction among Young People in South West Nigeria

Smart phones are communication and entertainment tools with mental health consequences for heavy users. The study therefore examines the prevalence and relationship between depression, anxiety and smart phone addiction among young people in Nigeria. Using cross-sectional research design, a structured questionnaire comprising of demographic information, Smart phone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used to collect data from 500 (51.6% females) respondents selected by quota technique, aged 16 to 32 years (X=21.95, SD= 2.88), at five higher institutions. Data was analyzes with descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. Results showed 10.2% of the respondents manifested with probable smart phone addiction, 23.4% at the risk of smart phone addiction, 21.6% manifested with depression and 14.8% manifested with anxiety symptoms. There was significant relationship between addictive smart phone use and depression (r = 0.26, p < 0.01), anxiety(r = 0.23, p < 0.01), financial income level (r = 0.12, p < 0.01) and being married (r = -0.09, p < 0.05), but not with age and gender. Psychological predictors of smart phone addiction were depression (β=0.20, t=3.54, P<0.00), financial income level (β=0.14, t=3.12, P<0.01), marital status (β=-0.11, t=-2.40, P<0.05) and anxiety (β=0.11, t=1.98, P<0.05). All the independent variable jointly predict smart phone addiction at (R2= .10, F (6, 493) = 9.58, P<.00). The prevalence and positive relationship between depression, anxiety and smart phone addiction indicate a need to challenge these menace. Smart phone should be used moderated by users to reduce its adverse effects on mental health

National institutions and subnational development in Africa

Few issues have received more inquiry in the social sciences than “”what are the fundamental determinants of comparative development?”” The institutional view asserts that the ultimate causes of underdevelopment are poorly performing institutional structures, such as lack of constraints on the executive, poor property-rights protection, as well as inefficient legal and court systems (see Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson 2005 for a review and Acemoglu and Robinson 2012 for an influential popular argument). Other works downplay the role of formal institutions, emphasising instead the importance of geographical features, informal cultural norms, genetic, and epidemiological traits (see Spolaore and Wacziarg 2013 for a review, and Diamond 1997 and Landes 1998 on popular arguments on the importance of geography and culture, respectively)

Nigeria, Republic of a Thousand Kings. The Merchant Prince and the Monarch: Oba Oladunni Oyewumi, The Soun of Ogbomosoland

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ENERGY EFFICIENCY FOR COOPERATIVE TRANSMISSION

Cooperative transmission involves the simultaneous transmission by a group of devices, alldevices sending the same data. The devices may use sidelink (SL) to share data prior to thejoint transmission. Cooperative transmission helps improve network coverage since it can usethe combined transmission power of all devices in a group, whereas single-hop transmissionby one device is limited to its own maximum uplink power. Cooperative transmission aim is toimprove the network coverage of devices involved. The cooperative transmission solutioncomprisestwo steps. The first step is when a device (source device) in the group wants to senddata in the UL and then transmits data via SL to the devices in a created group. In the secondstep, all users simultaneously transmit the data in the UL to the base station the group isassigned to.This master thesis studies both the performance in the uplink (UL), comparing cooperativewith direct transmission, and how to reduce the power consumption of the devices involvedin the cooperative transmission.A power consumption model was developed to analyze the energy consumption, both viaanalytical and simulations methods. The analytical results show that cooperative transmissioncan reduce energy consumption by 7% compared to direct transmission. An algorithm wasproposed for cooperative transmission, which helps reduce energy consumption by 31%.Furthermore, the performance of cooperative transmissions was also studied using a systemsimulator. The results shows that the UL total bit rate increases with cooperative transmissionand is proportional to the number of users in the group. The total bit rate increased by 57%for a group with five users and for a group of 10 the increase was 107% (with a carrierfrequency of 3GHz). Different scenarios were simulated, and the increase in total bit ratevaries from 50-150%. Cooperative transmission involves the simultaneous transmission by a group of devices, alldevices sending the same data. The devices may use sidelink (SL) to share data prior to thejoint transmission. Cooperative transmission helps improve network coverage since it can usethe combined transmission power of all devices in a group, whereas single-hop transmissionby one device is limited to its own maximum uplink power. Cooperative transmission aim is toimprove the network coverage of devices involved. The cooperative transmission solutioncomprisestwo steps. The first step is when a device (source device) in the group wants to senddata in the UL and then transmits data via SL to the devices in a created group. In the secondstep, all users simultaneously transmit the data in the UL to the base station the group isassigned to.This master thesis studies both the performance in the uplink (UL), comparing cooperativewith direct transmission, and how to reduce the power consumption of the devices involvedin the cooperative transmission.A power consumption model was developed to analyze the energy consumption, both viaanalytical and simulations methods. The analytical results show that cooperative transmissioncan reduce energy consumption by 7% compared to direct transmission. An algorithm wasproposed for cooperative transmission, which helps reduce energy consumption by 31%.Furthermore, the performance of cooperative transmissions was also studied using a systemsimulator. The results shows that the UL total bit rate increases with cooperative transmissionand is proportional to the number of users in the group. The total bit rate increased by 57%for a group with five users and for a group of 10 the increase was 107% (with a carrierfrequency of 3GHz). Different scenarios were simulated, and the increase in total bit ratevaries from 50-150%.