Jim T. Reed. Genesis: The Making of Literary Works from Homer to Christa Wolf. Camden House, 2020.

Review of Jim T. Reed. Genesis: The Making of Literary Works from Homer to Christa Wolf. Camden House, 2020. 301 pp

Brazil Bolsa Familia Program: Analysing The Impact of The Conditionalities on School Enrolment, Health and Child Labor

Abstract With high poverty and inequality rate, the Government in Brazil have adopted several social assistance programs and strategies in the fight against the ever growing rate of poverty and inequality within it’s population since the 1990s. In recent years, the Bolsa Familia Program have been a major social assistance program in Brazil, and the program have affected more than 13 million poor households in their everyday life. The program is seen as a model for other developing countries and it is the largest conditional cash transfer program in Latin America. Bolsa Familia Program have played an important role towards the achievement of MDGs targets in the short-term through poverty alleviation and long-term human capital through investment in education and health. However, the effort of the program is also without criticisms, which focusses on the inabilities of the program to provide other alternative exist root out of poverty for the beneficiaries and the dependency on the program. Considering all these arguments, the paper is aimed at reviewing the existing literature, which will help to investigate the evidence, potential gaps and evaluations of the impact of Bolsa Familia Program on school enrolment, health and child labor. The paper will focus more on a larger number of the impact evaluation of the Bolsa Familia Program which have been carefully constructed. This research will provide more clear argument on the impact of Bolsa Familia Program have had on school enrolment/attainment, health and child labor. The concept of human capital and breaking intergenerational of cycle of poverty is evident in the program. The findings on the program’s frame work, targeting, monitoring and evaluations will help explain the structural changes that have occurred and provide more evidence on the impact of the program on educational outcomes, health and child labor

Quantitative Evaluation of Residential Virtual Energy Storage in Comparison to Battery Energy Storage: A Cyber-Physical Systems

Virtual energy storage (VES) refers to an indirect method of storing energy without using a battery. In a residential setting, VES uses the building structure interior appurtenances together with its physical properties as an energy storage device. It represents a methodology in energy storage mechanisms to help with load management in residential microgrids. It is an approach that is critical to the necessary paradigm shift from the less flexible and more costly demand response energy market of the present to the more flexible and potentially less costly availability response energy market of the future. This work quantifies VES monetary cost-savings potential for residential homes, as part of an effort to develop smart systems (using power sensors, and simple computation and control mechanisms) to assist individuals in making decisions about energy use that will save energy and, consequently, electricity costs. The project also compares the cost-effectiveness of VES to that of battery energy storage (BES)¿currently the more traditional and widely-advocated-for approach to energy storage for load management. In addition, this project devises a load management framework for a residential microgrid, where strategies that enable energy and cost savings for both utilities and consumers are tested. To make a home act as its own storage device, we need to intelligently control its heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. Through this control, we can harness the house\u27s thermal storage abilities by methods such as preheating or precooling the house (with due consideration to user comfort) during periods when energy is less expensive so that this heat or coolness will be retained during higher-cost periods. A well-insulated residential home equipped with sensing technology and intermittent generation resources will be utilized as a testbed for this project. Using a testbed is advantageous as it provides realistic results as well as a platform where behavior of the home can be learned. By combining modeling techniques with test results from a live testbed, cost-saving solutions can be simulated and later evaluated. This work provides a means to determine how to reduce peak demand and save costs for both utilities and consumers by changing consumer behavior, while respecting consumer thermal comfort preferences. Additionally, by creating the aforementioned modeling framework, we provide the load management community with tools by which they can readily test their optimization algorithms. By so doing, more efficient algorithms can be developed (potentially leading to increased residential energy efficiency)

Combating Rising Insecurity Challenges in Nigeria: An Alternative Approach

A Nigerian student studying abroad recently averred that his school abroad nearly disallowed him from returning to Nigeria owing to the security situation of the country. The security situation in the country appears to be deteriorating at the dawn of each day with the citizens of the country in a quagmire as the government is yet to demonstrate her ability to nip this terrible situation in the bud. Kidnapping, armed robbery, boko haram insurgency, land border/communal clashes, farmer—herder conflicts and in recent times, the activities of bandits have become reoccurring headlines. The government and her security agencies have fought these challenges with considerable successes but leaving much to be desired. This paper adopting a qualitative research methodology which is thematic and analytical and also using and interpreting both primary and secondary sources interrogates the security challenges that are prevalent in present day Nigeria and proffers alternative approaches apart from the use of force in tackling them. The paper finds that the various security challenges bedeviling the country have an adverse effect on every sector of the country and her image amongst community of nations. The paper submits that the war against insecurity in Nigeria can be won if the Nigerian government takes into consideration beyond lip service the issues of provision of jobs, investing in quality education, technology advancement and diversifying the nation’s economy through harnessing the myriads of other mineral resources available in the country.

Integration of a testbed for examining the interaction of Mars rover wheels with a Mars soil simulant

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, September 2011."June 2011." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 52-53).Integration and experimental testing was performed on a testbed for examining the interaction of Mars rover wheels with a Mars soil simulant. The testbed included a horizontal carriage that had a encoder to measure the horizontal displacement of the Mars rover wheel. A DC motor was attached to the top of the carriage and controlled the horizontal velocity of the Mars rover wheel. The testbed had a vertical carriage with a 6-axis load cell attached to measure vertical load and the tractive force developed by the Mars rover wheel. There was another motor and a torque sensor attached to the Mars rover wheel that controlled the angular velocity of the wheel and measured the applied torque. A program was created in order to run tests on the Mars rover wheels testbed using LabVIEW. The program had an interface that allowed the user to input a desired horizontal velocity and slip. The program recorded the distance the wheel traveled, velocity it traveled at, sinkage of the wheel into the soil, tractive force of wheel on soil, vertical load applied to wheel, torque applied to wheel, and the amount of time the system ran for. The user was also able to reset the system after each test to start again.by Chiedozie A. Okafor.S.B

Rapid analyses of dry matter content and carotenoids in fresh cassava roots using a portable visible and near infrared spectrometer (Vis/NIRS)

Portable Vis/NIRS are flexible tools for fast and unbiased analyses of constituents with minimal sample preparation. This study developed calibration models for dry matter content (DMC) and carotenoids in fresh cassava roots using a portable Vis/NIRS system. We examined the effects of eight data pre-treatment combinations on calibration models and assessed calibrations on processed and intact root samples. We compared Vis/NIRS derived-DMC to other phenotyping methods. The results of the study showed that the combination of standard normal variate and de-trend (SNVD) with first derivative calculated on two data points and no smoothing (SNVD+1111) was adequate for a robust model. Calibration performance was higher with processed than the intact root samples for all the traits although intact root models for some traits especially total carotenoid content (TCC) (R2c = 96%, R2cv = 90%, RPD = 3.6 and SECV = 0.63) were sufficient for screening purposes. Using three key quality traits as templates, we developed models with processed fresh root samples. Robust calibrations were established for DMC (R2c = 99%, R2cv = 95%, RPD = 4.5 and SECV = 0.9), TCC (R2c = 99%, R2cv = 91%, RPD = 3.5 and SECV = 2.1) and all Trans β-carotene (ATBC) (R2c = 98%, R2cv = 91%, RPD = 3.5 and SECV = 1.6). Coefficient of determination on independent validation set (R2p) for these traits were also satisfactory for ATBC (91%), TCC (88%) and DMC (80%). Compared to other methods, Vis/NIRS-derived DMC from both intact and processed roots had very high correlation (>0.95) with the ideal oven-drying than from specific gravity method (0.49). There was equally a high correlation (0.94) between the intact and processed Vis/NIRS DMC. Therefore, the portable Vis/NIRS could be employed for the rapid analyses of DMC and quantification of carotenoids in cassava for nutritional and breeding purposes

Incidence and determinants of child labour in Nigeria : implications for poverty alleviation

Various official reports have established that child activity options have a link to household poverty. Specifically, research acknowledges a two-way link between child labour and household poverty. Some researchers argue that the increasing participation of children in economic activities is a result of illiteracy and poverty, among other social and economic problems. Others view such participation as an important strategy by poor households to rise above the poverty line. In Nigeria, reports have identified an increasing incidence of child labour, but comprehensive national analyses of the descriptive and causal factors of the child welfare variables - schooling and work-have not been possible until now. This study is therefore expected to fill this gap in knowledge using data from the Nigeria Child Labour Survey, 2001. Among the major conclusions emerging from the study is that there are structural differences in the choice of child activity options across gender, age, sector and zones in Nigeria. Although the evidence of a sector gap exists, the participation of children in economic activity particularly increases in rural areas. In all the measures of poverty used, there are also differences in child activity options across poverty status, which points to poverty as an important variable of child welfare. Finally, there were percentage differences in income contribution across age groups, gender and zones in Nigeria. The econometric estimation noted that some child, parent, household and community variables significantly affect the child activity options. Specifically the age of the child, household composition, education of father, sector, zone and adult income determine child activity options. Most of these contradict or support many of the findings of child labour studies in other developing countries. Based on this it is recommended that for formulating effective policy to reduce child labour in Nigeria, the age of the child, income status of the household, education of the parents, and sector and zone must constitute important variables. Also, awareness campaigns on the cost of child participation in economic activities should be given priority. More importantly, if overall economic conditions are not improved to lift families out of poverty, children will continue to get involved in economic activities to enhance family income, irrespective of any regulatory or legislative prohibitions. Key words: Child labour, poverty, Nigeri

Production of Alumina from Local Clays using Nitric and Acetic Acids

The study was carried out to investigate the effect of process variables on the production of alumina (Al2O3) by leaching of local clays obtained from four different locations in Nigeria – Ikot-Abasi, Enito II, Akpugo and Awgbu containing 56.00%, 8.45%, 25.28% and 14.43% of Al2O3 respectively.  The process variables whose effect on alumina leaching investigated were: acids concentration (2M to 10M), calcinations temperature (200oC to 1000oC), calcinations time (15 to 75 minutes), leaching time (20 to 100 minutes) and particles size (75 to 1000µm) with the experiment conducted at constant boiling temperatures of the acids used (Nitric and Acetic acid). The recommended leaching conditions used as obtained from literature were: 6M for the two acids concentrations, particles size of 150µm, calcinations and leaching time of one hour and calcinations temperature of 600oC. Upon leaching of these clays under prescribed conditions, the optimal yield obtained by varying each of the process variables were noted. Calcination temperature was observed to have the highest effect on the yield of alumina extractible providing the highest yield of alumina after analysis using mass adsorption spectrophotometer. The yield of alumina presented under the variation of calcination temperature were: Ikot-Abasi clay and nitric acid – yield of 68.10% alumina; Ikot-Abasi and Acetic – yield of 38.07% alumina; Enito II and nitric acid –  yield of 56.50% alumina; Enito II clay and acetic acid – yield of 43.41% alumina; Awgbu clay and nitric acid – 59.04% alumina yield; Awgbu clay and acetic acid – alumina yield of 46.55%; Akpugo clay and nitric acid – alumina yield 53.47%; Akpugo clay and acetic acid – alumina yield 43.23%. It was observed that Ikot-Abasi clay/nitric acid gave the best yield. Keywords: Local Clays, Alumina, Nitric Acid, Acetic Acid, Mass Adsorption Spectrophotometer. DOI: 10.7176/CPER/60-05 Publication date:March 31st 201

Determination of Optimal Yield of Alumina From Local Clays by Factorially-Designed Experiments

Leaching by use of factorial design experiment was used to investigate the effect of process variables on the yield of alumina obtainable from four local clays from four different locations in Nigeria. Characterization of these clays obtained from previous work was observed in this order: Ikot-Abasi, Enito II, Akpugo and Awgbu containing 56.00%, 8.45%, 25.28% and 14.43% Al2O3 respectively. Fractional factorial design was used to develop a mathematical model used in the investigation. The process variables whose effect on alumina leaching investigated were: acid concentration (2M and 10M), calcinations Temperature (200oC and 1000oC), calcinations time (15 and 75 minutes), leaching time (20 and 100 minutes) and particle size (75 and 1000µm) with the experiment conducted at constant boiling temperatures of the acids used (Nitric and Acetic acid). On optimization of the model developed from the factorial design experiment, optimal leaching conditions for each clay samples were obtained with corresponding yields of alumina presented as follows: Ikot-Abasi clay and nitric acid – yield of 78.86% alumina; Ikot-Abasi and Acetic – yield of 50.26% alumina; Enito II and nitric acid –  yield of 53.14% alumina; Enito II clay and acetic acid – yield of 30.23% alumina; Awgbu clay and nitric acid –  62.74% alumina yield; Awgbu clay and acetic acid – alumina yield of 43.24%; Akpugo clay and nitric acid – alumina yield 75.43%; Akpugo clay and acetic acid – alumina yield 41.98%. The values of the yields obtained from the model optimization were validated by conducting the leaching experiment again in the laboratory under the optimized process conditions and were observed to closely match with a deviation ranging from 0.21 to 5.55%. From the results obtained, it was observed that the best yield was gotten from Ikot-Abasi clay which contained the highest percentage of alumina content. DOI: 10.7176/CPER/60-03 Publication date:March 31st 201

Long term consumption of high fructose and high salt diet did not induce blood pressure elevation in female mice. Is estrogen protective against dietary-induced high blood pressure?

Introduction: High fructose and high salt (HFHS) consumption are linked to hypertension, which is now the leading cause of death worldwide. Results from a previous study showed that the effect of HFHS on blood pressure (BP) is dependent on the concentration and duration of consumption. Sex differences in BP regulation are partially attributed to the effects of sex steroids on key renal sodium transporters.Hypothesis: We hypothesized that HFHS would induce BP elevation in male and female mice, however, females will have higher expression of renal NCC/NKCC during long-term HFHS diet consumption.Methods: Four-week-old male and female CD-1 mice (n= 6/group) were placed in metabolic cages and consumed standard chow and water for seven days, followed by 3months of 4% sodium chloride (NaCl) diet and a drinking solution of 1% NaCl and 20% fructose. Separate mice on the same diet in bins were sacrificed and kidneys extracted at the end of the first week, first and second months, and used for molecular studies.Results: Females expressed higher mRNA levels of NCC and NKCC throughout the study with fold difference of two or higher. Systolic BP averaged weekly and analyzed via ANOVA showed no sex difference in BP from baseline to the third month. Males showed an increase in BP in the third month compared to baseline (123.6 ± 3.6mmHg and 106.3 ± 5.4mmHg, P< 0.5 respectively). There were no sex differences in sodium retention.Conclusion: Females have protection against HFHS induced BP elevation and estrogen may have a protective role