Evidence of dynamical transition and maximum predictability of air temperature, relative humidity and dew point temperature

Monitoring and predicting the climatic phenomenon are the major global concern because of its devasting effects on people's lives and their environments. As a result of this, there is a need to understand the natural processes that control the dynamic evolution of the climatic phenomenon. Air temperature and relative humidity data collected from Nsukka station by the Centre for Atmospheric Research (CAR), measured in 5 minutes time steps from 1st January till 31st December, 2012 have been analysed. Dew point temperature was calculated from the actual readings of air temperature and relative humidity using appropriate empirical relation. In this paper, Average Mutual Information (AMI), False Nearest Neighbour (FNN) and Lyapunov Exponent methods were used to study changes and transitions in the dynamics of these meteorological parameters or temporal deviations from their overall dynamical regimes. The results show that the dynamic model needed to describe the data has 4-5 dimensions for air temperature, 4-6 for relative humidity and 4-5 for dew point temperature. Positive and negative Lyapunov exponents were observed in the air temperature, relative humidity and dew point temperature time series. This indicates that there exists periodicity inherent in the chaotic behaviour of these meteorological time series, causing a transition from chaoticity (positive Lyapunov exponent) to periodicity (negative Lyapunov exponent) and thereafter to chaoticity (positive Lyapunov exponent). The results, therefore, provide additional information about the climate transitions, maximum predictability and also, for formulating a weather prediction model

African Communitarianism and Difference

There has been the recurrent suspicion that community, harmony, cohesion, and similar relational goods as understood in the African ethical tradition threaten to occlude difference. Often, it has been Western defenders of liberty who have raised the concern that these characteristically sub-Saharan values fail to account adequately for individuality, although some contemporary African thinkers have expressed the same concern. In this chapter, I provide a certain understanding of the sub-Saharan value of communal relationship and demonstrate that it entails a substantial allowance for difference. I aim to show that African thinkers need not appeal to, say, characteristically Euro-American values of authenticity or autonomy to make sense of why individuals should not be pressured to conform to a group’s norms regarding sex and gender. A key illustration involves homosexuality

Genome-wide association study of primary open-angle glaucoma in continental and admixed African populations.

Primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) is a complex disease with a major genetic contribution. Its prevalence varies greatly among ethnic groups, and is up to five times more frequent in black African populations compared to Europeans. So far, worldwide efforts to elucidate the genetic complexity of POAG in African populations has been limited. We conducted a genome-wide association study in 1113 POAG cases and 1826 controls from Tanzanian, South African and African American study samples. Apart from confirming evidence of association at TXNRD2 (rs16984299; OR[T] 1.20; P = 0.003), we found that a genetic risk score combining the effects of the 15 previously reported POAG loci was significantly associated with POAG in our samples (OR 1.56; 95% CI 1.26-1.93; P = 4.79 × 10-5). By genome-wide association testing we identified a novel candidate locus, rs141186647, harboring EXOC4 (OR[A] 0.48; P = 3.75 × 10-8), a gene transcribing a component of the exocyst complex involved in vesicle transport. The low frequency and high degree of genetic heterogeneity at this region hampered validation of this finding in predominantly West-African replication sets. Our results suggest that established genetic risk factors play a role in African POAG, however, they do not explain the higher disease load. The high heterogeneity within Africans remains a challenge to identify the genetic commonalities for POAG in this ethnicity, and demands studies of extremely large size

Application of gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-based metabolomics for the study of fermented cereal and legume foods:a review

A new era of cutting-edge technologies and advancements in analytical platforms and omics sciences is disruptively bringing a paradigm shift in fundamental and translational research. Metabolomics is one of the omics strategies that yields big data and has gained popularity in a wide spectrum of applications. Among various analytical platforms used in metabolomics, gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) allows the measurement of thermally stable (volatiles and semi-volatiles) metabolites, with an advantage of spectral reproducibility. Cereal and legume-based fermented foods are part of the food culture in various countries throughout the world. Thus, this review provides an overview of recent applications of GC-MS-based metabolomics in the food fermentation field, specifically cereal and legume-based fermented foods. This emerging use of metabolomics in food fermentation studies illustrates the potentials of this omics science to elucidate metabolome landscapes of fermented foods. Such insights would advance our predictive understanding of fermentation processes and molecular descriptions of resultant food products; a necessary step for improvements and sustainability in food industry. Furthermore, the review echoes the current need of collaborative efforts in the scientific community (in this field) to harness and maximise the potentials of metabolomics in food fermentation studies

Development and Characterization of a Composite Anthill chicken Eggshell Catalyst for Biodiesel Production from Waste Frying Oil

The primary aim of this research is to synthesis composite anthill-chicken eggshell catalyst, which is characterized and employed for the synthesis of biodiesel from waste frying oil. The as-synthesized catalyst was characterized using various characterization techniques, such as Xray fluorescence (XRF), Fourier transform infrared radiation (FTIR), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Basicity. The influence of different reaction parameters on the catalytic reaction, reaction time, catalyst loading and reaction temperature in the range of 50–75°C were studied at fixed methanol/oil ratio of 6:1. The experimental data obtained showed that at reaction time of 2 h, catalyst loading of 5 wt% and reaction temperature of 60°C, the biodiesel yield was 70%. The synthesized catalyst was found to convert low-grade oil into biodiesel via a single-step transesterification process, and its activity has the potential for improvement

Design of A Water Transmission and Storage System for Sustainable Reuse of Wastewater Within A University Community

This research is aimed at designing a wastewater transmission system from storage to treatment and, eventually to storage in an elevated steel tank. The work includes the design of a 750,000-litre capacity underground concrete reservoir and a 125,000-litre capacity elevated steel tank. For the transmission design, field activities involved the use of Magellan eXplorist 350H North America G.P.S. and Google Earth to determine coordinates of different points in a selected private university campus, southwest Nigeria as well as the lowest and the highest elevation points. The highest point in the university was located at the postgraduate hall of residence, and the lowest point was located at the schools constructed wetland within the campus. WaterCAD was used to design the flow path network, while the water storage design software used for this project are StaadPro.V8i, Orion 18, and AutoCAD 2013. StaadPro.V8i was employed for the analysis and design of the underground storage facility and the elevated steel tank, while the Orion software was utilized for concrete design and detailing of the underground storage facility. The results from all the design applications were exported to the AutoCAD environment for editing and proper scaling. This study has revealed that the construction of a 750 m³ underground storage tank would be highly efficient and economical when compared to a smaller tank. Also, both the hydrostatic forces acting internally within the underground tank and active and passive pressure acting externally toward the wall has shown to possess zero impact on the shear wall

Design and Construction of an Automatic Transfer Switch for a Single Phase Power Generator

An Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) for a single phase power generator has been designed to enable the automatic operation and transfer of power supply between a public utility supply and a power generator. The ATS, which is a switchgear control system, provides a functional system that provides an automatic switching of power supply between a primary source (public utility) and a secondary power source (generator). The methods employed in designing the ATS involve the use of electromechanical type relays, contactors, voltage monitoring relays and delay timer relays as main components of the system. Incorporated in the ATS is a digital multimeter (DMM) made up of a 12V d.c and a 5V d.c power supply unit, precision rectifier unit, current transformer and Microcontroller (PIC 16F877) to convert the measured analogue alternating current(a.c). voltage and current quantities to digital values for display on the liquid crystal display (LCD). The result of the automatic transfer switch demonstrates its ability to perform automatic power change over activities easily and with little or no human interactio

Design of A Water Transmission and Storage System for Sustainable Reuse of Wastewater Within A University Community

This research is aimed at designing a wastewater transmission system from storage to treatment and, eventually to storage in an elevated steel tank. The work includes the design of a 750,000-litre capacity underground concrete reservoir and a 125,000-litre capacity elevated steel tank. For the transmission design, field activities involved the use of Magellan eXplorist 350H North America G.P.S. and Google Earth to determine coordinates of different points in a selected private university campus, southwest Nigeria as well as the lowest and the highest elevation points. The highest point in the university was located at the postgraduate hall of residence, and the lowest point was located at the schools constructed wetland within the campus. WaterCAD was used to design the flow path network, while the water storage design software used for this project are StaadPro.V8i, Orion 18, and AutoCAD 2013. StaadPro.V8i was employed for the analysis and design of the underground storage facility and the elevated steel tank, while the Orion software was utilized for concrete design and detailing of the underground storage facility. The results from all the design applications were exported to the AutoCAD environment for editing and proper scaling. This study has revealed that the construction of a 750 m³ underground storage tank would be highly efficient and economical when compared to a smaller tank. Also, both the hydrostatic forces acting internally within the underground tank and active and passive pressure acting externally toward the wall has shown to possess zero impact on the shear wall