A Comparison of Performances of Electronic and Electromechanical Energy Meters

The Ferraris (electromechanical) energy meter has had predominance in the metering of energy consumption using the alternating current supply system. Electronic energy meters are gaining popularity because of the possibility of remote reading and controllable non uniform rate of billing. In this work, an electronic energy meter which does not use a multiplier circuit but uses a voltage to frequency converter with frequency to voltage converter in the feedback loop was designed and built. The performances of this electronic meter were compared with those of the Ferraris meter. It is shown that at light loads, the errors of the electromechanical meter are greater than those of the electronic meter

AN AUTOMATED RAILWAY STATION TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM

Majority of accidents experienced with railway transportation involve collision with automobiles or other vehicles and collision with other trains. These collisions can be averted by putting safety measures in place. Part of the measures can be achieved by using computerized railway station traffic control systems that use microcontrollers and electromechanical devices to shift traffic from one rail lane to another and also to operate the level crossing gate. The two major stages of the system being described here are thus the track switching stage and the level crossing gate stage.  The system makes use of microcontrollers for decision making. The microcontrollers are programmed to detect signals from sensors and to output the processed signals to control electromagnetic devices through motor drivers. The codes for the microcontrollers were written in PIC Basic programming language and were debugged and compiled using Micro Code Studio Integrated Development Environment. The resultant Hex files were programmed into the memory of the microcontrollers with the aid of a universal programmer. Software simulation was carried out using the Proteus virtual system modeling software. A scaled down prototype of the system was built and tested. The prototype was able to execute all the decisions required to control the given railway station. A practical real life system would require the scaling up of the power required to drive the various motors; the logic of the system would however remain unchanged. The inclusion of the automated traffic control lighting system at the level crossing gate in the system eliminates the fatigue and tedium associated with a manually controlled traffic system. The computerized railway station traffic control system which helps in track switching and level crossing gate traffic control is capable of improving reliability, speed, operational safety and efficiency of the railway transportation system.

An Automatic Safety Control for Immersion Water Heater

The heating of liquids, especially water, is carried out in the homes and industries for various reasons. The domestic water heater has become a near- ubiquitous appliance in the Nigerian homes. An important source of concern with this appliance is the frequent possibility of outbreak of fire due to negligence on the part of the user. This paper describes an immersion water heater that is free from such hazards. The safety condition is achieved by incorporating a device, which automatically switches off power from the heating element when the water level drops below a certain mark

Development of a Microcontroller Based Car Speed Controller

Nigeria and many countries of the world have been experiencing an increase in road traffic accidents much of which can be attributed to human errors such as over speeding. The car speed controller discussed in this work is designed to automatically control the speed of a car so that the car’s speed will not exceed the speed limit that has been set for a particular zone by a regulating body such as the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Nigeria. The car speed controller operates by taking inputs from a set of three switches that can set speed limits in kilometers per hour of 40, 80, and 120 respectively. Each setting of the switch is compared with the actual speed of the car that is derived from the car’s speedometer. If the speed of the car exceeds the setting, an actuator is called into operation such that the car’s speed is not allowed to exceed the set limit for the zone. A microcontroller was programmed to take inputs from the switches and the speedometer; depending on the settings the microcontroller turns on light emitting diodes (LEDs) and displays appropriate messages on the screen of a liquid crystal display (LCD). In the simulation model a stepper motor was controlled by the microcontroller through a motor driver to represent the adjustment of speed in the real environment. The program for the microcontroller was written using mikroC development environment and hardware simulation was carried out with the aid of Proteus Design Suite Version 8.0. The speed settings for a zone can be altered to suite the choice of a regulatory agency. The installation of the car speed controller in vehicles will not only give early warnings to drivers but will prevent over speeding thus leading to the reduction in cases of road traffic accidents. Keywords: Car Speed Control, Speed Governor, Microcontroller, Road Safet

A MICROCONTROLLER-BASED HIGHWAY-RAILWAY LEVEL CROSSING TRAFFIC CONTROLLER

Highway-railway level crossings across the country have witnessed a number of fatal accidents in the past. Many of the level crossings in the rural areas are not protected by level crossing gate signals. In the urban areas where these provisions are put in place, the operation of the level crossing gate is usually entrusted to the level crossing keeper- who opens and closes the gate against road traffic at times that he deems necessary. This results in the closing and opening of the gate earlier or later than necessary as well as the intervention of a human superintendent who may not be on duty at the correct time. These factors cause difficulties and possible accidents for the highway/railway users. This work describes a control system that uses a microcontroller to handle traffic flow across a major and typical highway-railway level crossing located in an urban centre. It is seen that the incorporation of computer methods into the operation of the level crossing improves its safety, speed and reliability.Highway-railway level crossings across the country have witnessed a number of fatal accidents in the past. Many of the level crossings in the rural areas are not protected by level crossing gate signals. In the urban areas where these provisions are put in place, the operation of the level crossing gate is usually entrusted to the level crossing keeper- who opens and closes the gate against road traffic at times that he deems necessary. This results in the closing and opening of the gate earlier or later than necessary as well as the intervention of a human superintendent who may not be on duty at the correct time. These factors cause difficulties and possible accidents for the highway/railway users. This work describes a control system that uses a microcontroller to handle traffic flow across a major and typical highway-railway level crossing located in an urban centre. It is seen that the incorporation of computer methods into the operation of the level crossing improves its safety, speed and reliability

ANALYSIS OF AGE AND LEVEL OF STUDY AS FACTORS IN ACADEMIC STRESS EXPERIENCED AMONG UNDERGRADUATES OF PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN EDO STATE, NIGERIA

The study examined whether age and level of study differences exist in academic stress experienced among undergraduate students of public universities in Edo State. The descriptive research design using the survey was adopted in the study. The population of covered all the 53,588 regular undergraduate students in public universities in Edo State in the 2018/2019 session. A sample size of 536 students was selected for the study. The proportional random sampling technique was used to select 2% of the total number of students across each of the faculties in the institution. The instrument used for the collection of data was a questionnaire titled: “Academic Stress Questionnaire - ASQ”. The test-retest reliability coefficient of 0.88 was obtained to show that the instrument is reliable. The t-test statistics for two independent samples and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level. The result showed that the academic stress experienced among undergraduate students of Public universities in Edo State differed with respect to their age and level of study. In addition, academic stress was found to decline with increasing age of students while academic stress rises for undergraduates in their first year, declines in the second and third year but rises again in the final year. It was recommended that guidance and counselling units should be well established in every department in the university to support lecturers on the area of course advising students to reduce lecturer-related, examination-related and school-relationship stress that students may be confronted with. Article visualizations

Outcome of obstetric admissions in the intensive care unit of Jos University teaching hospital: a six year review

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Assesment of the Morphometry of Gullies in Kastina-Ala, Nigeria

The analysis of morphometry characteristics of four gullies in Katsina-Ala local government area of Benue State was carried out to assess the severity and economic losses associated with it. Field inspection at various sites and reduced level against various chainages at the identified gully sites were carried out in attempt to define the initial and final geometry of the gully sites. The mophometric characteristics of length, depth width, slope and shape were evaluated on site by geophysical survey of dumpy and physical measurement. Mathematical model of simpson’s rule was used in quantifying the volume of earth lost to gullies. From the analysis of mophometry of these gullies, the total volume of earth lost is standing at 17,680.36m3 covering 737.01m2 of urban land area. The estimated cost of recovering this area by earth filling is put at N61,500.000.00 which will be an economic set back to the inhabitant of the old urban centre. Key words: Kastina-Ala, Gullies, Mophometry, Severity, Remediatio

Choice of place of antenatal care among women of reproductive age in a semiurban population in northcentral Nigeria

Background: Antenatal care has an important role in identifying high‑risk pregnancies and improving the chances of safe motherhood particularly in developing countries where obstetric indicators are still poor. The objective of this study was to determine the choices women of reproductive age in Vom, a semirural town at the outskirts of Jos the capital of Plateau State Nigeria made to have antenatal care.Materials and Methods: This was a cross‑sectional study carried out between January and March 2015 in Vom, a semirural area about 30 km from Jos the capital of Plateau State among 2,641 (Two thousand six hundred and forty one) women of reproductive age.Results: Fifty‑eight percent of the respondents opted for antenatal care in government‑owned hospitals while 29% chose faith‑based institution which was in their vicinity, 11% favored private hospitals for antenatal care, while 1% chose traditional birth attendants (TBAs) and prayer houses to receive antenatal care. The majority of the respondents (32%) were females between the ages of 40 and 44 years while 22% were aged between 25 and 29 years of age. They were predominantly farmers of the Berom ethnic group and 47% of them had completed primary level of education.Conclusion: Females in the reproductive age in this rural setting in northcentral Nigeria favored government‑owned hospitals as places to receive antenatal care. Their choices were not affected by their educational status varied according to the age ranges of the respondents.Keywords: Antenatal care; reproductive age women; semiurban populatio

Performance Evaluation of Waste Stabilization Pond for Treatment of Wastewater from a Tertiary Institution Campus Located in Jos North Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria

Appropriate treatment of wastewater before disposal into the environment or reuse is very important in the quest to protect the environment and safeguard public health. This paper investigated the performance evaluation of a waste stabilization pond (WSP) for treatment of wastewater from a tertiary institution campus located in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State in North Central Nigeria. The waste stabilization pond of the tertiary institution campus was designed for a wastewater flow rate of 12,945 m3/day. In order to evaluate the performance of the WSP, a model was developed following the Froude’s number dimensional analysis technique. The model was evaulated based on a wastewater flow of 0.4 m3/day. The final effluent from the maturation pond had 80 mg/L BOD, 195 mg/L COD, 75 CFU/100ml Total Coliforms, 610 mg/L Total solids, 19 mg/L Total Nitrogen, 210 mg/L Chloride, 28 mg/L Phosphate, 1.3 mg/L Ammonia and 7.0 pH. The WSP was able to achieve an overall efficiency of 77.78% reducing all quality parameters to recommended limited with exception of total nitrogen and phosphate. The implementation of this design will go along way to aid the treatment of wastewater from the campus of the university