Numerical Study of the Thermal Efficiency of a School Building with Complex Topology for Different Orientations

In this work a numerical model that simulates the thermal behavior of a building with complex topology and evaluates the indoor thermal and air quality, in transient conditions, is used for a school building thermal project. The program calculates the building surfaces solar radiation field, the building's temperatures, the internal environmental variables, and the occupant's comfort levels. Initially, after the numerical model is validated, the software is used to evaluate the school building's thermal response for four different orientations, either in winter or summer conditions. The work then aims to identify uncomfortable spaces in order to propose, as an example, several solutions that could be introduced for each orientation, that would improve the thermal comfort and air quality levels to which the occupants are subjected, and decrease the building's energy consumption levels. The information obtained from this study could be used to help a designer choose which thermal systems and solutions function best for a preferred school building orientation

Material Losses and Garri Recovery Rate during the Processing of Varieties of Cassava into Garri

Materials losses and garri yield during garri processing on different cassava varieties; TMS/92/0057, TMS/30572, TME/419 and Vitamin A: 01/1368 were conducted. The results showed that there were variations within the different processing unit as well as the cassava varieties during garri processing. Losses were recorded highest at grating, dewatering and fermentation processes with the values of 9kg from TMS/92/0057 recording the highest loss, 8.5kg from Vitamin A: 01/1368, 7.7kg from TMS/30572 and 7kg from TME/419. On roasting processes, TMS/30572 had 3.2kg loss, Vitamin A: 01/1368, had 2.5kg loss, while TME/419 and TMS/92/0057 had 2kg loss respectively. Material losses at peeling showed that Vitamin A: 01/1368 recorded 4.5kg loss being the highest, TMS/92/0057 and TME/419 recorded 3kg loss each, while TMS/30572 recorded 2.5kg loss. Sifting losses indicated that vitamin A: 01/1368 and TME/419 had 1kg loss each, whereas TMS/30572 had 0.8kg loss and TMS/92/0057 had 0.5kg loss. Overall material loss for each cassava variety based on fresh weight of 20kg and maturity age of 14 weeks was determined, which vitamin A: 01/1368 recorded the highest loss of 16.5kg, TMS/92/0057 had 14.5kg loss, TMS/30572 had 14.2kg loss and TME/419 recorded 13kg loss. The total garri yield from each variety was also determined with TME/419 having 7kg yield, TMS/30572 had 5.8kg yield, TMS/92/0057 had 5.5kg yield and Vitamin A: 01/1368 recorded 3.5kg yield. Percentage losses from the tested varieties showed that vitamin A: 01/1368 had the highest percentage of 82.5% loss, TMS/92/0057 had 72.5% loss, TMS/30572 had 71% loss and TME/419 recorded 65% loss. Percentage yield of garri was also determined on the cassava varieties, this showed that TME/419 had 35% yield being the maximum, TMS/30572 had 29% yield, TMS/92/0057 had 27.5% yield and Vitamin A: 01/1368 recorded 17.5% yield

In-Vitro Evaluation of Stem Bark Extracts of Daniellia oliveri (Hutch and Dalz) for Antimicrobial Activity

A comparative study of the antimicrobial properties of ethanol, methanol, acetone, cold and hot water extracts of Daniellia oliveri was carried out. The extracts were assayed by the minimum inhibitory concentration broth microdilution and minimum bactericidal concentration methods before they were submitted to phytochemical screening. Three Gram positive, three Gram negative bacteria and yeast were used in the assay. All the extracts showed varied activity levels against the test microorganisms. Ethanol, methanol and acetone extract had better antimicrobial activity than the aqueous extracts within the concentration range of 6.25 – 100 mg/ml assayed. The activity was more pronounced against the Gram positive and fungal organisms than the Gram negative bacteria. This study shows that ethanol is the best solvent for extracting pharmacologically active compounds from plant materials. Its extract had the lowest bactericidal concentration of 6.25-25 mg/ml on organisms challenged. Results suggest that the D. oliveri has potential for use as pharmaceutical as well as in ethnomedicinal treatment of infections and diseases.Keywords: Daniellia oliveri, Inhibitory concentration, Bactericidal concentration, Antimicrobial activit

Boko Haram Insurgency and National Security Challenges in Nigeria: An Analysis of a Failed State

This paper examined the activities of the Boko Haram sect and how it has impeded the economic political and social matrix of the Nigerian polity The paper argued that the insurgence of the sect would continually be a national security challenge in-spite of the marginal lip-service of the government to curb the heinous activity The paper relied more on secondary data-journals magazines newspapers internet and the theoretical framework is Durkheim and Merton Anomie theory etc The paper concluded that development cannot take place in an atmosphere of insecurity the symptoms of a failed state are made manifest on a daily basis in Nigeria such as poor governance destruction of lives and properties population displacement lack of basic amenities Hence the Nigerian government has failed in its social responsibility to secure lives and properties of the populace It recommends for collective and holistic machinery not only by the Nigerian state but also by the entire African nations and United States to curb not only Boko Haram insurgencies but also any pockets of militia activity threatening the existence of the state Also the deployment of neighborhood watch NW would be a complimentary effort to the machinery of government to identify and locate the sect for such a time as thi

Temporal and Spatial Temperature Trends and Their Implications on Health Conditions in Port Harcourt and Warri in Niger Delta

In recent times climate change; global warming or rising temperature have taken centre stage in international concerns and several fora and treaties have been observed with a view of stemming trend, in rising temperatures. This study evaluated 36 (thirty-six) years maximum and minimum annual temperature of Port Harcourt and Warri in Niger Delta (1971 – 2006) to determine trends and identified extreme fluctuation in temperature and their possible implications on health condition of the people. Data used for this study were historical data on temperature of Port Harcourt and Warri sourced from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency’s Archive, Lagos and data on health conditions sourced from the Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital Port Harcourt and Warri Central Hospital Warri. Temperature data was analyzed for long term of thirty six (36) years and short term of 6 years series using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (r). Other analysis tool used include standardized temperature anomaly index, mean temperature deviation, graphical model of mean annual temperature, five year moving averages etc. Frequencies of health cases were correlated with extreme temperature fluctuation values to determine relationship between temperature trends and health conditions in Port Harcourt and Warri. The result of data analysis showed a direct relationship between temperature of Port Harcourt and Warri (r = 0.79) for the series 1971 – 2006. Mean annual temperature has varied remarkably in Port Harcourt and Warri during the period. The study also established an inverse relationship between extreme temperature and health condition in Warri (r = - 0.55). Specifically inverse relationship was establish between temperature and malaria (r= - 0.04), typhoid (r = - 0.55), measles (r = - 0.01), hypertension (r = - 0.02), hepatitis (r = - 0.75), gastro enteritis (r = - 0.36) and pneumonia (r = - 0.13). Asthma (r = 0.28) and bronchitis (r = 0.02) directly relate with temperature. Observed trends in temperature of Port Harcourt and Warri is in conformity with rising trend of global temperature as revealed by trend models. However, high and low extreme temperature have some influences on human health condition in Port Harcourt and Warri. Keywords: Temporal, Spatial, Temperature Trends, Health condition, Port Harcourt, Warri

Prevalence and determinants of anemia amongst HIV positive pregnant women in a tertiary Hospital in Nigeria

Background: In pregnancy, anemia is associated with increased risk of both maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality especially in HIV situation. To determine the prevalence and determinants of anemia in HIV positive compared to HIV negative women.Methods: This was a cross sectional study carried out from June 2016 to December 2017 amongst pregnant women who presented to the antenatal clinic. Information on socio-demographic variables and laboratory test to determine the hemoglobin levels and CD4 count (for the HIV positive women) were carried out. A total of 350 subjects with equal number of HIV positive and HIV negative pregnant women were recruited. Variables were compared between the two groups using software package for social sciences version 20. P values<0.05 at 95% confidence interval are considered statistically significant.Results: The mean age for HIV positive and negative were 31.54 ±4.1 and 29.03 respectively while, mean gestational age at booking for HIV positive and negative were 20.41±8.61 and 22.37±7.4 weeks respectively. The HIV positive group had a mean parity of 2.02±1.5, and 2.56±1.2 was that of the HIV negative group. The mean hemoglobin statuses at booking were 9.92±1.8 g/dl and 10.6±1.1 g/df HIV positive and HIV negative women respectively. The mean CD4+ at booking for HIV positive group was 478±251 per microliter. The overall prevalence of anemia irrespective of HIV status was 36.6%. The prevalence of anemia in HIV positive and negative women were 44.6% and 28.6% respectively. There was statistically significant relationship between anemia and HIV status (p=0.002).Conclusions: There was inverse relationship between CD4+ count and anemia. Low CD4+ count and non-use of HAART at booking were important determinants of anemia among the HIV

Sound alternations and communication effectiveness among certain Igbo-English speakers of Anambra State

The paper examines sound alternations or interchange of sounds in some English words as realized by Igbo-English speakers of some communities in Anambra State. Discussing language acquisition in children, Chomsky (1965:200-201) observes that every normal child is genetically endowed with the language faculty which incorporates grammatical principles of Universal Grammar (UG). These innate universal principles have two functions namely: (a) enable children to acquire language quite successfully even though no special care is taken to teach them and no special attention is given to their progress and (b) constrain the application of every grammatical operation in every language. Despite the genetic endowment of humans with language faculty, the linguistic performance in English of some Igbo native speakers wobbles even after series of formal education. The major difficulty of these Igbo-English speakers is in the articulation of some sounds that are positionally interchanged in English words. Sometimes, the interchange causes communicative barriers as it produces a different meaning to the intended meaning of the speaker. This paper highlights the occurrence of the sound alternations in English words and discusses the resultant communicative barrier of the phenomenon, also referred to as interference. Various samples of words containing the alternated sounds are produced; each speaker’s actualizations of the words are placed side by side with his intended realizations of the same words. Evidence from the analyses of the word samples shows that the interlocutor is often misled and deceived when he/she relies completely on the actual realizations of the locutor

THE DEVELOPMENT OF DEBT TO EQUITY RATIO IN CAPITAL STRUCTURE MODEL: A CASE OF NIGERIAN MANUFACTURING FIRMS

The arguments on the responsiveness of capital structure leverage to sets of its major determinants have dominated the corporate finance literature. There is however no consensus regarding the direction of effects of these determinants on debt to equity ratio. In contribution to existing literature, this study explored development of debt to equity ratio in capital structure in the Nigerian context, with aim of filling gaps in methodology which have been argued to undermine the credibility of previous findings. The method of estimation used is the Panel-Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS). The Pedroni cointegration test was employed to test for long-run relationship. The descriptive statistics and the panel unit root test were the preliminary test. We ascertained that our data set are stable and normally distributed as precursor to determining if the variables are cointegrated. A more sophisticated method of panel estimation other than the traditional method was adopted which among other advantages purges the defects posed by heteroskendasticity prevalent in the conversional estimation method. We established that there is a long-run relationship between debt to equity ratio and tangibility, profitability, firm growth and firm size. The panel regression estimate confirmed the trade-off theory and the pecking order hypothesis in Nigeria as tangibility was found to have positive effect on corporate leverage. However, the finding with regards to growth and firm size supports the trade-off theory while discrediting the pecking order assumption. Profitability on the other hand confirmed the pecking order theory for Nigeria and shows that profitability has negative effect on debt to equity ratio. The robustness and reliability of the findings was embedded on the controls for residual weaknesses and disturbances.JEL: L60, O14, D24  Article visualizations

Nitrogen fertilization and use efficiency in an intercrop system of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) and soybean (Glycine max (L) Meril.)

Experiments were conducted at the Department of Crop Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka Research farm during the 2008 and 2009 cropping seasons to determine the effects of intercropping cassava and soybean on cassava tuber and soybean grain yields respectively and on nitrogen use efficiency of cassava at the intercropping system. The experiment for each year was laid out in a factorial arrangement in randomized complete block design (RCBD). The treatments were the nitrogen rates, sole soybean (TGM 579), sole cassava (TMS 30572) and cassava + soy bean intercrop. Intercropping cassava with soybean showed a significant (P ≤ 0.05) yield advantage over sole cropping system in 2008. Increased fertilizer rates up to 90 kg N/ha-1 increased fresh cassava yield in sole cropping system, while in the intercrop, increased application of nitrogen at 60 kg N decreased cassava tuber yield. The cassava nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) increased with increase in applied nitrogen up to 60 kg N/ha-1 and then decreased beyond this point. Similar trend was observed in 2009, except that total harvested cassava tuber yield was significantly higher in 2009 than that obtained in 2008. This result suggests that intercropping cassava with soybean with or without application of nitrogen is beneficial but high doses of nitrogenous fertilizer in sole soybean field is uneconomical and should be avoided.Key words: Cassava, soybean, intercrop, sole crop, nitrogen use efficiency

Examining the Integration of Landsat Operational Land Imager with Sentinel-1 and Vegetation Indices in Mapping Southern Yellow Pines (Loblolly, Shortleaf, and Virginia Pines)

The mapping of southern yellow pines (loblolly, shortleaf, and Virginia pines) is important to supporting forest inventory and the management of forest resources. The overall aim of this study was to examine the integration of Landsat Operational Land Imager (OLI ) optical data with Sentinel-1 microwave C-band satellite data and vegetation indices in mapping the canopy cover of southern yellow pines. Specifically, this study assessed the overall mapping accuracies of the canopy cover classification of southern yellow pines derived using four data-integration scenarios: Landsat OLI alone; Landsat OLI and Sentinel-1; Landsat OLI with vegetation indices derived from satellite data—normalized difference vegetation index, soil-adjusted vegetation index, modified soil-adjusted vegetation index, transformed soil-adjusted vegetation index, and infrared percentage vegetation index; and 4) Landsat OLI with Sentinel-1 and vegetation indices. The results showed that the integration of Landsat OLI reflectance bands with Sentinel-1 backscattering coefficients and vegetation indices yielded the best overall classification accuracy, about 77%, and standalone Landsat OLI the weakest accuracy, approximately 67%. The findings in this study demonstrate that the addition of backscattering coefficients from Sentinel-1 and vegetation indices positively contributed to the mapping of southern yellow pines