Comparison of the Effects of Improvised Electrical Models On Students Academic Achievement In Male And Female Technical Colleges In Borno State, Nigeria

The study was conducted to find out the comparative effects of teacher-improvised electrical models on academic achievement of students in basic electricity at the technical college level in Borno state, Nigeria. Four research questions and four null hypotheses were considered and tested. The pretest posttest experimental research design was employed for the study. The population for the study consisted of 90 students from the only two technical colleges that offer basic electricity. All the population was considered for the study as there was no sampling. The students were randomly assigned to either experimental or control groups. Structured questionnaire titled; Researcher made achievement test (RMAT) and Researcher made retention test (RMRT) were used for data collection. RMAT and RMRT consist of 50 items each with four options. The draft of the RMAT and RMRT and table of specification were given to six experts of varied years of teaching basic electricity from Modibbo Adama University of technology, Yola and Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri, for comments and suggestions. Mean standard deviation and t – test statistics were employed for data analysis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings include; there was a significant difference between the mean ratings of students taught BE using improvised electrical models and students that were taught BE using conventional method in posttest, also; there was no significant difference between the mean ratings of male and female students taught BE, using improvised electrical models in a retention test. It was recommended that, workshop should be organized at technical colleges; to introduce the need for teacher improvised electrical models and stress the importance of electrical models to practicing teachers. Keywords: Electrical models, Achievement test, Retention test, Conventional method, Basic electricit

EFFECT OF ABATTOIR WASTE ON WATER QUALITY IN KWATA SULEJA AREA OF NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

The study assessed the influence of abattoir waste on water quality in the Kwata Suleja area of Niger State. Data analyses were carried out using a frequency- percentage technique, statistical mean, correlation analysis and were presented in figures and tables. The study revealed that microbiological elements have exceeded maximum level and the elements included Total Coliform and E. coli. Total Coliform ranges from 87cfu to 283cfu within the study area and the maximum allowable limit is 10cfu. E. coli found within the study area range from 13cfu in sample A2 to 75cfu in sample downstream and the maximum allowable limit is 0cfu. The finding also shows the incidence of waterborne diseases in the study area like cholera, diarrhea, and typhoid are on the increase and this is attributed to poor drinking water quality. The year 2011 has the highest Diarrhea occurrence in the study area with 1,285 occurrences, 2014 has the highest cholera occurrence with 198 and 2008 has the highest Typhoid occurrence with 204 in the study area. The finding also shows that provision of more boreholes in the study area ranked the highest with 238 (79%) respondents, illumination on promising influences of pollution from abattoir wastes ranked second with 43 (14%) respondents and provision of pipe-borne water ranked the least with 21 (7%) respondents. The values obtained for both faecial and total coliform counts for all the sample stations exceed the various standard suggested by Nigerian Standard for Water Quality for various water uses. Thus, the Suleja surface water/groundwater is highly polluted with fecal contaminants and as such unfit for domestic use

Sistem Informasi Manajemen Marketing Tools Serta Penerapan Metode Ahp (Analytical Hierarchy Process) pada Proses Uji Kualitas Barang ( Studi Kasus : PT Edi Indonesia )

Komputer telah menjadi alat bantu utama dalam tiap kegiatan manusia. Tidak hanya untuk aplikasi bisnis, namun juga dalam kegiatan sehari-hari dari setiap Perusahaan. Penelitian yang dilakukan pada bagian marketing PT. EDI Indonesia, berorientasi pada manajemen persediaan barang, pencatatan marketing tools dan penyajian informasi secara komputerisasi. Dalam artian sistem yang akan dirancangan mampu menyelesaikan permasalahan yang dihadapi mulai dari proses pengajuan permohonan marketing tools, pencatatan pemasukan dan pengeluaran data barang yang masih dilakukan secara manual, serta proses uji kualitas barang menggunakan metode AHP(Analytical Hierarchy Process). Untuk itu diperlukan pengoptimalan penggunaan komputer terhadap pemrosesan data dengan perancangan sebuah sistem informasi yang diaplikasikan kedalam bahasa pemrograman PHP dengan menggunakan framework CodeIgniter dan database MySQL agar dapat memecahkan permasalahan-permasalahan yang ada dengan mampu menjawab kebutuhan bagian marketing. Metode yang digunakan dalam perancangan aplikasi yaitu System Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Hasil dari Perancangan Sistem Informasi Manajemen Marketing Tools ini adalah fitur pengelolaan data marketing tools, data tersebut digunakan sebagai dasar untuk pengambilan keputusan secara cepat untuk melakukan pengajuan permohonan pengadaan barang serta untuk mengetahui kualitas barang. Selain itu pengolahan data dapat dimanfaatkan sebagai pelaporan secara efisien kepada top management

Problems of drought and its management in Yobe State, Nigeria

Drought poses an enormous global threat to sustainable development and is expected to increase with global climate change. Drought and desertification are major problems in Yobe State (north-east Nigeria). This study investigates the main problems associated with drought in Yobe State. Qualitative methods were employed to investigate socio-economic impacts of drought via Focus Group Discussions (FDG). Farmers and officials from the State Ministry of the Environment were the discussants. Both groups confirmed the frequency and severity of drought in Yobe. However, farmers have practises that cause environmental degradation. Developing a viable and holistic approach to drought mitigation is crucial, to arresting and hopefully reversing environmental degradation. Understanding the causes and consequences of drought will help develop drought mitigation and management strategies. Currently, there is no proper drought mitigation and management framework in Yobe State. This paper introduces the socio-economic and environmental effects of drought and makes recommendations for mitigation and management strategies in Yobe State

Morphometric Analysis of Gubi Dam Basin for Flood Vulnerability Using Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (STRM)

This paper examines the relationship between the different morphometric parameters and characters of the drainage terrain. To do that, Gubi dam basin in Bauchi state, Nigeria  drainage characteristics was delineated using Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) data. The Aspect, Drainage, and Slope maps were prepared using ArcGIS 10.2.1 software. The Gubi Dam is fifth-order stream that exhibits dendritic to sub-dendritic pattern. The trails drainage patterns are also observed in some areas of the basin, which may be due to the effect of regional tectonics. The mean bifurcation ratio is 1.47 showing normal basin which is somehow controlled by structural disturbances. Drainage density (0.25) shows very coarse drainage texture also having positive correlation with stream frequency. The elongation ratio is 0.08 along with circulatory ratio (0.21) shows elongated nature of the basin. The low values of drainage density and stream frequency imply that surface run-off is not quickly removed from the basin, making it susceptible to flooding and gully have very little effect on the extent to which the surface has been lowered by agents of denudation. Keywords: Morphometric, Flood, Shuttle, Radar, Topographic, Mission DOI: 10.7176/JEES/10-3-08 Publication date:March 31st 202

Socio-economic factors influencing adoption of yam Minisett Technology in Niger State of Nigeria

Nigeria produces about 70% of the world’s yam accounting for about 39.9 million tonnes. The major constraint has being that of planting seeds amounting to about one third of the total production cost. In order to reduce this perennial production problem, yam minisett technology developed by National Root Crop Research Institute, Umudike, was thought to be an alternative to solving the planting seed menace. This study attempts to investigate the socio-economic factor influencing the adoption of this new technology. It was conducted in all the 25 local Government areas of Niger State. Data were collected by multi – stage random sampling technique using structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were used to analyse the information collected. Results showed that majority of the farmers interviewed had no access to credit, very low extension contact, low levels education, lack of awareness about the minisett technology and therefore were yet to  adopt the minisett technology. Farm size (0.796), labour input (-0.585), cooperativeness (1.026), extension contact (0.959), income (0.473) and credit (0.533) were found to significantly influence the adoption of the yam minisett technology. The study recommends increased farm advisory services. Farmers  should belong to Cooperative societies. Key words:            adoption, minisett technology, socio-economic facto

Prediction of annual rainfall pattern using Hidden Markov Model (HMM) in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria

A Hidden Markov Model (HMM) is a double stochastic process in which one of the stochastic processes is an underlying Markov chain, the other stochastic process is an observable stochastic process. Hidden Markov model is very influential in stochastic world because of its uniqueness, double stochastic nature and independence assumption between consecutive observations. A hidden Markov model to predict annual rainfall pattern has been presented in this paper. The model is developed to provide necessary information for the farmers, agronomists, water resource management scientists and policy makers to enable them plan for the uncertainty of annual rainfall. The model classified annual rainfall amount into three states, each with eight possible observations. The parameters of the model were estimated from the annual rainfall data of Jos, Plateau state, Nigeria for the period of 39 years (1977-2015). After which, the model was trained using Baum-Welch algorithm to attend maximum likelihood. The model is designed such that, if given any of the three rainfall states and its observation in the present year, it is possible to make quantitative prediction on how rainfall will be in the following year and in the subsequent years. The test HMM1 was able to make prediction with 75% accuracy in state and 50% accuracy in observations. The accuracy level of the model shows that, it is dependable and therefore, information from the model could be used as a guide to the farmers, agronomists, water resources management scientists and the government to plan strategies for crop production in the region.Keywords: Markov model, Hidden Markov model, Transition probability, Observation probability, Crop Production, Annual Rainfal

Environmental and Health risks Associated with Dental Waste Management: A Review

Proper management of dental waste is a crucial issue for maintaining human health and the environment. The waste generated in the dental clinics has the potential for spreading infections and causing diseases, so improper disposal of these dental wastes can cause harm to the dentist, the people in immediate vicinity of the dentist, waste handlers, general public and the environment through production of toxins or as by-products of the destruction process. Staff that provide dental healthcare ought to be aware of the proper handling and the system of management of dental waste used by different dental hospitals. The method of investigation adopted in the paper involved a desk study in which documents and records relating to dental waste handling were studied to obtain background information on existing dental waste management in Nigeria other countries of the world are also mentioned as examples.  Additionally, information on generation, handling, segregation, risk associated during handling and treatment of dental medical waste were sought in order to determine the best method for safe disposal. This article provides dentists with the information they need to properly dispose of mercury and amalgam waste, and provides suggestions for managing the other wastes that result from the day-to-day activities of a dental office such as: used X-ray fixers and developers; cleaners for X-ray developer systems; lead foils, shields and aprons; chemiclave/chemical sterilant solutions; disinfectants, cleaners, and other chemicals; and, general office waste. Additionally, this study may be beneficial for authorities and researchers of developing countries to work towards improving their present Dental waste management system. Keywords: Clinic, dental, disposal, environment, waste management

Trypanocidal efficacy of two indigeneous ethanolic plant extracts (Mimosa pigra and Ipomoea asarifolia) against Trypanosoma evansi phospholipase A2 activity

AbstractObjectiveTo study the inhibitory activity of ethanolic extract from Mimosa pigra and Ipomoea asarifolia against Trypanosoma evansi (T. evansi) calcium dependent phospholipase A2.MethodsThe calcium dependent phospholipase A2 (E C 3.1.1.4) enzyme was isolated from T. evansi and purified to electrophoretic homogeneity under non denaturing conditions. It was solubilized from T. evansi cells recovered from white albino rats which were previously inoculated by intraperitoneal injection of infected camel blood. Two indigeneous ethanolic plant extracts used locally for treatment of trypanosomiasis were tested for the inhibition of phospholipases A2.ResultsDouble reciprocal plots of the initial velocity data of the inhibition by the indigenous plant extracts revealed a noncompetitive pattern of inhibition for the Ipomoea asarifolia and a competitive inhibition for Mimosa pigra in a dose dependent fashion. The extrapolated inhibition binding constant (Ki) of these extracts were found to be 2.0×102 μg/mL and 1.12×102 μg/mL respectively.ConclusionsThe low Ki values obtained for these extracts towards this enzyme are an indication of high affinity of the extract or the active components (present in the plants) are for these enzyme and therefore, could be explored to serve as a cheap source of T. evansi PLA2 antidote and as well help in designing a novel drug with high efficiency