Mapping of Water Distribution Network using GIS Technology in Bauchi Metropolis, Nigeria

Increase in Population as well as demand for portable pipe-borne water in most of the cities of developing countries and the activities of the people greatly affect the pipes networks quietly laid beneath the ground. Locating such pipes and the features installed in them has been a task to tackle. Therefore to ensure proper surveillance and monitoring of laid down pipe around the metropolis need to be properly guided with modern technology like the use of Geographic Information Technology.  Hence, to solve these problems analogue data was acquired from the Bauchi State Water Board (BSWB) and converted to digital map (Raster format). (GPS) coordinate was used to locate pipes within the network, the nodes, valves, water hydrants, and busters). Finally, the position of each of the identified features within the network was obtained and recorded in the events table. Digital map of water distribution network of the metropolis was produced and queries were raised while the node valves or pipes underground were easily located using GPS coordinates by navigating from the surface. The study recommends the use of GIS as a decision making tool for municipal water system authorizes or agencies for proper management and evaluation of their installations. Keywords; GIS, GPS Coordinates, ArcGIS, Bauchi Metropolis and Water distribution networ

Pozzolanic and mechanical properties of Date Palm Seed Ash (Dpsa) concrete

This paper presents the findings of a research work conducted on how to improve the mechanical properties of concrete using Date Palm Seed Ash (DPSA) as partial replacement of cement. The DPSA used was obtained by controlled burning of date palm seed in a kiln at a maximum temperature of 630oC for eight hours and air cooled afterwards. The ash obtained was sieved through 75μm sieve and its oxide composition analysed using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) procedures. DoE method of mix design was used to produce concrete ingredients for grade 30N/mm2 giving a water-cement ratio of 0.53. The effect of partial replacement of cement with DPSA on cement paste and concrete using 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 15 and 20% DPSA was investigated through consistency and setting times tests, workability test, compressive strength test (at 7, 21, 28 and 56 days curing duration), pozzolanic activity index evaluation and water absorption test. Results show that DPSA has high silicon dioxide (45.50%), aluminum oxide (20.75%) and Iron oxide (7.25%). Findings indicate that the consistency and setting times of cement-DPSA paste increased with increase in the replacement of cement with DPSA. The workability of DPSA concrete decreased with increase in cement replacement. Compressive strength test results show that cement can be replaced with DPSA up to 10% as the compressive strength at 10% replacement is 31.5N/mm2 as against the 31N/mm2 of the normal concrete, at 56 days. The pozzolanic activity index result also show that DPSA concrete meets up the minimum requirement of 75% specified by ASTM C618-15. Also, the water absorption capacity of DPSA concrete at the highest replacement (20%) is 11% less than that at 0%. Keywords: Cement, Compressive strength, Concrete, Date palm seed ash, Partial replacement, Pozzolan

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3�6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55 of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017�and more than 80 in some low- and middle-income regions�was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing�and in some countries reversal�of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories. © 2019, The Author(s)

Lignes directrices pour les essais en laboratoire et sur le terrain de molluscicides destinés à la lutte contre la schistosomiase

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