Flood menace in Kaduna Metropolis: impacts, remedial and management strategies

This study assesses how Kaduna Metropolis have been affected by flood menace incidences as it takes a look at the devastating impacts, remedial and management strategies at curbing flooding in Kaduna Metropolis which has almost become a yearly occurrence. Data for this study were obtained from questionnaires, interviews, personal observation, archival records of ministries and newspaper reports. A total of 196 respondents, drawn from residents in flood prone areas, were sampled for this study. Descriptive statistics and Likert Rating System were used in the analyses of the data. The results of analyses show that floods in Kaduna Metropolis occur mostly at the event of rainfall intensity, especially at the peak of rainy season (September, 2015). And it takes 3 - 5days for the flood water to recede depending on the magnitude of event and receding factors in different areas. Factors other than rainfall identified to substantially influenced flooding in the study area are: Lack of and poor drainage networks, dumping of wastes/refuse in drainage and water channels, topographic characteristics, overflowing of river banks, low infiltration due to high water table and degree of built or up areas leading to increased runoffs, and climate change. Despite the flood hazards, occupants in flood prone have remained on the basis of having no alternative, cultural ethnic affinity, family home place where parent were buried, used to flooding as the whole area suffers from flooding, nature of occupation, and cheaper houses to rent. Personal properties and public infrastructures suffer all forms of flood damages. Flood remedial and management strategies include river re-channelization, raising house foundations, land use planning and management and public enlightenment are recommended measure to checkmate activities aiding flooding in Kaduna metropolis.Keywords: Flood, Menace, Infrastructure, Impacts, Remedial and Management Strategies

Geological Effect on GPR System Due to Soil Properties in Malaysia

This paper present the measurement of dielectric properties of soil in Malaysia in three differences condition which are normal condition  (ambience), heated (up to 50 OC) and wet condition (10 % water content). Eight (8) samples of soil have been collected in the local region and was measured in the frequency range from 0.5 GHz to 3.5 GHz for Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) applications. The measurement of the dielectric properties has been conducted using Agilent high temperature probe (Model) integrated with Performance Network Analyzer (PNA E8362B). The uncertainties in measurement process, especially dealing with measurement data have been considered in order to eliminate the probability of error during the measurement. The measured result for permittivity and loss factor of the measured samples are tabulated in graphs and the analysis of the measured data are discussed in this paper

Real-Time Connected Car Services

In recent years, the patterns ofconnected car are tied in with giving driversmore answers for making the journeyconsistent. Vehicles today are outfitted withhigh innovation highlights and in-vehicleavailability. The Integrated Connected VehicleServices is produced to convey an incorporateddriving experience to all vehicle owners, tomake a communication stage for drivers toimpart and share data between vehicles. Thesystem allows to discover nearby vehicles insiderange, giving the driver early notice caution ofcrisis vehicles inside certain range. Moreover,the system likewise enables the driver to sharebasic data which later plots into the maps foralternate drivers to view and plan the journey.The information of transmission between thevehicles are incorporated through firebase cloudservices. Firebase is known as an effective clouddatabase and ready to screen the applicationdevelopment

A Comparability Study on Driver Fatigue Using C#, C++ and Python

Accidents on road are very commonthese days. Most of them are caused by driverfatigueness. Some common causes and symptomshave been identified. One of the main solutionto detect driver fatigue is by analyzing the facialfeatures of the drivers. This paper discusses aboutthe facial features that can be used to detect driverfatigue. Further examples on existing vehiclesafety technology is also discussed. Primarily, thiswork emphasizes on the study of three differentprogramming languages and its compatibilitywhich works best to be integrated with theproposed hardware. Based on the study, theresult is discussed and the suitable programminglanguage is suggested

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

The DUNE far detector vertical drift technology. Technical design report

DUNE is an international experiment dedicated to addressing some of the questions at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics, including the mystifying preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early universe. The dual-site experiment will employ an intense neutrino beam focused on a near and a far detector as it aims to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy and to make high-precision measurements of the PMNS matrix parameters, including the CP-violating phase. It will also stand ready to observe supernova neutrino bursts, and seeks to observe nucleon decay as a signature of a grand unified theory underlying the standard model. The DUNE far detector implements liquid argon time-projection chamber (LArTPC) technology, and combines the many tens-of-kiloton fiducial mass necessary for rare event searches with the sub-centimeter spatial resolution required to image those events with high precision. The addition of a photon detection system enhances physics capabilities for all DUNE physics drivers and opens prospects for further physics explorations. Given its size, the far detector will be implemented as a set of modules, with LArTPC designs that differ from one another as newer technologies arise. In the vertical drift LArTPC design, a horizontal cathode bisects the detector, creating two stacked drift volumes in which ionization charges drift towards anodes at either the top or bottom. The anodes are composed of perforated PCB layers with conductive strips, enabling reconstruction in 3D. Light-trap-style photon detection modules are placed both on the cryostat's side walls and on the central cathode where they are optically powered. This Technical Design Report describes in detail the technical implementations of each subsystem of this LArTPC that, together with the other far detector modules and the near detector, will enable DUNE to achieve its physics goals

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. Methods: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model—a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates—with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality—which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. Findings: The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2–100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1–290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1–211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4–48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3–37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7–9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. Interpretation: Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Flexion relaxation phenomenon of back muscles in discriminating between healthy and chronic low back pain women

This paper describes the investigation of Surface Electromyography (sEMG) signals of back muscles during forward flexion and extension in healthy and low back pain (LBP) women. Flexion Relaxation Phenomenon (FRP) of EMG was observed and quantitatively analyzed. There were three groups of Malaysian women aged between 20 to 50 years old volunteers participated in this study. The groups were group 1, 2, and 3 which consist of 5 healthy women, 5 LBP patients with FRP and 5 LBP patients without FRP with respectively. Every participant was trained to perform two types of forward flexion; maximum forward flexion and 90° forward flexion with hands on the knees. The sEMG and the motion signals were recorded during forward flexion of the trunk at the back muscles. Four parameters were found to be statistically significant differences (p<0.001) amongst groups. These parameters are average RMS during full flexion, ratio between average RMS during full flexion and average RMS during standing, flexion relaxation ratio (FRR) and extension relaxation ratio (ERR). © 2008 Springer-Verlag

<span style="font-size:15.0pt;font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;color:black;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-EG" lang="EN-GB">Aspects on the reproductive cycle of <i>Donax semistriatus </i>and<i> Donax trunculus</i> (Mollusca: Bivalvia) in Idku, Egypt</span>

287-296<span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family: " times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-bidi-font-family:="" "times="" roman";mso-ansi-language:en-gb;mso-fareast-language:en-us;="" mso-bidi-language:hi"="" lang="EN-GB">Present study deals with the reproductive cycle of the two clams Donax semistriatus and Donax trunculus (Bivalvia: Mollusca) and it is the first in this region. Specimens of these animals were collected monthly from two sites, one of them located at waterway that discharges waste water from irrigation canal. The reproductive stages of D. semistriatus and D. trunculus were classified into: inactive, early active, late active, ripe, partially spent and spent stages. Males of D. semistriatus were higher than females at both sites<span style="font-size: 9.0pt;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";="" mso-bidi-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-ansi-language:en-gb;mso-fareast-language:="" en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-eg"="" lang="EN-GB"> (male: female ratio was 1.47:1 in site 1 and 1.54:1 in site 2). Meanwhile, m<span style="font-size:9.0pt; font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";="" mso-bidi-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-ansi-language:en-gb;mso-fareast-language:="" en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-eg"="" lang="EN-GB">ale<span style="font-size: 9.0pt;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";="" mso-bidi-font-family:"times="" roman";color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-gb;="" mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:hi"="" lang="EN-GB">  D. trunculus outnumbered females in site 1 (1.38:1), and females made up a slightly higher proportion<span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family: " times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-bidi-font-family:="" "times="" roman";mso-ansi-language:en-gb;mso-fareast-language:en-us;="" mso-bidi-language:hi"="" lang="EN-GB"> than males (1:1.13) in site 2. <span style="font-size:9.0pt; font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";="" mso-bidi-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-ansi-language:en-gb;mso-fareast-language:="" en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-eg"="" lang="EN-GB">The sexual cycle of both species showed inactive gonad in the winter while the sexual activity was mainly detectable during spring and summer.<span style="font-size:9.0pt; font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";="" mso-bidi-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-ansi-language:en-gb;mso-fareast-language:="" en-us;mso-bidi-language:hi"="" lang="EN-GB"> <span style="font-size:9.0pt; font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";="" mso-bidi-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-ansi-language:en-gb;mso-fareast-language:="" en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-eg"="" lang="EN-GB">Both species showed no signs of hermaphroditism. Temperature is found to be the factor which possibly triggers reproduction.</span