Physics-based satellite-derived bathymetry for nearshore coastal waters in North America

Accurate bathymetric information is fundamental to safe maritime navigation and infrastructure development in the coastal zone, but is expensive to acquire with traditional methods. Satellite-derived bathymetry (SDB) has the potential to produce bathymetric maps at dramatically reduced cost per unit area and physics-based radiative transfer model inversion methods have been developed for this purpose. This thesis demonstrates the potential of physics-based SDB in North American coastal waters. First the utility of Landsat-8 data for SDB in Canadian waters was demonstrated. Given the need for precise atmospheric correction (AC) for deriving robust ocean color products such as bathymetry, the performances of different AC algorithms were then evaluated to determine the most appropriate AC algorithm for deriving ocean colour products such as bathymetry. Subsequently, an approach to minimize AC error was demonstrated for SDB in a coastal environment in Florida Keys, USA. Finally, an ensemble approach based on multiple images, with acquisitions ranging from optimal to sub-optimal conditions, was demonstrated. Based on the findings of this thesis, it was concluded that: (1) Landsat-8 data hold great promise for physics-based SDB in coastal environments, (2) the problem posed by imprecise AC can be minimized by assessing and quantifying bias as a function of environmental factors, and then removing that bias in the atmospherically corrected images, from which bathymetry is estimated, and (3) an ensemble approach to SDB can produce results that are very similar to those obtained with the best individual image, but can be used to reduce time spent on pre-screening and filtering of scenes

Categorial Status of Yoruba Attributive Modifiers

This paper re-examines claims in the literature that Yoruba attributive words such as dúdú black’, pupa ‘red’, funfun ‘white’, etc., which function as modifiers of N, are adjectives. It provides data and analytic evidence to show that the items have the morphology and syntax of nominals. The fact that the items in question have the syntactic distribution and morphology of nouns; semantically refer to attributive features such as colour, size, quantity, etc. of concrete nouns; and sometimes function as verbs with the same phonetic forms informs the conclusion that they are not canonic adjectives but derived nouns converted to verbs and possibly adjectives, respectively, via a N→V/A conversion process. It equally argues that forms like burúkú ‘bad’ and wé ̣é ̣ré ̣‘small (-bits)’are morpho-syntactically fused compounds consisting of verb + degree adverb

Beyond the law: Toward alternative methods of hate speech interventions in Nigeria

Effective and rights-respecting hate speech interventions should encourage cohesion more than hate and inclusion more than division. Importantly, they should also guarantee the right to be and to express. Unfortunately, most countries, including Nigeria, lack effective hate speech interventions. This chapter considers specific ways to make hate speech interventions in Nigeria more effective while guaranteeing the protection of the right to freedom of expression, especially in the digital age. Thus, this chapter considers international human rights law and ideas on hate speech interventions, various hate speech interventions in Nigeria, and Nigeria’s obligation to comply with international human rights instruments to achieve better results. It concludes that one of the best ways to ensure these interventions’ effectiveness is combining alternative methods, such as strategic training, education, public awareness, and a multistakeholder approach

Prepositions in Igálà

Previous studies on Igala grammar are unanimous on the claim that the language employs body parts, place nouns, and certain verbs as prepositions. This study questions the claim from both syntactic and semantic points of view and argues to the contrary that the items analysed as body parts and/or place prepositions are N1 spatial nouns in an [N1 N2] genitive phrase complement of preposition in a structural context where the preposition head is phonetically spelt-out null in the syntax. Given its exclusive locative-goal denotation, the paper argues that tú in contexts like tú unyí un ‘to his/her house’ is a lexicalization of preposition in Igálà

Sales Management Portal

The main idea of this project is to develop a portal for an Insurance Company called Image Insurance. In this project we develop a user friendly website for the clients and an easy accessible database for the employees. The employees will register the clients, they will have the ease of access to add, delete and modify the client status. The database will be more secured where the administrators can only access the employee functions. The portal will have a home page, contact details of company, client sign in and login. The motive of this project is to increase the time efficiency in the customer service through giving access to an employee into complete client details. By developing a more user friendly interface portal,an employee/customer will have the ability to perform multiple tasks in a more time efficient and easier manner

Family Institution and Modernization: A Sociological Perspective

Family is the basic unit of a society which is saddled with biological functions such as reproduction, social functions pertaining to nurturing and socialisation of children. Before modernization, families usually consist of several generations and branches of extended family living in the same village. As modernization occurs, young people tend to move away from the village in which they were raised in search of jobs, leaving the older generations behind, they relocate to cities and meet people they probably never would have met had stayed home. The overall effects of modernization on family institution cannot be under-estimated. Modernization is seen to be changing the face of the family structure. The traditional African family which is known to be agrarian, polygamous and extended has undergone changes where nuclear and asymmetrical types have emerged; family support for the elderly is affected by the changes in the family formation, family dynamics, as well as people’s value and their way of life. High degree of physical mobility associated with new job opportunities at urban centres has loosen the phenomenon of face to face relationships and eroded the strength of the family. This study therefore looked at the overall effects of modernization on the traditional African family structure. Data for this study was sourced mainly from the secondary data and other literature on the subject under study. Keywords: Family, modernization, industrialization, nuclear, extended DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/9-8-14 Publication date: April 30th 201

Gubernatorial Elections and Security Challenges in Ekiti - State, Nigeria

Since the return of this present democratic government in 29th May, 1999, Ekiti State has witnessed five different gubernatorial elections; the first in 1998, the second in 2003, the third in 2007, the fourth in 2014 and the fifth in 2018. These elections have been characterised by peace and violence. The first election held in 1998 was peaceful basically because it was conducted by the Independence National Electoral Commission (INEC) and supervised by the then outgoing military Head-of-State Gen Abdulsalam Abubakar (Rtd). However, subsequent gubernatorial elections conducted by democratically elected government have been marred by series of electoral violence and security challenges ranging from ballot boxes snatching,  stuffing, intimidation of opposition candidates, killings, votes buying to votes rigging. It is not an understatement to say that gubernatorial elections conducted by elected government are far from reflecting the people’s mandate. Security challenges during gubernatorial elections in the state has given rise to voters apathy and this came to a climax in year 2010 when the Court of Appeal in Ilorin had to decide the authentic winner of the gubernatorial election held in 2007 because of widespread violence and manipulation during the election. This paper interrogates security challenges in Ekiti state during gubernatorial elections. Data for this paper was obtained from secondary sources from records and reports of the past gubernatorial elections in the state. Keywords: Gubernatorial, Elections, Violence, Voters, Manipulation, Ekiti state. DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/9-6-02 Publication date:March 31st 201

Design and analysis of LTE and wi-fi schemes for communications of massive machine devices

Existing communication technologies are designed with speciÿc use cases in mind, however, ex-tending these use cases usually throw up interesting challenges. For example, extending the use of existing cellular networks to emerging applications such as Internet of Things (IoT) devices throws up the challenge of handling massive number of devices. In this thesis, we are motivated to investigate existing schemes used in LTE and Wi-Fi for supporting massive machine devices and improve on observed performance gaps by designing new ones that outperform the former. This thesis investigates the existing random access protocol in LTE and proposes three schemes to combat massive device access challenge. The ÿrst is a root index reuse and allocation scheme which uses link budget calculations in extracting a safe distance for preamble reuse under vari-able cell size and also proposes an index allocation algorithm. Secondly, a dynamic subframe optimization scheme that combats the challenge from an optimisation solution perspective. Thirdly, the use of small cells for random access. Simulation and numerical analysis shows performance improvements against existing schemes in terms of throughput, access delay and probability of collision. In some cases, over 20% increase in performance was observed. The proposed schemes provide quicker and more guaranteed opportunities for machine devices to communicate. Also, in Wi-Fi networks, adaptation of the transmission rates to the dynamic channel condi-tions is a major challenge. Two algorithms were proposed to combat this. The ÿrst makes use of contextual information to determine the network state and respond appropriately whilst the second samples candidate transmission modes and uses the e˛ective throughput to make a deci-sion. The proposed algorithms were compared to several existing rate adaptation algorithms by simulations and under various system and channel conÿgurations. They show signiÿcant per-formance improvements, in terms of throughput, thus, conÿrming their suitability for dynamic channel conditions