CHILDREN LITERATURE: BEDROCK OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMEN

Education is the bedrock of any nation, and Nigeria is no exception. It is a critical pillar of sustainable human development without which we stagnate, flounder, and become inert. Education can also be referred to as the bedrock of social, economic and political development. It is important for creating enabling conditions for sustaining change. A well educated populace (which begins with a child) is necessary to bring about technological innovations and to adapt and modify it in the context of local conditions and realities. Only education can equip children with the confidence to make the most of their abilities. Quality education and basic literacy will open doors to information technology and the “new economyâ€. According to Jegede (2006), effective national development depends on education whose bedrock is the acquisition of knowledge. A learning society is a knowledgeable and wise society. What a person imbibes from childhood forms the basis of his attitude in life hence in Yoruba culture, a child is taught the norms and values of the society right from childhood through diverse means, one of which is children poems. These poems are didactic and they cover a wide range of themes. The language is very simple and they are easy to remember. They mould children’s attitude as they journey through life. This paper discussed educating children through poems. The poems of Olatubosun and Odunjo were used as case study

Learning: The role of aesthetics in education

The study is qualitative and it drew on the historical research method, descriptive and case study methods to examine the link between learning, art, and the creative nature of children. Its aim is totransmit the value of art in enhancing creativity through aesthetics in children and consequently enhance their learning. Thus, the study through the use of document analysis (analyzing the artworks of the children), what the children had to say about their works, interviews and the observation tools throws light on how effective learning could be when taken in the context of art to boostcreativity in children; and also enable the teacher to identify some activities that could or should be incorporated in the teaching of children. Since creativity is increasingly gaining recognition as ahuman characteristic that can be (and should be) developed through education, there is the need to make conscious efforts to develop children’s creativity and learning through art education. This way,teachers do not necessarily produce children who would by all means become artists but rather creative children who can transfer the skills they have learnt through art to other subject areas and in effect to all other facets of their lives

External electric field effect on electron transport in carbon nanotubes

Electronic transport properties of carbon nanotubes are studied theoretically in the presence of external electric field E(t) by using the Boltzmann's transport with constant relaxation time. An analytical expression for the current densities of the nanotubes are obtained. It is observed that the current density-electric field characteristics of the CNs exhibit total self-induced transparency and absolute negative conductivityComment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Challenges to urban cultural heritage conservation and management in the historic centre of Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan-Iraq

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the challenges to urban cultural heritage management conservation in the historical city of Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan-Iraq. The paper focusses on the roles and interactions of stakeholders and the issues that confront the decision-making processes that underpin the management of historic city towns. Design/methodology/approach: A case study methodology is utilised for this research. It involves documentary analysis and interviews with stakeholders who are part of the management of the historic city centre of Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan-Iraq. The findings from this case study are analysed in a systematic way before being discussed in the context of the literature on urban cultural heritage management. Findings: The research shows that although there is a shared vision of the need to preserve and conserve urban cultural heritage, the management process is a contentious one. Stakeholders have different ideas as to how to achieve conservation goals which leads to increasing conflicts among stakeholders. This situation is compounded by the limited financial resources available to local government agencies, political interference in the work of implementation agencies and the lack of capacity in local government to enforce rules and carry out conservation projects. There are also significant power differentials among stakeholders in the decision-making process which often means that local residents are excluded from the process of conserving their built urban heritage. Practical implications: This research can help practitioners who are in charge of urban cultural heritage management in dealing with stakeholder conflicts. The paper offers insight into a number of sources of stakeholder conflicts and on ways to overcome these in the planning process. Originality/value: The originality of research lies in the novelty of the case study area. This research highlights the issues of built heritage conservation management and planning practices in an area – Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan-Iraq – that is geographically less represented in the extant literature. The research also identifies some of the key sources of conflict in urban heritage conservation projects and provides an insight into the roles of stakeholders in the management of smaller locally-dependent historic city centres

Geospatial Assessment of Vegetation Changes around the Odublasi Quarry in Ghana

This study examined drivers of vegetation cover changes around the Odublasi quarry, analyzed trends of the change, and areas around the quarry prone to these drivers. Stakeholders were interviewed to identify drivers of vegetation cover change, while satellite imagery of the area from 2007, 2012, 2013, and 2014 were used for trend analysis. Field mapping of trees in the area was undertaken to acquire baseline data of vegetation for use in future studies and restoration projects. Identified drivers were; the construction of a new access road; switch in livelihoods of the local community members from small-scale quarrying to extracting biological resources around the quarry site; unsustainable farming and wood logging practices around the quarry; social exclusion; and afforestation programme around the quarry. A rising and falling trend in vegetation cover was observed in satellite images of the quarry site from 2007 to 2014. Activities around the quarry like shifting cultivation farming was a key driver of this undulating trend. Habitats along the access road to the quarry were identified to be vulnerable to the drivers of vegetation cover change and needed critical attention in any environmental restoration efforts

Effect of cement grade and fineness of slag on the early age to medium term properties of binary blends

The hydration and microstructural evolution of cementitious materials are dependent on both the mineralogical and physical attributes of the constituent materials. This paper ascertains the influence of constituent materials’ fineness on hydration and the evolution of mechanical properties of CEM I-slag composite cements. The clinker to supplementary cementitious material ratio was maintained at 50:50 and the sulphate content kept constant in all mixes. Compressive strength development was followed over time, with hydration followed by isothermal calorimetry and chemical shrinkage. Results from these techniques show that, for a given clinker, a more finely ground slag was consistently superior to a coarser slag. Furthermore, calorimetry revealed that the intensity of alite hydration and the secondary peak attributable to participation of aluminates from slag in hydration were also greater when using a finer slag. Finely ground clinker also accelerates slag hydration. The early age strengths in the binary blends were weaker than the control specimens, but this was offset beyond 7 days when using finer slag blends. Blending of higher grade CEM I (52.5R) and fine slag also yielded comparable early age strength to a CEM I- 42.5R mix

Farm Management Information System for High Productivity in Agribusiness

The focus of this study is to present Farm Management Information System (FMIS) and its application in Agribusiness. FMIS is a software designed for high productivity in farming business (fish farming as a case study) and to assist agricultural farmers to perform various tasks with ease such as operational planning, implementation, documentation, and application for financial subsidies or grants. The study presents the template that could be used for fish farmers in order to ease their tasks. FMIS could be used by different stakeholders such as farmers, government organizations, service providers, and machinery or equipment or tools manufacturers to transfer information among each other. This paper discovered that lack of interoperability, insufficient stakeholder’s collaboration and a not clearly defined business model has hampered the proper functioning and adaptation of useful Information Communication Technologies (ICT’s) such as the FMIS. Manual approach is limited in the affairs of better farm fish management, one method by which this can be improved is by support system which this work focuses to address. The FMIS software designed uses C#, Visual Studio and SQL Server, will assist the users or Fish or Farm managers in solving their day to day problems such as accurate stocking record, sales/harvesting record, payment record among others. The study concluded that with the application of FMIS in Fish farming, the processing of farm information activities can be automated to a large extent, thereby reducing processing time an

Yam pests in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions of Ghana: A study of farmers\' indigenous technical knowledge and control practices

In Ghana, yam is a very important indigenous subsistence and cash crop that is now the most popular nontraditional export food crop, despite years of scientific neglect. There is a general paucity of technical information on yam production and marketing constraints, but especially so for pests and their management. To understand and document farmers\' needs as a basis for developing technologies to meet their requirements, this study surveyed yam farmers\' indigenous technical knowledge about pests on their crops and their pest management practices over the years in two districts in Brong Ahafo Region and one in Ashanti Region. Pre-tested questionnaire were administered to 30 randomly selected farmers in five villages in each district. The results showed that farmers\' knowledge about pests and the pest spectra were similar for the three districts. Farmers knew about insect pests on their yams, but were neither able to draw interrelationships between pest populations and damage nor the cultural practices that they follow or the ecological state of their farms. Termites (Amitermes spp., Macrotemes spp., and Microtermes spp.) were considered more important pests than millipedes (Peridontoyge spp.), tuber beetles (Heterolygus meles and Prionorcytes rufopiceus), mealybugs (Pseudococcus brevipes, Planococcus dioscorea and Ferrisia virgata), and scale insects (Aspidiotus destructor and Aspidiella hartii) in that order. Out of 12 white yam varieties cultivated in the area, “Pona” was identified to be most susceptible to pest attack and “Dentepruka” least susceptible. Anthropological factors such as farmer's origin or residency status, level of education, age, marital status, family size, and the land tenure system were also found to play key roles in the technologies adopted in cultivating yams. The implications of the findings, particularly in identifying appropriate experimental variables for technology generation and transfer to improve yam resource productivity, are discussed

Building Sustainable Business Clusters towards Global Competitiveness: Case Study of Furniture Making along Owode-Ajegunle Axis of Lagos State

To countries like Brazil, Pakistan, India, China and many more, business clustering is not new as it has contributed a lot to their economic development. Agglomeration economies as it is otherwise called by some economists have been identified as one of the ways companies bring out innovative products. Because of its potential to affect competition by increasing business productivity, driving innovation and stimulating new businesses, business cluster is a useful tool to create global competitiveness. Currently at Owode-Ajegunle axis along Ikorodu road, Lagos, Nigeria, small uncoordinated groups of furniture makers can be seen producing their wares along both sides of a long stretch of the road. This paper therefore looks at the current position of this natural occurring, disorganized, identified cluster and what can be done for its improvement and sustainability. As a theoretical paper, theories, past works and experiences from other countries of the world will be explored to see how this proposed cluster can be properly established towards creating global competitiveness in this sector. The paper concludes that since industrial clusters have the capacity to rejuvenate local economies, provide competitiveness and create wealth, the formation of these small roadside enterprises into an organized business cluster will significantly improve efficiency, innovation and quality of products in the furniture industry and that the concerned Government institutions, agencies and parastatals must make collaborative effort by creating a synergy among the enterprises of the identified cluster, towards its sustainability for increased global standards. Keywords: Business cluster, Global competitiveness, Furniture