Building a Multimodal, Trust-Based E-Voting System

This paper addresses the issue of voter identification and authentication, voter participation and trust in the electoral system. A multimodal/hybrid identification and authentication scheme is proposed which captures what a voter knows – PIN, what he has – smartcard and what he is – biometrics. Massive participation of voters in and out of the country of origin was enhanced through an integrated channel (kiosk and internet voting). A multi-trust voting system is built based on service oriented architecture. Microsoft Visual C#.Net, ASP.Net and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition components of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 was used to realize the Windows and Web-based solutions for the electronic voting system

Measuring students’ understanding in counting rules and its probability via e-learning mode: a Rasch measurement approach

Probability is a study of the rules that offers the foundational theory for the development of statistics. This sets out the investigation where students’ understanding of counting rules and its probability were explored using the Rasch measurement approach. A test instrument with 20 items was developed and administered to 74 students taking the STA150 Probability and Statistics course. Data were captured through an interactive e-learning platform that is dmodo.com and analyzed using Winsteps 3.81.0. The results from the Wright map showed that 83.8% of the students have the ability that matched well with the difficulty of the while 16.2% of the students need to be given more attention on the topic. The study was also able to show that the items can be replicated in other samples of similar characteristics. Keywords: students’ understanding; counting rules; probability Raschmeasurement model; Wright map

Analysis of Channel and Structure of Cattle Marketing Intermediaries in Mubi Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria

This study determined the Marketing Channel and Structure of Cattle among Intermediaries in Mubi Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria. Objectives of this study area to examine the marketing channel for cattle; determine the marketing structure of the intermediaries and identifying the major constraints in cattle marketing in the study area. Simple random sampling technique was employed to select 123 respondents in Mubi International Cattle Market. Primary data were collected through the use of structured questionnaire from the market. Descriptive statistics and Gini-coefficient were used in analyse the data of this study. The result shows that 87% sell live cattle, 13% sell butcher pieces, while 61.8% and 27.6% sell their cattle in secondary and terminal markets respectively. About 73% had their major source of trading cattle in north-east and 26% are from other countries (Cameroon, Chad and Niger). Gini- coefficients of 0.5673, 0.6340, 0.452 and 0.5719 were obtained for wholesalers, retailers, butchers and brokers respectively, while Respondents indicates that insurgency (insecurity) (78%), inadequate market information (74%), inadequate credit facility (73.2%), cost of transportation (72.4%), double charges by market officials been the least (48.8%) were some of the major constraints. The study recommended that good roads, better and cheap means of transportation should be provided to the marketers through their cooperatives

MARKOV CHAIN MONTE CARLO SOLUTION OF POISSON’S EQUATION

The classical Monte Carlo methods (fixed random walk, floating random walk, Exodus method) are useful in calculation potentials one point at a time. The Markov chain Monte Carlo method (MCMCM) overcomes this limitation by calculating the potential at all grid points simultaneously. This method has been used for whole field computation for problems involving Laplace’s equation. This paper extends the application of MCMCM to problems involving Poisson’s equations. The two illustrative examples are provided with hand calculation. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.15012

Effects of Kenaf Fibre on Fresh Properties of Fibrous Concrete

As a result of global quest for sustainable materials to achieve a bio based economy and low carbon foot print environment, the use of fibre to produce fibrous concrete composite has continuously received significant research attention. While several researches have been conducted on metallic and synthetic fibrous concretes, they exhibit several unavoidable drawbacks and bio fibrous concrete has proven to be a better alternative. Therefore, the effect of fibre volume fraction and fibre length on fresh properties of concrete was investigated. The bio fibrous concrete mix was made of six different fibre volume fractions (0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75%, 1%, 1.5% and 2%) and corresponding three different fibre lengths of 25 mm, 50 mm and 75 mm. A concrete mix proportion of grade 30 N/mm2 at 28 days target strength was prepared. A total of 19 different concrete mixes comprising of one PC mix was the control for the experiment, and 18 different mixes of Kenaf bio fibrous concrete composite (KBFCC) at varying fibre volume fraction (vf) and fibre length (lf) were tested. These mixes were tested for workability (slump, compacting factor and Vebe test) and fresh density. The slump and Vebe time for KBFCCs were 5–100 mm and 3–79 seconds respectively. The slump and Vebe time for PC were 120 mm and 3 seconds respectively. A significant drop from 0.951 to 0.809 for fibre length of 25 mm, 0.947 to 0.799 for fibre length of 50 mm and 0.931 to 0.793 for fibre length of 75 mm was observed for the compacting factor value. Though, KBFCC with fibre content below 1% was workable in spite of its low slump, its high Vebe time and low compacting factor. For fibre volume of 1% and above, the workability of concrete decreased and became very stiff with balling effect. It was seen that fresh density of PC concrete (2358 kg/m3) was higher compared to those of KBFCC (2105-2339 kg/m3), however, both values were lower than 2400 kg/m3 threshold specified by the BS code of practice. The study therefore recommended that fibre contents lesser than 1% and 50 mm length can be used in order to have good fresh properties performance

Comparison of the effects of Craseonycteris thonglongyai (bumblebee bat) droppings and synthetic fertilizer on some phytotoxins in the leaf of Amaranthus cruentus

Leafy vegetables such as Amaranthus cruentus form important part of diet because they provide valuable nutrients for maintenance of good health and prevention of some diseases. Despite these enormous nutritional benefits, they may accumulate toxic substances that could have negative effects on health at high concentrations. The concentrations of these plant toxins could be influenced by the soil nutrient compositions. It is against this background that pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of Craseonycteris thonglongyai droppings and chemical fertilizer on the concentrations of some phytotoxins (phytate, oxalate, cyanide and nitrate) in A. cruentus. The leaves of A. cruentus were harvested at maturity and were subjected to standard chemical analysis. The oxalate and phytate contents were determined by titrimetric method while cyanide and nitrate were evaluated by colourimetric method. The results showed that the application of both C. thonlongyai droppings and synthetic fertilizer significantly (p < 0.05) increased the nitrate content in the vegetable, however, the nitrate content in the vegetable treated with C. thonlongyai droppings was significantly lower when compared with the one fertilized with synthetic fertilizer. Similarly, application of C. thonlongyai droppings and chemical fertilizer has no significant effect on oxalate and phytate contents in A. cruentus except that the concentration of oxalate decreased significantly (p<0.05) with the application of C. thonglongyai droppings. Whereas chemical fertilizer has no significantly effect on the concentration of cyanide in the leaves of A. cruentus, its concentration decreased significantly with application of C. thonglongyai droppings. The study concludes that application of C. thonglongyai droppings decreased the bioaccumulation of some phytotoxins in the leaf of A. cruentus and improves its nutritional quality compared with the synthetic fertilize

Protected and un-protected urban wetlands have similar aquatic macroinvertebrate communities: a case study from the Cape Flats Sand Fynbos region of southern Africa

Rapid urbanisation has led to major landscape alterations, affecting aquatic ecosystems’ hydrological and biogeochemical cycles, and biodiversity. Thus, habitat alteration is considered a major driver of aquatic biodiversity loss and related aquatic ecosystem goods and services. This study aimed to investigate and compare aquatic macroinvertebrate richness, diversity and community structure between urban temporary wetlands, located within protected and un-protected areas. The latter were found within an open public space or park with no protection or conservation status, whereas the former were inaccessible to the public and had formal protected, conservation status

Review of Person Re-identification Techniques

Person re-identification across different surveillance cameras with disjoint fields of view has become one of the most interesting and challenging subjects in the area of intelligent video surveillance. Although several methods have been developed and proposed, certain limitations and unresolved issues remain. In all of the existing re-identification approaches, feature vectors are extracted from segmented still images or video frames. Different similarity or dissimilarity measures have been applied to these vectors. Some methods have used simple constant metrics, whereas others have utilised models to obtain optimised metrics. Some have created models based on local colour or texture information, and others have built models based on the gait of people. In general, the main objective of all these approaches is to achieve a higher-accuracy rate and lowercomputational costs. This study summarises several developments in recent literature and discusses the various available methods used in person re-identification. Specifically, their advantages and disadvantages are mentioned and compared.Comment: Published 201

Primary umbilical endometriosis: Radical excision (omphalectomy) and laparoscopic management of associated pelvic endometriosis in a low resource tertiary hospital

Primary umbilical endometriosis (PUE) is a rare condition affecting 0.5 – 1% of all extragenital endometriosis cases. We reviewed the data of five women with umbilical endometriosis retrospectively. The age range was 29 – 46 years, and they were all nulligravid at presentation. Common clinical presentation was umbilical pain and masses, dysmenorrhea, and primary infertility. Radical umbilical excision was performed to remove the nodule as a definitive treatment. Diagnostic laparoscopy was performed, followed by varying degrees of operative laparoscopic procedures. They all had endometriosis in the pelvis. Three out of five women operated became pregnant and had live births. Complete resolution of clinical symptoms with a reduction in umbilical and menstrual pain scores occurred. In resource-constrained settings, diagnosis, and treatment of PUE may be challenging. Clinical suspicion and appropriate case management are critical for good reproductive outcomes and quality of life.   L'endométriose ombilicale primaire (PUE) est une maladie rare affectant 0,5 à 1 % de tous les cas d'endométriose extragénitale. Nous avons examiné les données de cinq femmes atteintes d'endométriose ombilicale rétrospectivement. La tranche d'âge était de 29 à 46 ans, et ils étaient tous nulligravides à la présentation. Le tableau clinique commun était la douleur et les masses ombilicales, la dysménorrhée et l'infertilité primaire. Une excision ombilicale radicale a été réalisée pour retirer le nodule comme traitement définitif. La laparoscopie diagnostique a été réalisée, suivie de divers degrés de procédures laparoscopiques opératoires. Ils avaient tous une endométriose du bassin. Trois femmes opérées sur cinq sont tombées enceintes et ont eu des naissances vivantes. Une résolution complète des symptômes cliniques avec une réduction des scores de douleur ombilicale et menstruelle s'est produite. Dans les milieux à ressources limitées, le diagnostic et le traitement du PUE peuvent être difficiles. La suspicion clinique et une prise en charge appropriée des cas sont essentielles pour de bons résultats en matière de reproduction et une bonne qualité de vie

Epidemiological profile of the Ebola virus disease outbreak in Nigeria, July-September 2014

Introduction: In July 2014, Nigeria experienced an outbreak of Ebola virus disease following the introduction of the disease by an ill Liberian Traveler. The Government of Nigeria with the support of Technical and Development Partners responded quickly and effectively to contain the outbreak. The epidemiological profile of the outbreak that majorly affected two States in the country in terms of person, place and time characteristics of the cases identified is hereby described. Methods: Using field  investigation technique, all confirmed and probable cases were identified, line-listed and analysed using Microsoft Excel 2007 by persons, time and place. Results: A total of 20 confirmed and probable cases; 16 in Lagos (including the index case from Liberia) and 4 in Port Harcourt were  identified. The mean age was 39.5 ± 12.4 years with over 40% within the age group 30-39 years. The most frequent exposure type was direct physical contact in 70% of all cases and 73% among health care workers. The total case-fatality was 40%; higher among healthcare workers (46%) compared with non-healthcare workers (22%). The epidemic curve initially shows a typical common source outbreak, followed by a propagated pattern. Conclusion: Investigation revealed the size and spread of the outbreak and provided information on the characteristics of persons, time and place. Enhanced surveillance measures, including contact tracing and follow-up proved very useful in early case detection and containment of the outbreak