Group Counselling as a Strategy for Stimulating Interest for Literacy

The focus of this paper is on stimulating interest in literacy: which is dwindling in Nigeria for reasons that range from reluctance on the part of students to \u27sorting\u27 as encouraged by teachers. This is an educational problem which any counsellor should he concerned about. Group counselling has an advantage of facilitating group dynamics through exploring problems nurtured and solved in the therapeutic environment so created. The multi-dimensional approach being advocated in order to tackle the problem of illiteracy and poor reading culture has warranted the recommendations made. In conclusion the paper advocates that literacy and reading should be viewed by counsellors as an educational problem that requires urgent attention

Curriculum and Entrepreneurship Skill Acquisition at the Tertiary Educational Level: Implication for Counselling Nigeria Youths

This paper focused on the curriculum and entrepreneurship skill acquisition at the tertiary educational level and the counselling implication. The issue of unemployment and un-employability has become a global problem that requires people with the charisma and authority to sustain, improve and reinvent business activities. These people are entrepreneurs who possess the transformational capacity to embrace change and initiate needed guidance. An Entrepreneur has been defined by Anugwom (2007) as one who is dissatisfied with present methods and would want to strike at obstacles and make the best of opportunities. It was in the light of the need for entrepreneurs that the National University Commission (NUC) (2011) directed Universities to establish Entrepreneurial Study Centres (ESCs), in addition to a degree programme and general studies across the various tertiary educational levels before the end of 2011. The NUC has also developed a curriculum for the various programmes with the matching practicum experience which is hoped to help students at that level to acquire needed skills. The paper also ex-rayed the need for vocational Guidance Counsellors in entrepreneurship who through conducting constantly need analyses to ascertain the recent occupational life of th3 people, create awareness for job opportunities available and training facilities. Through vocational counselling it is assumed that the student will gain an insight to choose a realistic goal, the attainment of which is well within his reach if harnessed. The paper concluded with a warning that creativity means that people have to think outside the box

Facial Electromyography-based Adaptive Virtual Reality Gaming for Cognitive Training

Cognitive training has shown promising results for delivering improvements in human cognition related to attention, problem solving, reading comprehension and information retrieval. However, two frequently cited problems in cognitive training literature are a lack of user engagement with the training programme, and a failure of developed skills to generalise to daily life. This paper introduces a new cognitive training (CT) paradigm designed to address these two limitations by combining the benefits of gamification, virtual reality (VR), and affective adaptation in the development of an engaging, ecologically valid, CT task. Additionally, it incorporates facial electromyography (EMG) as a means of determining user affect while engaged in the CT task. This information is then utilised to dynamically adjust the game's difficulty in real-time as users play, with the aim of leading them into a state of flow. Affect recognition rates of 64.1% and 76.2%, for valence and arousal respectively, were achieved by classifying a DWT-Haar approximation of the input signal using kNN. The affect-aware VR cognitive training intervention was then evaluated with a control group of older adults. The results obtained substantiate the notion that adaptation techniques can lead to greater feelings of competence and a more appropriate challenge of the user's skills

Awareness, benefits and drawbacks of net zero energy building practices: construction industry professional’s perceptions

In a bid to overcome climate change and global warming, the adoption of net zero energy building (nZEB) practices in construction projects has become a viable measure of reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions in buildings. nZEB is a facility with a significantly lowered energy needs such that the rest of the energy requirements can be supplied by on-site or off-site renewable technologies. The present study therefore investigated the awareness, benefits and challenges confronting the actualization of nZEB in Nigeria construction industry. A cross sectional survey design was adopted wherein a close ended questionnaire was purposively administered online to construction industry professionals who have understanding of nZEB initiatives. Descriptive statistical tests were conducted, with the results showing about 9% and 25% of the selected professionals been not aware of nZEB concepts and have not been involved in the concept in their professional career. Further details revealed that reduction in the land use effect, reduction in vulnerability of power infrastructures to vandalism and economic competitiveness were dominant benefits of nZEB practices. However, low return on investment, conflict with public policy regulation and policy clarity, lack of evaluation and valuation processes were perceived as the top hindering factors to nZEB practices. The implication for practice is for construction stakeholders to participate and develop effective implementation strategies towards nZEB for could be ecological and economical friendly

JOB SATISFACTION OF FEMALE CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS IN MALE DOMINATED FIELDS

Employee satisfaction plays a crucial role in organizational performance and survival. The present study assessed job satisfaction of female construction professionals in male dominated fields specifically, construction. The study adopted a cross sectional survey research design with the aid of questionnaires to elicit information purposively from 50 female construction professionals in Lagos, Nigeria. Data from the survey was analyzed by means of descriptive statistics like frequencies, means, cross tabs and inferential statistics like correlation. The major finding is that most of the respondents’ within the age bracket of 30 and 39 were dissatisfied with their salaries and fringe benefits. There was also a correlation between respondents’ age and level of satisfaction. The study recommends that construction organization should improve on their salaries and fringe benefits so that employees can be motivated to put in their best thereby increasing organizational performance

Influence of Superabsorbent Polymers on Properties of High-Performance Concrete with Active Supplementary Cementitious Materials of Nigeria

Concrete of strengths classes ≥ C55/67 referred to as high strength or highperformance concrete (HSC/HPC) are noted to be generally of low water/binder (W/B), made from binary or ternary cements with silica fume (SF) being a necessary constituent, and often requiring internal curing. Non-availability and high cost of SF in most sub-Saharan Africa like Nigeria however makes HSC/HPC production in this region very difficult and hence the continued search for alternative supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) with good performance properties as constituents of ternary/binary cements in HPC. This study thereby examines the strength properties of metastable calcined clay (MCC) based HPC cured internally with superabsorbent polymer (SAP) 0.2–0.3% (by weight of binder (bwob)). HPC mixtures of varied MCC and Rice husk ash (RHA) contents containing two SAP grain sizes labelled (SP1 ˂ 300 μm and SP2 ˂ 600 μm) were cast in 100 mm cubes and cured for varying ages (7, 14, 28 and 56 days) before testing. The hardened specimens were subjected to compressive strength and water absorption tests at the varied curing ages for the performance assessment of the binder types and SAP grain sizes in HPC with age. This study revealed the possibility of achieving Class 1 HPC (50–75 N/mm2) utilizing industry manufactured calcined clay and locally produced RHA in Nigeria. The compressive strength of HPCs increased as the curing age increases for both SCM type, SAP contents and grain sizes. RHA based HPCs however showed better strength performance at the early ages than the MCC based. SAP addition in MCC based HPCs led to slight decrease in compressive strength as the SAP contents increased while the RHA based HPCs on the other hand, revealed slight increase in compressive strength with increase in SAP contents

F.R.A.M.E - Facial Remote Activity Monitoring Eyewear

We take for granted the ability to smile, kiss, or close our eyes at night, all of which can be affected by facial paralysis. This condition may strike anyone at any time, regardless of age or gender. The project aims to develop a pair of glasses that discreetly provides real-time feedback to the wearer about their facial muscle function, helping them practice their rehabilitative exercises regularly and correctly, thereby speeding recovery of normal, symmetric facial expressions. The glasses will contain all the required EMG sensors in a compact form factor, they will provide sensor data to a mobile application installed on a mobile phone or tablet. The mobile application will provide daily exercises and feedback to allow the patients to monitor their own progress through the rehabilitation process and will also pass on valuable information to therapists via a website. Therapists will monitor the progress of their patients and adjust exercise routines as required. They will also provide feedback through in application messaging and feedback tools while providing in depth analysis tools to spot potential problems such as synkinesis

Mechanical properties of high strength eco-concrete containing crushed waste clay brick aggregates as replacement for sand

Utilization of clay brick wastes for production of high strength eco-concrete enables the combat of raw resources depletion due to excessive mining as well as mitigating environmental pollution caused by demolition of old brick structures in an effort to achieve environmental sustainability in line with the sustainable development goals (SDGs). This study investigates the beneficial usage of crushed clay brick as partial replacement for natural sand in producing high strength eco-friendly concrete. The replacement percentages of the crushed clay brick in respect to sand are 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50% by weight using a mix proportion ratio of 1:1:2 at a constant water-cement ratio of 0.25, aiming at the 28 days compressive strength of about 40 MPa. The chemical characterization of the crushed clay brick and cement was conducted via X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The mechanical properties tests were performed on about 80 specimens using 100 x 100 x 100 mm for cubes, 100 x 100 x 500 mm for beams and 100 x 200 mm diameter for cylinders after 7, 14 and 28 days of curing in water. Results showed that concrete containing crushed clay brick as partial replacement for sand compare favourably well with the control. Consequently, it is suggested that generated clay brick wastes can be crushed and used as replacement for natural sand for the production of eco-friendly high strength concrete

ENVIRONMENTAL PHYSICAL QUANTITIES IMPACT ON EMERGENCE OF SICK BUILDING SYNDROME ON USERS OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN LAGOS, NIGERIA

The harmful impact of constructed facilities on human wellbeing is serious phenomenon in the built environment. Empirical evidence from literature revealed that sick building syndrome (SBS) is among the significant causes of increased health care cost, loss of employee’s productivity and users discomfort. SBS is recognized as a condition in which the building users bear awful health or uneasiness that appear to be accompanying to the time used in the building with no clinical definition or an identifiable cause. This study therefore, focuses on investigating the impact of environmental physical quantities on emergence of SBS symptoms on staff and worshippers in selected public buildings in Lagos, tropical climate. A hybrid research approaches of one-time survey and field measurement was utilized. Descriptive statistics was carried out on the data obtained and are presented on tables and figures. The results signposted that among all the dynamics appraised, higher room temperature (˃25oC) relates to the establishment of SBS symptoms among study respondents. The import of this study hinges on offering understanding and cognizance of SBS symptoms to facilities management departments of tertiary and financial institutions in Nigeria. The study also showed the environmental physical quantities ranks that can be relatively felt in public buildings in tropical region of Nigeria

Insight on the Electrodeposition Technology and Parameter for Corrosion Control of Structural Steel

Corrosion has been and still the world’s worst nightmare which costs hundreds and thousands of dollars for companies to maintain their equipment and repairs. Studies are being done all around the world to create the solution toward preventing the corrosion by surface engineering technology. One of the simplest and most cost effective methods to provide thin film coating for advance application is through electrolytic deposition route. However, bath framework has been a major concern for stable coating. Thus this studies look into the insight on the Corrosion, electrodeposition and visible additive for zinc plating technology