Collaborative and Adaptive Framework for Telediagnosis and Prescriptions in Herbal Medicine

Herbal medicine has been an age long tradition for the treatment and cure of diseases globally. Previous researches on telediagnosis and prescriptions in orthodox medicine studied applications of modern technological devices which could improve health care services. However, there is yet to be an exhaustive study on the audio-visual technological framework for telediagnosis and prescription in herbal medicine.  Hence, the research developed a collaborative and adaptive framework for telediagnosis and prescriptions in herbal medicine. The framework and its system were developed consisting of multimedia features for videoconferencing; ability to record, capture and replay consultations; and capacity for editing, data compression and short message service amongst herbal tele-consultants. The system was experimented on Ladoke Akintola University of Technology hotspot network for a period of twenty one days in order to determine the system’s average packet loss rate and packet transmitted with five herbal tele-consultant nodes (node-1, node2, node3, node4 and node5). All nodes were allotted Internet Protocol addresses through which the intending herbal tele-consultant(s) could be connected to the telediagnosis videoconference session. Three performance metrics, System Reliability Index (SRI), System Degree of Relevance (SDR), and System Ease of Usage (SEU) were used to carry out subject to the evaluation of the system by administering one hundred questionnaires herbal consultants to harvest users’ perception of the system based on a Likert rating scale. The results obtained from telediagnosis session showed that the system recorded packet loss rates of 3.46, 3.13, 3.42, 3.61 and 3.36% at node1, node2, node3, node4 and node5, respectively. Also, the average packets of 3123.2, 5017.6, 5683.2, 4454.4 and 4249.6 bits were obtained at node1, node2, node3, node4 and node5, respectively. The summary of the subjected evaluation of the system indicate that the respondent’s response means of 3.20, 2.88. and 3.42 were obtained for the SRI, SDR and SEU, respectively on a rating scale of 1 to 5

Analysis of the Effect of Private Healthcare Financing on Poverty in Nigeria: Evidence from Edo State

Poverty is one of the problems that challenge economies in Africa. Though it is a complex phenomenon which requires efforts by different experts to reduce or eliminate, conventional wisdom posits that “health is wealth”. Health status is a component of human capital development which plays a fundamental role in the poverty and well-being of individuals and national economies. Paradoxically the cost of accessing quality healthcare is an important contributor to income poverty among low income households. Thus adequate healthcare financing mechanisms (public and private) are required to attain quality health outcomes. This study therefore investigates the adequacy or otherwise of the current means of private health care financing in Edo state of Nigeria and it employed the survey method and multinomial logistic regression technique. Results revealed that the dominant means of private health care financing in Edo state is “out of pocket” payments which has negative effect on the income of households. It therefore recommends the introduction of a more effective collective healthcare financing mechanism to mitigate the financial burden associated with out-of-pocket spending. Also funding should be provided for research and development of locally manufactured drugs with high local content to enhance the availability and affordability of effective drugs

Design and construction of a simple boat trailer for Federal College of Freshwater Fisheries Technology, New Bussa

A simple boat trailer with an overall length of 4.59m, breathes 1.68m, and weight of 87kg was designed and constructed using locally available metals and scrap materials. The boat trailer was used to tow a boat of 250kg weight through a distance of 14km without affecting the safety and speed of the car. The construction resulted to the production of an open cart that is light and easily maneuvered that one person can move it manually without difficulty. The total production cost was N32, 300 which is affordable in relation to the cost of transporting boats through the use of pick up vans. The boat trailer can be easily maneuvered when coupled to any car or van. This makes it adequate for towing and for safer movement of boats from the school boat yard to any water bodies

Towards a Liveable and Sustainable Urban Recreational Park: A Study of Users' Perception and Preferences

The provision of recreational parks is aimed at ensuring a liveable, sustainable and natural environment for the urban populace. But there is an important aspect of the users’ preference for, and perception of these public facilities. This study looked into the liveable and sustainable state of a recreational park in Akure, Nigeria, in relation to its use. The method of study was through the analysis of literature on urban recreational parks, a case study, and the use of structured questionnaires to generate responses from the stakeholders. The study discovered that the design, sustainability, liveability and patronage of an urban park are a function of several factors. The study observed these factors to be: activity provided in the park, the natural environment, maintenance, accessibility and sense of territoriality of the users. The paper recommended among others, an in-depth study of users’ needs, demands, satisfaction and preference for recreational spaces by the planners and designers, and a maintenance and management program incorporated into the proposal for the design, redevelopment or renovation of the parks. The paper concluded that although these factors vary from place to place, the more we understand why people prefer to go to certain places, the more effective we will be as designers, landscape architects, and managers of liveable and sustainable environments. Keywords: liveability, maintenance, sustainability, urban area, recreational parks

Determination of Strength Classes of Selected Nigerian Timbers in Accordance with EN338 (2009)

Wood has several unique, independent properties. The physical and mechanical properties of wood do vary from species to species and even within species due to environmental conditions during growth. In Nigeria, timber is been grade based on permissible stress (NCP) an upgrade to the limit state is required. A laboratory test was carried out to develop the physical and mechanical properties (four-point bending test) of the timber species in accordance with EN 13153-1, ASTM D143 and EN 408. The strength classification of selected timber was performed according to EN 338 using characteristic value of the material properties in accordance with EN384 from the generated physical and mechanical properties, after being adjusted to 12% (Eurocodes reference moisture content). The timber species considered were Tectona grandis and Gmelina arborea. The result showed Tectona grandis had a higher property than Gmelina arborea and the species were assigned to strength classes of D50 and D35 (hardwoods) respectively. The study shows that the selected timber species are suitable for structural purposes.Keywords: Strength classes, Nigerian timber, Four-point bending test, Tectona grandis, Gmelina arbore

Length-weight relationships of Hyperopisus bebe occidentalis in Zaria Dam

The morphometric parameters of 54 Hyperopisus hebe occidentalis obtained from Zaria Dam were investigated. The length occidentalis examined ranged from 18.9-41.0 cm and weight ranged from 25-425g, the largest male weighed 175g while the female was 425g. The length-weight relationship of H. Bebe occidentalis in Zaria showed a positive correlation (r=0.897) in both regression exponent (b>3) for both sexes showed positive allometric growth pattern. The mean condition factor obtained (0.95- 1.26). In both sexes, the condition factor generally increased with increase in individual size of the fish irrespective of sex but slightly in male than female

Influence of Herbicides Application as Desiccant on Protein and Sugar Content of Soybean Seed

Soybean, Glycine max is an annual crop belonging to the family Fabaceae, which has 40% protein, 20% oil and 30% carbohydrate and plays a very significant role in world agriculture. Some farmers hasten the maturity and desiccation of soybean crop by applying herbicides without giving attention to the effects on seed. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of herbicides as desiccant on protein and sugar content of soybean seed. For this, three cultivars of soybean seed SB 19, SB 25 and SB 3 were planted and applied with three types of herbicides Glyphosate, Paraquat, 2,4-D. The herbicides were sprayed at three stages of soybean seed development R6, R7, and R8. The herbicides effect was highly significant (P ≤ 0.001) on the protein content in two locations and were highly significantly different (P ≤ 0.001) on the sugar content in all locations. All the herbicides showed reduction in sugar content in all locations and were also lower in protein content as compared to the control. It is concluded that using herbicides as desiccant have negative effect on the protein and sugar content of soybean seed. Keywords: Herbicide, Stages of application, Protein, Sugar. DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/9-18-07 Publication date:September 30th 201

Is population an asset or a liability to Nigeria’s economic growth? Evidence from FM-OLS and ARDL approach to cointegration

The controversial debate on whether high population translates to weak or better economic growth has been a topical discussion in the area of development economics. This study therefore uses the data of the Nigerian economy to investigate the links among population growth, growth in output and income per capita growth for the periods of 1981–2018. The study employs both ARDL bound testing approach to cointegration and fully modified least square methods to evaluate the parameter estimates. We found that there exists a long-run relationship between population growth and economic growth in Nigeria. Further, the study found that the statistical and significant effect of population growth is more on long-run income growth than long-run income per capita growth. Meanwhile, in the short-run, an adverse effect is reported from population growth to economic growth, implying that the former has a detrimental effect on the latter. The reason for the adverse effects of population growth in the short-run results from the high number of dependents, whereas, in the long-run, there is a chance of demographic dividend that makes the young people becomes productive in their adulthood. Our findings, therefore, support the league of many studies that population growth is an asset to the long-run economic growth of Nigeria. In contrast, it has a poor impact on economic performance in the short-run. Thus, there is a need for proper and adequate utilization of the country’s rising population in appropriate areas of the economy where their efforts would be fully utilized towards improving the overall growth of Nigeria

Sustainable urban form:Socio-demographic and permeability factors as determinants of crime spots in cities, case of Akure, Nigeria

ABSTRACTUrbanization comes with the price of the negative complexity of crime. It is a reflection of the socio-demographic and permeability factors. This paper aims to integrate socio-demographic crime factors with street permeability to find the association with residential burglary spots. We first find the residential burglary hotspots area related to socio-demographic factors of the study area, then identify potential residential burglary risk areas based on the factors of street permeability and find the association of residential burglary with socio-demographics and street permeability factors in Akure. The methodology employed includes the Inverse Distance Weight factor analysis, space syntax, and the Poisson regression analysis. The findings showed hotspots of burglary within neighbourhoods, confirming the relationship between the factors. Issues identified herein denote some logical starting points for criminological engagement with the Sustainable Development Goals. In the conclusion, we discussed the implications for the statistical output