Experts’ Opinion on the Validation of Socio-Environmental Design Factors (SEDeF) Model as a Residential Neighbourhood Crime Prevention Technique in Nigeria

This article centres on validating a proposed model, socio-environmental design factors (SEDeF) meant to complement the penal system in the area of combating residential neighbourhood crime within the Nigerian residential estates. The research sought experts’ opinion on the desirability and sustainability of the model. Purposive and snow-ball sampling methods were adopted to administer 100 sets of questionnaire out of which 62 were considered usable for the analysis after data screening. SPSS and SEM-AMOS were the key analytical tools adopted to conduct the reliability test, normality test, cumulative mean, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the measurement model. The results of the analysis showed that, from the perspectives of the experts, the model is desirable and sustainable for the purpose for which it is proposed (Neighbourhood crime control). The model, if tenaciously implemented is capable of boosting housing values/investment, improve national economy and ensure civic and serene residential neighbourhood

Assessing Organizational Capacity in Housing Provision: a Survey of Public Housing Agencies in Ogun State, Nigeria

Organizational capacity is essential for effective implementation of policies and programmes. Consequently, assessment of organizational capacity helps organizations to identify their strength and weakness in order to make informed decisions about how best to address challenges they face. The goal of this study was to assess the status of organizational capacity of public housing agencies in housing provision in Ogun State Southwest Nigeria. It was motivated by a gap in literature on the specific areas that contribute most to organizational capacity of public agencies in housing provision in Nigeria. Using questionnaire as the principal data collection instrument, primary data were collected from randomly selected 90 staff members involved in the design, planning, implementation and management of public housing projects in four public housing agencies in the study area. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, and the result showed that most respondents felt that the overall organizational capacity of the agencies in housing provision was adequate. Management capacity was found to be slightly higher than resource capacity with the agencies having most strength in leadership style and weakness in the methods of administration of funds for housing projects. Substantial need and capacity building was found in critical areas such as funding, staff motivation and methods of dispensing of funds for housing projects. The paper suggests that partnerships with private sector organizations, robust staff well-fare schemes and re-training of staff can enhance organizational capacity of public agencies in public housing provision in Nigeria and other developing countries

Well Test Analysis in Volatile Oil Reservoirs

This thesis discusses characterization of volatile oil reservoirs using well test analysis. For this purpose, typical well test behaviours were simulated with a one-dimensional single well compositional reservoir model, for different production rates; fluid composition and relative permeability curves, with bottomhole pressures above and below the bubble point pressure. It was found that, when the bottomhole pressure falls below the bubble point pressure during a drawdown, a high gas saturation zone is created around the wellbore with two-phase (oil and gas) flow, whereas single phase (oil) with the initial gas saturation remains away from the wellbore. During the subsequent build up, the gas created around the wellbore during the preceding drawdown condenses into the oil and the saturation in the near-wellbore region returns to the initial gas saturation. The log-log pressure-derivative behaviours below the bubble point correspond to a twozone radial composite model, with decreasing mobility during drawdowns and increasing mobilities during build ups. The log-log pressure derivative plot of the build up reflects oil mobility distribution of the reservoir at the end of the preceding drawdown. Knowledge obtained from the study was applied to the analysis of a well test in an actual volatile oil reservoir. Analysis results were validated with compositional reservoir simulation that included the effect of capillary number and non-Darcy flow. Finally, factors affecting well deliverability in volatile oil reservoirs producing at flowing bottomhole pressure below bubble point pressure were studied. The result shows that end point relative permeability of oil phase and oil fluid composition are the most important factors affecting productivity of volatile oil reservoirs producing below bubble point pressure. This study suggests in volatile oil reservoirs, both vertical hydraulic fractures and horizontal wells are best implemented early in the wells life to delay the time when the flowing bottomhole pressure drops below the bubble point pressure, hence improving ultimate recovery.Imperial Users onl

Bank Term Deposit Service Patronage Forecasting using Machine Learning

Term deposit is one of the fi nancial services off ered by the bank. An eff ective bank marketing campaign to forecast possible customers to engage in personal term deposit marketing interaction is vital because it’s hard to stand out, considering that all banks off er similar products. Trailing to this, this study proposed the use of machine learning algorithms to develop bank term deposit patronage forecasting models, which can study the characteristics of customers to identify potential term deposit customers. Random Forest and Xtreme Gradient Boosting algorithms and the Portuguese institution marketing campaign dataset, were used to develop a bank term deposit service patronage forecasting model. The data balancing algorithm utilized is the Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique and Edited Nearest Neighbors (SMOTE-ENN) and feature selection was conducted using Information Gain. The Random Forest model achieved an accuracy of 95%, recall of 92% and f1 scores of 94%. Xtreme Gradient Boosting model achieved an accuracy of 97%, recall of 97% and f1 scores of 97%. The results of the experiment revealed the Xtreme Gradient Boosting emerged as the best mode

Hybrid Entrepreneurship as a Tool for Poverty Reduction in Nigeria: A Review of Literature with Qualitative Research and Content Analysis

In today’s Nigeria, employment in organizations has turned upside down due to poor economic situations which do not allow many companies to pay their employees well. There is a need for individuals to look for ways to increase their incomes for meeting financial obligations. The need for hybrid entrepreneurship is critical as well. This paper conducts a review of literature on hybrid entrepreneurship as a tool for poverty reduction. The research employs qualitative research approach and content analysis. The study concludes that, hybrid entrepreneurship is a determinant practice to reduce the rate of poverty in Nigeria. The paper recommends that, hybrid entrepreneurship should be encouraged among the Nigerian citizens so as to reduce the poverty level that has become a problem of Nigerians. Also, every Nigerian should try to get involved or engage in other businesses to augment their incomes so as to achieve their personal and family goals

Smoking related disease risk, area deprivation and health behaviours

Acknowledgements We thank Professor Luke Vale, Dr Diane Stockton and participants at the Faculty of Public Health conference, Aviemore, Scotland, November 2011 and UK Society for Behavioural Medicine conference, Stirling, Scotland, December 2011 for helpful comments. Funding This work was supported by the Medical Research Council National Preventive Research Initiative Phase 2 [G0701874]; see http://www.npri.org.uk. The Funding Partners relevant to this award are: British Heart Foundation; Cancer Research UK; Department of Health; Diabetes UK; Economic and Social Research Council; Medical Research Council; Research and Development Office for the Northern Ireland Health and Social Services; Chief Scientist Office; Scottish Government Health Directorates; The Stroke Association; Welsh Assembly Government and World Cancer Research Fund. The Health Economics Research Unit is funded by the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care DirectoratePeer reviewedPostprin

Retrospective analysis of mathieu’s urethroplasty for anterior hypospadias repair in circumcised children: A single center experience

Introduction: Mathieu’s technique (peri-meatal based flap) makes use of the urethral plate in the repair of anterior hypospadias, thereby creating an almost natural neo-urethra. In a circumcised baby or after previous unsuccessful repair, Mathieu’s flap may be one of the few options left torepair anterior hypospadias.Objectives: To evaluate the result of Mathieu’s flap repair for anterior hypospadias in a resource poor setting.Materials and Method: This is a retrospective review of post-circumcision anterior hypospadias managed by Mathieu’s flap repair between January 1996 and December 2006 in the paediatric surgical unit of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, a tertiary hospital in theSouth Western Nigeria.Results: Mathieu’s flap repair was performed in 16 patients with isolated anterior hypospadias; 15 (93.8%) were circumcised before presentation. The complications were urethrocutaneous fistula in 3 (18.8%), wound infection in 2 (12.5%) and flap necrosis in 1 patient (6.3%). Final outcomewas satisfactory in all patients.Conclusion: Mathieu’s flap remains a viable option in the repair of anterior hypospadias even after circumcision

Predicting the depositional environments and transportation mechanisms of sediments using granulometric parameters, bivariate and multivariate analyses

Grain size distribution and classes present in sedimentary rocks are responsive to the physical changes of the transporting media and the basin of deposition. Analyzing grain size data is germane in reconstructing the sedimentary processes including identifying the palaeoenvironment of deposition. Twenty-three (23) samples, mainly sandstones, collected within latitude 6055’-6059’N and Longitude 005044’-005053’E in the Anambra Basin, were subjected to granulometric analysis, where grain size parameters (mean grain size, sorting, skewness and kurtosis) sensitive to environmental conditions were calculated. These parameters were integrated with bivariate and multivariate analyses. Graphic mean (Mz) in the study area range from 1.1 to 2.27 ɸ with an average value of 1.7 ɸ, suggesting that grains are predominantly fine to medium; sorting range from 0.71 to 1.36 ɸ with an average value of 1.02 ɸ, suggesting sediments are moderately sorted; skewness range from -0.57 to 0.51 ɸ with an average value of 1.28 ɸ suggesting coarsely skewed to fine skewed with a predominating near symmetrical skewness and kurtosis range from 0.57 to 1.51ɸ, with an average of 1.28 ɸ suggesting a very platykurtic to leptokurtic character. Bivariate scatter plots of the grains size parameters predicted the environment of deposition as shallow marine. Multivariate analysis calculated from established functions suggested environments that range from beach (backshore) to shallow marine (subtidal). The integration of the granulometric parameters, bivariate and multivariate plots predict an environment that is dominated by high energy indicating that the sediments of the study area were deposited in shallow marine environment. In addition, the Visher and Passega’s C-M diagrams characterized the transport mechanism of the sediments as predominantly by saltation although traction and suspension modes also play some roles

Security Analysis of the Internet of Things Using Digital Forensic and Penetration Testing Tools

We exist in a universe where everything is related to the internet or each other like smart TVs, smart telephones, smart thermostat, cars and more. Internet of Things has become one of the most talked about technologies across the world and its applications range from the control of home appliances in a smart home to the control of machines on the production floor of an industry that requires less human intervention in performing basic daily tasks. Internet of Things has rapidly developed without adequate attention given to the security and privacy goals involved in its design and implementation. This document contains three research projects all centered on how to improve user\u27s data privacy and security in the Internet of Things. The first research provides a detailed analysis of the Internet of Things architecture, some security vulnerabilities, and countermeasures. We went on to discuss some solutions to these issues and presented some available Internet of Things simulators that could be used to test Internet of Things systems. In the second research, we explored privacy and security challenges faced by consumers of smart devices in this case we used an Amazon Echo Dot as our case study. During this research, we were able to compare two different digital forensic tools to see which performed better at extracting information from the device and if the device observes best practices for user data privacy. In the third research project, we used a tool called GATTacker to exploit security vulnerabilities of a Bluetooth Low Energy device and provide security awareness to users