Assessment of Compliance with Development Regulations in Abeokuta-West Zonal Planning Area, Nigeria

Development control is a medium through which the land use is licensed for building and other purposes backed-up by planning laws and regulations. Despite the importance of development control measures in physical and environmental balancing, a series of factors still hinder its effectiveness. The paper examines the compliance with development regulations in Abeokuta-West Zonal Planning Area, Nigeria. Primary and secondary sources of data were used. A questionnaire and personal interview were both used. Multi-stage sampling method was adopted because the buildings in the planning area are numerous and spatially located. The planning area was divided into nine zones which were classified into three; from which Obada-Oko, Oke-Ata, and Bode-Olude areas were considerably selected. The number of buildings in the selected areas was 668 buildings, and 40% was used to select the sample for each area, the research then had a sample size of 267 buildings The selection of sample size was carried out systematically for the administration of questionnaires by the residents (building owners). The data collected were presented and analysed through the use of descriptive statistics. The findings indicated that 78.7% of the residents were aware of the existence of penalties for building without permission; 68.5% of the resident did not obtain a development permit, while 15.6% out of the 31.5% that obtained a development permit deviated from the approved building plan; and 58.3% of the residents were not satisfied with the procedures involved in obtaining development permit, because it is cumbersome and expensive.  Regulatory measures were recommended for the improvement of development control practice in the study area. These include the provision of the framework as a guide for physical development; effective public awareness; and enlightenment programmes. Also, various socio-economic classes (high, medium, and low classes), especially the low-income earners, should be given considerate attention in the course of policy formulation and planning implementation

Softcodes of Parallel Processing Milne’s Device via Exponentially Fitted Method for Valuating Special ODEs

The idea of technological computing has immensely assisted to enhance accuracy and maximize computed errors involving computational math. Softcodes computer programme is guided towards supplying comfortable computation, proficiency and faster results at all times. The objective of this study will be to devise softcodes of parallel processing Milne’s device (SPPMD) via exponentially fitted method for valuating special ordinary differential equations. This is established through collocation and interpolation of the exponentially fitted method. Dissecting (SPPMD) produces the principal local truncation error (PLTE) after expressing the order of SPPMD leading to the boundary of convergence. Some selected examples of special ODEs were tested to show the efficiency and accuracy of (SPPMD) at different boundary of convergence. The finished results exist with the aid of (SPPMD). Computed results show that the (SPPMD) is more proficient compare to subsisting methods in terms of the work out max errors at all levels

Rainfall variability and drought characteristics in two agro-climatic zones: An assessment of climate change challenges in Africa

This paper aims at examining drought characteristics as an evidence of climate change in two agro-climatic zones of Nigeria and farmers' perceptions of impacts and adaptation strategies. The results show high spatial and temporal rainfall variability for the stations, in consequence, there are several anomalies in rainfall in recent years but much more in the locations around the Guinea savanna. The inter-station and seasonality statistics reveal less variable and wetter early growing seasons and late growing seasons in the Rainforest zone, and more variable and drier growing seasons in other stations. The probability (p) of dry spells exceeding 3, 5 and 10 consecutive days is very high with 0.62≤p≥0.8 in all the stations, though, the p-values for 10day spells drop below 0.6 in Ibadan and Osogbo. The results further show that rainfall is much more reliable from the month of May until July with the coefficient of variance for rainy days 0.30), though CV-RD appears higher in the month of August for all the stations. It is apparent that farmers' perceptions of drought fundamentally mirror climatic patterns from historical weather data. The study concludes that the adaptation facilities and equipment, hybrids of crops and animals are to be provided at a subsidized price by the government, for farmers to cope with the current condition of climate change

MATHEMATICA COMPUTER PROGRAMMING CODES OF EXPONENTIALLY FITTTED CONCURRENT MILNE'S DEVICE FOR SOLVING SPECIAL PROBLEMS

Over the years, scientific computing has contributed immensely to computational mathematics. Mathematica computer programming codes is known to provide easy computation and quick results. This research article is specifically built to generate Mathematica computer programming codes of exponentially fitted concurrent Milne’s device (EFCMD) for solving special problems. Exponentially fitted concurrent Miln device is formulated via collocation/interpolation with power series as the approximate solution. Analyzing the EFCMD will produce the main local truncation error (MLTE) after showing the order, thereby bringing forth the bounds of convergence. Numerical results display that EFCMD do better than existing methods in terms of the maximum errors in the least studied bound of convergence as a result of varying/designing a suitable pace size, ascertain bound of convergence and error control

Climate change adaptation options in farming communities of selected Nigerian ecological zones

This chapter examines the impacts of climate change on three tropical crops and assesses the climate change adaptation options adopted by rural farmers in the region. The study was conducted among farming communities settled in three major ecological zones in Nigeria. Over 37 years of data on rainfall and temperature were analyzed to examine climate change impacts on three major crops: rice, maize, and cassava. Farmers' adaptive capacity was assessed with a survey. Climatic data, crop yields, and survey data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The relation between rainfall/temperature and crop yields was examined using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Results show a high variation in the annual rainfall and temperature during the study period. The major findings from this research is that crops in different ecological zones respond differently to climate variation. The result revealed that there is a very strong relationship between precipitation and the yield of rice and cassava at p <0.05 level of significance. The results further showed low level of adaption among the rural farmers. The study concludes that rainfall and temperature variability has a significant impact on crop yield in the study area, but that the adaptive capacity of most farmers to these impacts is low. There is a need for enhancing the adaptation options available to farmers in the region, which should be the focus of government policies

Discovery and functional characterization of neuropeptides in crinoid echinoderms.

Neuropeptides are one of the largest and most diverse families of signaling molecules in animals and, accordingly, they regulate many physiological processes and behaviors. Genome and transcriptome sequencing has enabled the identification of genes encoding neuropeptide precursor proteins in species from a growing variety of taxa, including bilaterian and non-bilaterian animals. Of particular interest are deuterostome invertebrates such as the phylum Echinodermata, which occupies a phylogenetic position that has facilitated reconstruction of the evolution of neuropeptide signaling systems in Bilateria. However, our knowledge of neuropeptide signaling in echinoderms is largely based on bioinformatic and experimental analysis of eleutherozoans-Asterozoa (starfish and brittle stars) and Echinozoa (sea urchins and sea cucumbers). Little is known about neuropeptide signaling in crinoids (feather stars and sea lilies), which are a sister clade to the Eleutherozoa. Therefore, we have analyzed transcriptome/genome sequence data from three feather star species, Anneissia japonica, Antedon mediterranea, and Florometra serratissima, to produce the first comprehensive identification of neuropeptide precursors in crinoids. These include representatives of bilaterian neuropeptide precursor families and several predicted crinoid neuropeptide precursors. Using A. mediterranea as an experimental model, we have investigated the expression of selected neuropeptides in larvae (doliolaria), post-metamorphic pentacrinoids and adults, providing new insights into the cellular architecture of crinoid nervous systems. Thus, using mRNA in situ hybridization F-type SALMFamide precursor transcripts were revealed in a previously undescribed population of peptidergic cells located dorso-laterally in doliolaria. Furthermore, using immunohistochemistry a calcitonin-type neuropeptide was revealed in the aboral nerve center, circumoral nerve ring and oral tube feet in pentacrinoids and in the ectoneural and entoneural compartments of the nervous system in adults. Moreover, functional analysis of a vasopressin/oxytocin-type neuropeptide (crinotocin), which is expressed in the brachial nerve of the arms in A. mediterranea, revealed that this peptide causes a dose-dependent change in the mechanical behavior of arm preparations in vitro-the first reported biological action of a neuropeptide in a crinoid. In conclusion, our findings provide new perspectives on neuropeptide signaling in echinoderms and the foundations for further exploration of neuropeptide expression/function in crinoids as a sister clade to eleutherozoan echinoderms

Knowledge for development: university-firm interaction in sub-Saharan Africa: the case of Nigeria: working papers

AugustThe Research on Knowledge Systems (RoKS) 2006 competition provided funding that has opened up a new field and delineated the contours of a research agenda in relation to the changing role of the university in sub-Saharan Africa. Governments in developing countries are increasingly imitating developed countries, by adopting policy, incentives and programmes aimed to promote linkages between universities and firms. In sub-Saharan Africa, with the largest number of low-income countries, there is evidence to suggest that policy-borrowing to promote university-industry linkages is occurring, but in a manner that does not take sufficient cognizance of the specifics of the local context and conditions, which may have unintended deleterious consequences. There is as yet not a great deal of research on the changing role of universities, but what does exist often engages with the challenges in aspirational and normative ways. There has been little systematic analysis of the conditions of universities, firms and their potential for interaction to contribute to growth and development in the low income countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Such concerns inspired a study to examine systematically how university-firm interaction contributes to national development goals in three countries at different stages of development in sub-Saharan Africa, namely Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa. The study was also conducted in nine other countries, in Latin America (Brazil, Costa Rica, Argentina and Mexico) and Asia (Korea, China, India, Malaysia and Thailand), providing a basis for systematic comparative work across countries of the South