On-Street Parking Prohibition and Travel Behaviour of Motorists in Aba, Nigeria

The prevalence of on-street parking in the city of Aba has continued to generate much concern to all road users and the government in Nigeria as it hinders traffic flow and increases traffic accidents. Consequently, the government initiated the policy of on-street parking prohibition at the downtown area of Aba, leading to increased travel difficulty for motorists. This study examined the policy of on-street parking prohibition and the resultant travel behaviour of motorists. The study adopted survey design whereby primary data were collected with the aid of structured questionnaire, measurement, and observation. The sample size of 400 respondents was determined from the study population of 420,665 motorists using the Standard Traffic Count (STC) approach. Cluster, purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to proportionately select the roads and respondents used in the study. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Chi-square were used for data analysis. The study revealed among other thing that: there were significant differences in the geometric characteristics of roads where on-street parking was prohibited and where on-street parking was not prohibited. On-street parking prohibition was found to have impacted the travel behaviour of motorists as follows: (i) motorists travel less with single occupancy vehicles (SOVs) but more with KEKE (tricycle) during the working hours; (ii) there is reduction in the frequency of trips by motorists to the city centre whereas they divert to the outlying areas; and (iii) there is increased city bound (non-work) trips during early morning and late evening hours. It was recommended among others that government should embark on the construction of modern off-street parking facilities at designated locations within the city of Aba. Government should also recover sidewalks and road setbacks which have been totally invaded by commercial activities in Aba, and develop paid curb-parking there as alternative to on-street parking

Simple picrate method for the determination of cyanide in cassava flour

A simple picrate method was used to quantify the cyanide contents of food samples. The cyanide in the food samples reacted with hot 20% HCl solution to produce hydrogen cyanide vapour which reacted with alkaline picrate test strips to form red colour on the test strips. The red coloured complex on the strips was extracted with 50% ethanol solution and the absorbance of the extract was measured at 510nm using a spectrophotometer. The method was reproducible and cyanide as low as 1 microgram could be determined. Cyanide levels of all the cassava varieties tested were higher than the 10ppm WHO safe level. Recovery of cyanide from acyanogenic foods fortified at levels of 5 and 10mg KCN/10g were 98.6% and 99.1% respectively. The picrate method is simple and useful for routine determination of cyanide content of cassava flour.Keywords: Picrate method, Cyanide, Cassava flou

DRUG USE INDICATORS IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES IN A TERIARY HEALTHCARE FACILITY IN NIGERIA

Objective: The study analyzed the utilization pattern of antidiabetic drugs at the outpatient clinic of a teaching hospital in Nigeria to document information for enhancing the rational use of drugs in type 2 diabetes. Methods: A retrospective analysis of prescription records of patients with type2 diabetes, seen between the months of May and October, 2013 was carried out; adapting the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommended drug use indicators. Data was analyzed for drug use indicators, concurrent illnesses and co-prescribed medications. Results: A total of 286 prescriptions of T2DM were collected and analyzed. Mean age of patients was 61(±11.8) years. The number of drugs per prescription averaged 4(±1.6), with majority of prescriptions, 70% containing between 3 and 5 drugs each. Metformin (55.8%) was the most commonly prescribed antidiabetic drug followed by glibenclamide (35.1%). Antibiotics were prescribed in 11% of encounters. The percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name was 58%. Hypertension was identified in 42.2% of the diabetic patients as the most co-existing condition. Conclusion: The study suggests a significant compliance to T2DM treatment guidelines but with scope for improved rational use of drug to reduce the risk of drug therapy problems and enhance patients' quality of life. It provides a baseline data for further studies on institutional drug use in diabetes

Quantification of Heavy Metal Levels in Some Locally Produced Rice (Oryza Sativa) from the South-East and South-South Geopolitical Zones of Nigeria

The contamination of our foods with heavy metals has predisposed humans and even animals to heavy metal toxicity which is of public health importance. These findings have drawn the interest of biochemist, nutritionist, health workers and researchers all over the world. Rice is one of the most widely consumed staples in Nigeria. This study investigated the concentration of heavy metals in locally produced rice from the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones of Nigeria. A total of ten (10) samples were collected from various locations in the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones and five (5) heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Pb and Hg) were analyzed from each samples. The result showed that of Cr and Pb concentrations ranged from 0.019-0.282mg/kg and 0.000-1.722mg/kg respectively. The average mean for chromium (Cr) and lead (Pb) concentrations were 0.060 and 0.777mg/kg respectively. Mercury, chromium and arsenic were below detectable concentration of <0.001mg/kg. To assess the safety of dietary intake, weekly intake of heavy metals contaminated rice, was calculated based on the intake of a typical 60kg body weight Nigerian. The result indicated that weekly intake of heavy metals from rice was above the provisional tolerable weekly intakes recommended by FAO/WHO and USNAS (United States National Academy of sciences). This study also showed that Cr and Pb concentration were high and frequent consumption of these rice samples may lead to bioaccumulation of these metals in our body which may lead to serious health implications. Keyword: heavy metal, rice, toxicity, health, tolerable weekly intake

Quantification of Heavy Metal Levels in Some Locally Produced Rice (Oryza Sativa) From the South-East And South-South Geopolitical Zones Of Nigeria

The contamination of our foods with heavy metals has predisposed humans and even animals to heavy metal toxicity which is of public health importance. These findings have drawn the interest of biochemist, nutritionist, health workers and researchers all over the world. Rice is one of the most widely consumed staples in Nigeria. This study investigated the concentration of heavy metals in locally produced rice from the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones of Nigeria. A total of ten (10) samples were collected from various locations in the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones and five (5) heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Pb and Hg) were analyzed from each samples. The result showed that of Cr and Pb concentrations ranged from 0.019-0.282mg/kg and 0.000-1.722mg/kg respectively. The average mean for chromium (Cr) and lead (Pb) concentrations were 0.060 and 0.777mg/kg respectively. Mercury, chromium and arsenic were below detectable concentration of <0.001mg/kg. To assess the safety of dietary intake, weekly intake of heavy metals contaminated rice, was calculated based on the intake of a typical 60kg body weight Nigerian. The result indicated that weekly intake of heavy metals from rice was above the provisional tolerable weekly intakes recommended by FAO/WHO and USNAS (United States National Academy of sciences). This study also showed that Cr and Pb concentration were high and frequent consumption of these rice samples may lead to bioaccumulation of these metals in our body which may lead to serious health implications. Keyword: heavy metal, rice, toxicity, health, tolerable weekly intake

A peace journalism approach to understanding the role of the media in the land disputes in Kenya

Abstract. Kenya is generally recognized as one of the most conflict prone countries in Africa, at least amongst those with a stable form of government. Kenya in recent years have been plagued by violence in the form of communal, radical islamists violence, land disputes, ethnic violence, hate speech, amongst others. The government have tried different ways of combating and mitigating this violence that has become a recurring problem in the region, however the disputes and conflicts seems to go on abated. Scholars from all over the world have studied on the role of the media in conflict management and have arrived at different conclusions – some found out that media contributes significantly to violence and can even be the cause of violence while others say the mass media can be a tool to promote peace and peace co-existence. This therefore aims to find out the how the Kenyan press reports conflict. The aim is to find out whether or not they make use of peace journalism approach to reporting on conflict. The findings of this study shows that the Kenyan press is not contributing to peace and is in fact inciting violence judging by the choice of words used in the news stories.Keywords. Kenya, Land conflicts, Journalism, Peace journalism.JEL. D71, D72, D74, F51

Correlation between maximum dry density and cohesion of remoulded Nsukka clays

Due to the ever increasing cost of laboratory equipment to determine soil parameters such as cohesion and maximum dry density and the enormous time and energy dissipated in such experiment, this research work was attempted in order to investigate the possi ble correlation between cohesion and maximum dry density. Thirty remoulded clay samples obtained from Nsukka were used for this investigation. The clay samples were categorized into clay of low plasticity (CL), medium plasticity (CI) and high plasticity (C H) after preliminary tests have been carried out on them. To determine the correlation between cohesion and maximum dry density, unconsolidated undrained triaxial test and compaction tests were conducted on all samples and their cohesion and maximum dry de nsity values determined appropriately. Using regression analysis, correlations were developed for the various categories of clay soils. The correlation coefficient, R, obtained for the CL, CI and CH soils were 57.8%, 67.9% and 93% respectively. Based on th is correlation coefficient, it is safe to suggest that for preliminary estimates of soils, the correlations obtained for these soils will suffice. Keywords : Cohesion, Compaction, Correlation, Maximum dry density, Nsukka Clays, Triaxial compression tes

Femtocell Congestion Mitigation Technique using Poisson Point Process

The idea of femtocell technology came in order to boost the signal strength of indoor Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) users. The number of subscribers a femtocell device can accommodate is closed from the manufactures’ end in order to check the capacity limit. The challenge with this form of technology is that only registered subscribers are permitted to gain access. This study seeks to enable flexibility in the control of its capacity limit by employing Poisson Point Process as a congestion control tool. The outcome of the study showed that the spatial Poisson Point Process can effectively be used to control the capacity limit of femtocell device, using co-channel interference technique. This will enable the device to operate as an open system while controlling the capacity limit. Keywords: Femtocell, Poisson Point Process, Cellular Network, Home Node

Gentrification and Environmental Justice in Nigerian Cities

Gentrification is a process of urban revitalization by which the original inhabitants of an area are displaced, owing to the purchase and upgrading of their deteriorated properties by the middle or high income households. An aspect of gentrification that is of particular interest to Nigerians is the issue of displacement, with its attendant socio-economic alienation of the poor from the city, which has evoked some environmental justice concerns. Focusing on the city of Aba, this study examined gentrification and the environmental justice question in Nigerian cities. The study adopted survey research design, making use of qualitative and quantitative methods to analyse gentrification. Cluster and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 158 displaced household heads of gentrified buildings across the various neighbourhoods in Aba, who were surveyed. Data collected were analyzed with appropriate parametric tests using SPSS. Findings show that about 698 households are displaced in the city every year due to gentrification, with an annual displacement rate of 7.5%. This gentrification induced displacements have been found to constitute significant environmental injustice to the low income city residents as it leads to their dislocation from kin, and communal heritages; forces them to move into substandard housing at the urban fringes; and constrains some to relocate to the rural areas, limiting their abilities to cope with life’s challenges. The study therefore recommends among other things, that the Town Planning Authorities should create a platform to educate owners of rundown properties to adopt the model of market-led gentrification as presently practiced in Lagos city

Effect of organic waste compost and microbial activity on the growth of maize in the utisoils in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

One of the major problems of agricultural soils in the coastal areas of the Niger Delta is the low organic matter content. Therefore, land application of composted organic material as a fertilizer source not only provides essential nutrients to plants, it also improves soil quality and effectively disposes soil wastes. In this study, poultry droppings, spent mushroom wastes, earthworm casts and soil samples were collected from the agriculture farm of the University and composted for 21 days. The composts were applied as nutrient supplements to maize crops at different concentrations of 3000, 9000, 18000 t/ha and control, to determine their effect on crop yield. The patterns of organic waste composting were compared among various combinations. The results obtained showed that organic waste compost application improved soil physical properties, increased nitrogen content, phosphorus, potassium and some micronutrients such as zinc, iron and copper. Vegetative growth parameters were better enhanced in maize stem length, girth, number of leaves and chlorophyll content while other nutrient combinations showed improved yields, especially Soil + spent mushroom wastes (SMW) + poultry droppings (PW) at 40 t/ha. Microorganisms involved in the breakdown of composts were isolated and characterized according to various biochemical reactions. They include Bacillus subtilis, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas, Corynebacterium and Enterobacter species. Therefore, management of organic wastes through composting increases soil organic matter and other nutrients, and therefore had the added benefit of improving soil quality and thereby enhancing long term sustainability of agriculture. Their use also enhances microbial activities which enhances nutrient supply.Keywords: Composts, organic wastes, inorganic fertilizers, microbial activities, soil, maize, nutrient conten