Cultural Landscape Design in Nigeria during the Pre-Colonial, Colonial and Twenty-First Century.

Landscape is an integral part of man’s environment and the term in relation to a place may invoke the creation and experience of multiple meanings. This research investigates the relationship between landscapes in Nigeria during the precolonial, colonial and the twenty-first century. It looks at the influences of colonialism on landscape design, which seeks to find out how Nigeria has fared in its land use planning. The research highlighted the continued importance of historically constituted landscape upon which present-day activities in Nigeria are performed, and also considered the existing relationships of the present to the past. This paper through intensive review of relevant literature - books, journals and seminar papers amongst other documents, critically examined the factors that best answer the objectives of the study. The paper also outlines outdoor spaces that connect individuals to their social, economic and religious or cultural activities. It reviewed reasons that necessitate the proper organisation or arrangement that landscape design is concerned with. The paper recommended adequate implementation of town planning laws such as the active participation of the masses. Keywords: architecture, cultural landscape, design, environment DOI: 10.7176/CER/11-2-08 Publication date:March 31st 201

Molecular genotyping of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L. Lam) accessions using microsatellites

The experiment was conducted to ascertain the level of genetic diversity in sweet potato accessions using microsatellites. Thirty sweet potato accessions obtained from the International Potato Center (CIP), Kumasi, Ghana, Mozambique, and local germplasm of the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Abia State, Nigeria, as well as sweet potato vines from local farmers' fields in Jos, Plateau State, and Bauchi State, Nigeria, were analyzed for genetic diversity using five microsatellite markers. The results showed that the polymorphic SSR loci revealed diverse relationship among the sweet potato cultivars, which was grouped into four major clusters by unweighted pair group method analysis (UPGMA) method. Cluster analysis showed a Jaccard co-efficient ranging from 0.0 to 3.0 indicating high genetic diversity. The primers detected a total of 18 alleles and the number of alleles per locus was 4 for IBR-19, IBR-286, IBR-297 and 3 for IBR-16 and IBR-242 with an average of 3.67 alleles per locus. The polymorphic information content (PIC) of the markers varied from 0.35 to 0.72 with an average of 0.497. Marker IBR-19 revealed the highest PIC of 0.72, while marker IBR-297 had the lowest PIC of 0.35. Observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.32 to 0.89 with a mean of 0.675 across the five SSR loci. The results from the Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) which was used to quantify the diversity level and genetic relationship among the thirty sweet potato accessions indicated that a high diversity was mostly distributed within the populations for sweet potato accessions (75.12%) and (15.67%) among the populations

Application of Gwange Natural Sand as Foundry Moulding Material

Foundry remains a vital base for rapid industrial development of any nation.The foundry sectors produce spare parts for other industries and are mostly affected in the source of local readily usable processing materials to facilitate the production of spare parts for other industries. Foundry sand is one of these materials which needed to be developed for its application in the sectors. Gwange Sand from Maiduguri Borno State in North-Eastern Nigeria was collected at 3, 4, 5 & 6 meters depth and characterized to ascertain its suitability for use as natural sand in foundry industry. Foundry laboratory testing equipmentwere used in carrying out the tests and the results obtained were compared with American Foundry Men Society Standard (AFS). It was discovered that quantity of moisture and clay content has effect on foundry properties of the sand. The moulding sand has about 30-40% clay content with an average of 35% clay content as the optimal use with satisfactory green compressive strength of 57.06KN/m2and other properties at moisture content less than 3%. The study also revealed that, the favourable results obtained for compression strength, permeability, mouldability, Shatter Index, refractoriness etc., makes Gwange sand as natural moulding sand suitable for casting of some metals components and its alloys

Residents\u27 Social Interactions in Market Square and Its Impact on Community Well-Being

This study aims at ameliorating the associated challenges emanated from the ineffective planning, management and design of market square as well as appraisal of the interactions among people of diverse ethnicity. Hence, the study explores users\u27 interactions and activities within three markets square in rural neighborhoods of South-west, Nigeria. The significant relationship between resident\u27s interactions and the community well-being was explored. Consequently, this study highlights the influence of the market square as a typical neighborhood open space on residents\u27 well-being. The study\u27s quantitative approach encircled the purposive structured survey questionnaire data obtained from Yorubas, Hausas, and Ibos respondents (n=382); and analyzed by SPSS statistical package (version 22). Meanwhile, the qualitative data included observation of various activity pattern among the three ethnic groups. The study\u27s findings revealed that an improvement in the market square quality becomes necessary in order to increase residents\u27 interactions and well-being. Also, the study elucidates the appropriate link between the built environment, residents\u27 interactions, and well-being. It is concluded that residents\u27 well-being is a reflection of an experience manifested within the interplay of individuals and groups\u27 social interactions. This study of people and place relationships could better equip the professionals in the built environment on the importance of creating a sustainable open space towards improving residents\u27 well-being and rural community revitalization efforts

Increasing the productivity of sorghum farmers in Sudan Savannah of Nigerian: Effect of Access to improved technology and market

Sorghum has assumed greater importance in the economies of several African countries especially with the renewed interest by processors who are interested in using the grain to compliment/substitute wheat and barley in the confectionery and malting industries. Low on-farm grain yields are attributed to low use of inputs including seeds and fertilizers as well as good agronomic practices. ICRISAT Nigeria, in collaboration with several partners under the Agricultural Transformation Support Project (ATASP-1) implemented several activities including thematic training, on-farm technology demonstrations, community seed production and formation of innovation platforms (IPs) for market linkages. Remarkable progress were made in enhancing access to quality seeds and other inputs to over 40,000 farmers while expanding knowledge of Improved technologies to over 100 communities. During the 2016 cropping season, farmers produced over 70,268 Mt of grains valued at N9.135billion (US$29M). The impacts of trainings resulted in about 60% improvement in the understanding of good agronomic practices and post-harvest handling by the farmers and extension agents. The use of improved technologies increased grain yields by 30 to 64% (improved varieties), 27 to 38% (seed dressing), and 20% to 55% (tillage practices). Through IPs and market linkages to large scale processors, 109.76 tons of seeds were procured, distributed and planted. Average yield obtained from improved technologies was 1.5 t/ha compared to 1.1 t/ha by other farmers giving a 40% increase. A total of 1,093 women farmers comprising of about 34.2% of the total number of participating farmers benefited directly from the project. Seed fairs, radios and audio-visual broadcasts on improved production technologies and market availability were used to reach non-participating farmers within the zones. The combination of methods stimulated adoption of improved sorghum production technologies and market linkages proofed effective in achieving both increased sorghum yields and household income

Proximate analysis of waste-to-energy potential of municipal solid waste for sustainable renewable energy generation

Over-dependence on virgin resources has been a major topic of social and political debates as the world's population and urbanization continue to rise. The high rate of rural–urban migration and changes in standard of living habits give rise to rapid economic activities that have an enormous impact on the gradual increase in waste generation and continued demand for electricity in urban centres. The solutions to these concerns can be achieved through efficient waste management options by waste resource utilization for energy and nutrient recovery and reduced solid waste pollution footprint. This research examined the viability of present and projected municipal solid waste streams to generate green energy through field surveys by physical characterization of the waste composition, projected waste quantity based on available population and waste data for the period 2000 – 2014, modelled methane gas generated by IPCC method, and the energy value was determined respectively. The findings indicated a high organic content of 54.1% of MSW and a per capita waste generation rate of 0.49–0.57 kg/capita/day. The waste was projected to increase from 353717.41 to 2,223497 tonnes between 2014 and 2035 at a population growth rate of 9.15%. This accounted for methane gas generated estimated to be 9.85Gg/year with an energy value of 15 MW/day in 2014 and projected to increase to 33.4 MW/day by 2035. The energy value estimated represented an increase from 6.14% to 212.74% of the allocated power supply from the national grid within the projected period. However, it is worth noting that, there are some limitations associated with the research due in part to inadequate field data which was supplemented by default model values as recommended by IPCC, although within an acceptable uncertainty band of result sensitivity. Therefore, the WTE management option can serve as a pathway for green energy integration for sustainable development

Molecular and serological detection of occult hepatitis B virus among healthy hepatitis B surface antigen-negative blood donors in Malaysia.

Background: Occult hepatitis B infections are becoming a major global threat, but the available data on its prevalence in various parts of the world are often divergent. Objective: This study aimed to detect occult hepatitis B virus in hepatitis B surface antigen-negative serum using anti-HBc as a marker of previous infection. Patient and Methods: A total of 1000 randomly selected hepatitis B surface antigen-negative sera from blood donors were tested for hepatitis B core antibody and hepatitis B surface antibody using an ELISA and nested polymerase chain reaction was done using primers specific to the surface gene (S-gene). Results: Of the 1000 samples 55 (5.5%) were found to be reactive, of which 87.3% (48/55) were positive for hepatitis B surface antibody, indicating immunity as a result of previous infection however, that does not exclude active infection with escaped mutant HBV. Nested PCR results showed the presence of hepatitis B viral DNA in all the 55 samples that were positive for core protein, which is in agreement with the hepatitis B surface antibody result. Conclusion: This study reveals the 5.5% prevalence of occult hepatitis B among Malaysian blood donors as well as the reliability of using hepatitis B core antibody in screening for occult hepatitis B infection in low endemic, low socioeconomic settings