Implementation of Wi-Ap; An IEEE 802.11b/g Based Electrical Switch Module With Web Enabled Interface for Electrical Appliances Control

The aim of this research study is to design and implement a Wi-Fi-based control panel for remote control of lights and electrical appliances with a web functionality that allows for wide area control via the intranet or Internet. This eliminates the inconvenience of moving from one switch to another for analog operation of light fixtures and appliance in home, office and campus environment. The wireless technology we adopted is IEEE 802.11 (2008) b/g, also called Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) which operates in free band and is easily accessible. Wi-Ap (Wi-Fi Automated Appliance) control system contains a web portal which allows for management and control purposes via the intranet or Internet. We built a standalone Wi-Ap console that allows the wireless switching on and off of any appliance(s) that is(are) ) plugged into it. The prototype we built was tested within the Electrical and Information Engineering department, Covenant University, Nigeria intranet and the test achieved our aim of remote appliances control from a web portal vial the intranet

Trend Analysis of Teenage Pregnancy in Nigeria (1961-2013): How Effective is the Contraceptive Use Campaign

Teenage pregnancy (TP) is a recurrent global and public health problem. It poses both social and health challenges. Considering the massive campaign on the use of modern contraceptives to prevent TP in recent decades, we assessed trends in TP in Nigeria between 1961 and 2013. Pregnancy and contraception history of 70,811 women who were at least 20 years old when the Nigerian DHS was conducted in 1990, 2003, 2008, and 2013 respectively were used for the study, and descriptive statistics, time analysis techniques and multiple logistic regression were used to analyze the data at 5% significance level. The overall prevalence of TP between 1961 and 2013 was 49.5% which fluctuated insignificantly during the studied period. The TP prevalence among women who entered adulthood in 1961 was 39.2%; it peaked in 1978 at 58.9% before its unsteady decline to 39.6% in 2012, and then rose sharply to 55.6% in 2013. We predicted TP prevalence as 49.0%, 49.9% and 51.0% in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively. The odds of TP were over 4 times higher in the North East and 5 times higher in the North West than in the South West. Teenagers with no education had higher odds of TP and it was higher among teenagers from the poorest households (OR=5.64, 95% CI: 5.36-5.94). Rather than reducing with the worldwide acknowledged increase in contraceptive campaigns, TP increased over the years studied. As far as TP is concerned in Nigeria, the impact of the campaign on MC use is far from being effective. To achieve the objective of fewer TPs, fewer resources should be spent on access to contraception and instead diverted to areas more likely to achieve results such as improvements in educational achievement amongst girls

Solution of Massless Spin One Wave Equation in Robertson-Walker Space-time

We generalize the quantum spinor wave equation for photon into the curved space-time and discuss the solutions of this equation in Robertson-Walker space-time and compare them with the solution of the Maxwell equations in the same space-time.Comment: 16 Pages, Latex, no figures, An expanded version of paper published in International Journal of Modern Physics A, 17 (2002) 113

Nicotine dependence, socioeconomic status, lifestyle behaviours and lifetime quit attempts among adult smokers in South Africa

Background. Smoking cessation is a complex process influenced by factors such as smokers’ nicotine dependence levels, socioeconomic status (SES) and other lifestyle behaviours. Little is known about these relationships in South Africa (SA).Objectives. To explore the relationship between nicotine dependence, SES, lifestyle behaviours and lifetime quit attempts among adult smokers in SA.Methods. This study used data from 2 651 participants aged ≥16 years in the 2011 South African Social Attitudes Survey. Information on SES (measured by asset ownership), binge drinking, physical activity, fruit and vegetable intake, intention to quit smoking and lifetime quit attempts was extracted. Nicotine dependence was measured using the Heaviness of Smoking Index (HSI). All data were weighted to account for the complex survey design and to yield nationally representative estimates. Data analysis included binary logistic regression with high nicotine dependence (HND) defined as HSI ≥4 and lifetime quit attempts as separate outcomes.Results. The prevalence of smoking was 20.1% (31.6% for males and 9.5% for females), and was highest in the mixed-ancestry group (37.0%). Overall, 14.5% of smokers had HND, with a higher proportion in the high-SES group. The odds of HND increased with every 10  years of smoking history (odds ratio (OR) 2.05; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.40 - 3.00) but decreased among participants who reported frequent physical activity (OR 0.4; 95% CI 0.18 - 0.86) and those who planned to quit (OR 0.37; 95% CI 0.19 - 0.75). Quit attempts were more likely among participants who reported frequent fruit and vegetable intake (OR 1.8; 95% CI 1.07 - 2.98) and less likely among those reporting binge drinking (OR 0.31; 95% CI 0.16 - 0.59) or assessed as having HND (OR 0.32; 95% CI 0.17 - 0.58).Conclusions. Most adult smokers in SA have low nicotine dependence. However, the association of HND with high SES in this study suggests that although cessation treatment based on an integrated lifestyle behavioural intervention package may suffice for most smokers, a more intense cessation treatment package is needed for smokers of higher SES

Effects of Wheat and Fish Trade Restriction Policies on Households’ Vulnerability to Poverty in Nigeria

Against the expected trade liberalization policies as enunciated under the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement, Nigeria currently uses trade restriction policies through tariffs and quotas to protect local producers and ensure self-sufficiency in staple food especially wheat and fish, which constitute 56% of annual food import. However, the general equilibrium effects of restrictive policy instruments are yet to be fully understood especially for the poor and the vulnerable. Living Standard (HNLSS) survey data for 2009/2010 and the NISER’s 2011 Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) were used. An 80% wheat and 50% fish tariff increase as currently implemented in Nigeria were used for the simulations. Data were analyzed using computable general equilibrium (CGE) technique and Vulnerability To Poverty (VTP) measure. Prior to policy simulations, vulnerable rural and urban households in NW had the highest observed poverty (68.2% and 71.2%) while, while the rural and urban households in the south-south zone had the least (53.0% and 45.5%) respectively. The expected poverty was highest in simulation three across vulnerable and non-vulnerable households. Consequently, the ratio of expected to observed poverty indicates that vulnerable rural and urban households have the highest likelihood of sinking deeper into poverty particularly with the combined policies in simulation three. It is therefore recommended that government should strengthen domestic production of food import substitutes backed with strong value addition. Keywords:Computable general equilibrium, Per-capita consumption expenditure, Social accounting matrix, Trade restrictions, Vulnerability to poverty DOI: 10.7176/JPID/50-06 Publication date:June 30th 201

Elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein among apparently healthy adults with concomitant prediabetes and latent tuberculosis infection in Nigeria

Background: The increasing prevalence and convergence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and active tuberculosis (TB) comorbidity, especially in adults in the lower-and middle-income countries, demand new approaches to control the ‘syndemic’. Consequently, we set out to investigate the possibility of early detection of prediabetes mellitus and/or latent tuberculosis infection using novel method.Methods: This was a case-control study of 105 adults classified into 4 groups: Healthy Community Controls (HCC, n=30); Prediabetes mellitus (PDM, n=25); Latent Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI, n=23); Individuals with Prediabetes mellitus+Latent Tuberculosis Infection (PDM+LTBI, n=27). Sera collected were assayed for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) using the ultra-sensitive Human high sensitivity C-reactive protein ELISA Kit (Melsin Medical Co., Ltd, China). Other ancillary tests and measurements done include Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate, serum Glycated-hemoglobin (HbA1c), Interferon-gamma (INF-ϒ) and Waist circumference.Results: A total of 88 (83.8%) of the enrolled participants had full complement of results and were included in the analysis of four study groups: HCC (n=25), PDM (n=21), LTBI (n=19) and PDM+ LTBI (n=23). With respect to the serum biomarkers, isolated PDM and LTBI cases recorded significantly higher HbA1c (%) and INF-ϒ positivity respectively. Predictors of PDM+LTBI show statistically significant higher tertile (T3), representing elevated hs-CRP levels, (OR=6.50, 95% CI=4.83-22.39, p=0.0037).Conclusions: This study revealed that persons harboring the two associated asymptomatic conditions, PDM + LTBI have higher inflammatory state detectable by assaying the biomarker, hs-CRP, which could be used for ‘one-time bi-directional targeted screening’ for PDM in LTBI and vice versa

Effect of drinking magnetized water on immunity and carcass quality of broiler chicken

This study was conducted to determine the effect of drinking Magnetized Water (MW) on the immunity of broiler chicken. The problem which this study focused on was the mortality rate of broiler chicken which is common in some poultry farms in Nigeria due to some factors that could lead to loss of income. There is a need for economical methods for boosting the immunity of Broiler Chicken (BC) in order to reduce the mortality rate. BC (Arbor Acres breed) was given MW. The magnetized water was produced by passing water through the magnetic field in a pipe. The treatments were MW treated for 33s by passing the water through pipe surrounded with magnets one time(T1), MW treated for 66 s by flowing twice through the magnetic unit (T2), T3 was MW treated for 99 s and control (Non-Magnetized Water, NMW, T0). A total of 80 BCs (day old) with 20 BC for each treatment were given MW (T1, T2 and T3), NMW and monitored for 7 weeks. Blood samples were collected for hematology and analyzed using standard methods. The values of white blood cell for T0, T1, T2 and T3 were 153.61×10-9/L, 133.20×10-9/L, 134.78×10-9/L and 101.12×10-9/L and for lymphocytes, were 137.08×10-9/L, 120.79×10-9/L, 125.49×10-9/L and 96.12×10-9/L, respectively. MW T1, T2 and T3 increased body weight gain of the BC by 410, 320 and 210g/broiler. Protein contents of the carcass for T1, T2, T3 and T0 were 13.13%, 13.23%, 13.18% and 12.80%, respectively. MW can therefore enhance production of healthy broiler chickens

Human Capital Development and Poverty in Nigeria, 1960 - 2009: An Econometric Assessment

This study examined the relationship between human capital development and poverty in Nigeria using data spanning 1960-2009. The human capital development variable was measured using conventional variables i.e. education and health, with government expenditures on education and health being used as the proxies. Other variables on  communication, transportation and utility were used as control. A readily available poverty measure, gross domestic product per capita was used to capture poverty status. This is based on the fact that poverty is mostly measured in monetary terms captured by income or consumption per capita or household in the absence of direct primary data observation. After carrying out the diagnostic tests, the cointegration analysis carried out proved that, to some extent, a cointegrating relationship exists between the poverty measure and human capital development indicators. However, the Granger causality estimation results show that both education and health expenditures are fundamental in reducing poverty level based on the uni-directional causality while no causality runs from poverty status to the indicators. Keywords: Poverty, Human Capital Development, Cointegration, Granger Causalit

Response of Amaranthus cruenthus to Different Aeration Methods and Varying Irrigation Levels

Response of Amaranthus cruenthus to varying aeration methods (aeration of irrigation water (A1), air injection to crop root zone in soil before irrigation (A2), air injection to crop root zone in soil after irrigation (A3), and non aeration treatment (A0)) and irrigation levels (100% field capacity (FC) (W0), 75% FC (W1), 65% FC (W2) and 55 % FC (W3) were investigated. The results showed that varying irrigation as well as aeration levels had significant effects on the height of A. cruenthus while no significant difference was obtained in number of leaves across the field capacities during the growing period. The findings of this work showed that A. cruenthus was not sensitive to air treatment as expected. This is because lower number of leaves were obtained when air was either injected into the soil before or after irrigation as well as when air was injected into irrigation water at 4 and 7 weeks after planting. Plant height was maximum when no air was introduced to the plant at 4 Weeks After Planting. However, the number of leaves were highest at 65% FC throughout the growing period. The shoot, root and whole plant fresh weight were all significantly influenced by the aeration treatments but not FC except the root fresh weight. The edible yield (shoot fresh weight) was highest (48.55g) at 100% FC (W0). Also, when the irrigation water was injected with air (A1), the highest edible yield of 57.33 g was obtained. The highest Water Use Efficiency was exhibited at 100% FC (W0) while aeration of irrigation water (A1) gave the highest (26.06) Air Use E. 65% field capacity is best for planting A. cruenthus without negatively affecting the yield.

Determination of concentration of heavy metals in fish from sea port of Zanzibar by energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (EDXRF)

Seafood is the major source of food for a large number of people residing in the coastal areas of Zanzibar. It has been reported that the seafood are a connecting link for the transfer of toxic heavy metals in human beings. The present study assessed the metal concentration upon sample species of fish along the coast Sea Port of Zanzibar. Fish samples (namely changu, sardine, baracout and tuna fish) were the ideal species for the assessment study on effects of heavy metal contamination in aquatic organisms. They were collected at the Sea Port and the concentrations of the assessed metals were determined using Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF). Concentrations of Fe, Pb, Cr, Ni, As, Cu and Zn were found to be higher in sardine whilst Hg was found to be higher in changu specie. Concentrations of Cd and Mn were found to be below the detection limits in all sample species but higher in mussels. Whereas Hg was only detected in changu species. Comparing the data from this study to data from other studies in other regions, the concentrations of Fe, Cr and As in different species of fishes collected was quite higher than the values reported in the literature. The results of this study indicated that As, Hg and Cr were higher in fish than WHO/FAO (2004).Keywords: EDXRF, X-Rays, Fish, Pollution studies, Environmen