A modified particle swarm optimization based maximum power point tracking for photovoltaic converter system

This thesis presents a modified Particle Swarm Optimization based Maximum Power Point Tracking for Photovoltaic Converter system. All over the world, many governments are striving to exploit the vast potential of renewable energy to meet the growing energy requirements mainly when the price of oil is high. Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) is a method that ensures power generated in Photovoltaic (PV) systems is optimized under various conditions. Due to partial shading or change in irradiance and temperature conditions in PV, the power-voltage characteristics exhibit multiple local peaks; one such phenomenon is the global peak. These conditions make it very challenging for MPPT to locate the global maximum power point. Many MPPT algorithms have been proposed for this purpose. In this thesis, a modified Particle Swarm Optimisation (PSO)-based MPPT method for PV systems is proposed. Unlike the conventional PSO-based MPPT methods, the proposed method accelerates convergence of the PSO algorithm by consistently decreasing weighting factor, cognitive and social parameters thus reducing the steps of iterations and improved the tracking response time. The advantage of the proposed method is that it requires fewer search steps (converges to the desired solution in a reasonable time) compared to other MPPT methods. It requires only the idea of series cells; thus, it is system independent. The control scheme was first created in MATLAB/Simulink and compared with other MPPT methods and then validated using hardware implementation. The TMS320F28335 eZDSP board was used for implementing the developed control algorithm. The results show good performance in terms of speed of convergence and also guaranteed convergence to global MPP with faster time response compared to the other MPPT methods under typical conditions (partial shading, change in irradiance and temperature, load profile). This demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed method

Leadership succession, organizational climate, trust and individual performance in Nigerian commercial banks

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between leadership succession, organizational climate and individual performance in the Nigerian commercial banks. Primarily, this study explored the moderating effect of trust on the relationship between leadership succession, dimensions of organizational climate (i.e. quality, integration, and well-being) and individual performance that comprises of adaptive, task, and contextual performance. Stratified random sampling was used in which samples were drawn from six geographical zones of Nigeria (i.e. Lagos, Delta, Abia, Abuja, Kano, and Bauchi). Data was collected through the self-administrated method by sending questionnaires to 600 commercial bank branch managers within the six geographical zones selected. A total of 84 items were used in the questionnaire to examine all the variables illustrated in the theoretical framework. All the instruments were adapted from past literature. The statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 20.0 was used to test the hypotheses. The results provided support for some of the hypothesized relationships for the study. Specifically, leadership succession was positively related to adaptive performance but negatively related to task performance. Additionally, integration was also positively related to both task and contextual performance, while well-being was positively related to only task performance. Furthermore, the results of the moderating effect of trust indicated that four out of the twelve hypotheses were moderated. Therefore, the significant positive influence of leadership succession, quality, integration and well-being suggest that the variables are important in motivating individual performance. As such, employees should be encouraged to exhibit these behaviours to enhance the performance of the organization. Finally, the contribution, limitations, and implications of the study are discussed

Leadership Succession and Strategic Change in Nigerian Commercial Banks

The relationship between leadership succession and strategic change is generally examined. However, more needs to be covered in the area. The paper proposed to provide a framework that will examine the relationship between leadership succession and strategic change in the Nigerian Banking sector. The model will help to a better understanding of the direct relationship between leadership succession and strategic change, hence, regulatory agencies, shareholders and board members, as well as management team will benefit from the study outcome

Individual performance, leadership succession, organizational climate and moderating effect of trust: Data screening and preliminary analysis

The main objective of this paper is to present individual performance, leadership succession, organizational climate and moderating effect of trust, data screening processes in the Nigerian commercial banks.Data of the study were collected through research assistant employed, in which 600 questionnaire were sent to employees of the commercial banks.Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20.Thus, response rate and non-respond biased were ascertained, data cleaning, detection of missing data, treatment of univariate and multivariate outliers and descriptive statistics and correlation. The result revealed that the data is suitable for further analysis

Effect of Physical Characteristics on Resident Satisfaction in Medium Density Area of Kaduna Metropolis, Nigeria

This study aimed to determine ways to reveal the significant association in Kaduna between a resident's physical features and housing happiness. The study used a quantitative approach. A questionnaire was created and mailed to 126 Household Heads, and 94 replies were received. Households were questioned using systematic random sampling to obtain socioeconomic characteristics and housing satisfaction data. The data was examined with descriptive statistics and a linear regression model using SPSS to investigate the effect of factors. According to the findings of the study, physical features have a significant impact on home happiness in the studied area. Toilet facilities, rendered and painted walls, tiles, an efficient kitchen, no finishing wall, electricity, and a generator as a substitute option for lighting a kitchen without modern facilities, concrete and a pit toilet are several variables that influence residents' satisfaction, according to the study. It was also revealed that restroom facilities, rendered and painted walls, and tiles had the highest mean score. The government was advised to provide the deficient communal facilities and repair the decaying ones as soon as possible. Proper regular management of social facilities needs to be implemented to promote residents' satisfaction in the area under investigation region

Leadership Succession and Individual Performance in Nigerian Commercial Banks

Leadership succession can play a very important role in ensuring better performance of individuals in an organization. However, in Nigerian context especially in the banking sector this issue receives less attention from past researchers. Thus, this is a dire need to explore this issue in the future. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between leadership succession and individual performance in the Nigerian banking industry. The paper proposed to provide a framework that will examine the relationship between leadership succession and individual performance in the Nigerian Banking sector. Keywords: Leadership succession, individual performance, commercial banks, Nigeria

Effect of Neighbourhood Characteristics on Resident's Satisfaction in Doya Area of Bauchi Metropolis

This study determines the effect of neighbourhood characteristics on residents’ satisfaction in Doya area of Bauchi metropolis to reveal the significant relationship of the effect. Field data were gathered using a structured, close-ended questionnaire containing 5 Likert scales administered to the household head of Doya area of Bauchi metropolis using simple random sampling. A total number of one hundred and twenty-five (125) valid questionnaires were used for the analysis. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (Mean score and frequency table) and linear regression method through SPSS. The study found that electricity, water, drainage, availability of schools, availability of hospital, economic activities, neighbourhood security, sanitary services, recreational facilities and accessibility are factors affecting resident’s satisfaction. It further found that satisfaction with proximity to work, water, and educational facilities were striking the highest mean score. Finally linear regression model reveals that neighbourhood condition significantly affects resident’s satisfaction. The study suggests a need for the government to provide more social amenities in the study area. Proper routine management of social amenities should be done to enhance the resident’s satisfaction in the study area

Trajectory Optimization of Quadrotor-UAV Drone Using Genetic Algorithm

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) Technology recently attracts attention of many researchers; this is due toits numerous potentialities in civil application. One of the key areas of interest by researches is how to achievea total talent of “Sense and Avoid” in the UAV which will enhance safe and efficient trajectory of the vehicle.This is why this paper is going to use an optimization technique to optimize trajectory path of the UAV flight.The chosen optimization algorithm is Genetic algorithm (GA) which is going to be use to optimize the trajectoryof UAV by determine the shortest path of flight as well as obstacle-free path in order to save energy and timeduring flight. MATLAB and Simulink are used to simulate as well as evaluate the algorithm. In the result fromthe experiment, it appeared that an optimized trajectory path is tremendously better than path from the firstrandomly generated population in term of distance covered as well as time taken before triumph the target pointfrom the initial point

Comparative In vitro Antioxidant Activities of Aqueous Extracts of Garcinia kola and Buchholzia coriacea Seeds

Comparative in vitro antioxidant activities of aqueous extracts of Garcinia kola and Buchholzia coriacea seeds were carried out using 2, 2-diphenyl 1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activities, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and inhibition of lipid peroxidation assays. Total phenolics, alkaloids, tannins, saponins and flavonoids constituents of the samples were also determined. G. kola seeds contained higher concentrations of secondary metabolites compared to B. coriacea seeds except flavonoids. Both G. kola and B. coriacea exhibited minimum percentage inhibition when compared with the gallic acid. However, B. coriacea exhibited significantly (p < 0.05) higher percentage DPPH scarvenging activities (44.66%) when compared with G. kola (43.62%) at maximum concentration of 100 μg/mL. G. kola on the other hand, showed higher percentage inhibition of lipid peroxidation when compared with B. coriacea at all tested concentrations. Percentage FRAP by B. coriacea was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than G. kola at 100 μg/mL (46.65%, and 38.35%, respectively) and 50 μg/mL (38.75%, and 46.05%, respectively), while lower percentage FRAP of the G. kola than B. coriacea were recorded at 25 μg/mL (24.26% and 38.24%, respectively) and 12.5 μg/mL (34.41% and 37.41%, respectively). Therefore, Garcinia kola and B. coriacea showed appreciable antioxidant activities at varying concentrations and this may be due to the presence of various phenolic compounds in both samples. Keywords: Buchholzia coriacea; Garcinia kola; Antioxidant; DPPH free radicals; Secondary metabolites