HierarchyMap: A Novel Approach to Treemap Visualization of Hierarchical Data

The HierarchyMap describes a novel approach for Treemap Visualization method for representing large volume of hierarchical information on a 2-dimensional space. HierarchyMap algorithm is a new ordered treemap algorithm. Results of the implementation of HierarchyMap treemap algorithm show that it is capable of representing several thousands of hierarchical data on 2-dimensional space on a computer and Portable Device Application (PDA) screens while still maintaining the qualities found in existing treemap algorithms such as readability, low aspect ratio, reduced run time, and reduced number of thin rectangles. The HierarchyMap treemap algorithm is implemented in Java programming language and tested with dataset of Departmental and Faculty systems of Universities, Family trees, Plant and Animal taxonomy structure

The Critque of the Communitarians Arguments from an African Perspective

The communitarians claim that the individual is a natural member of the human society but that he needs the society and all the opportunities it makes available for the realization of his potential for living a life that is meaningful This claim is synonymous to African conception of individual and the community Thus this work set out to carry out the critique of some notable communitarians such as John Dewey Fredrick Hegel and Michael Sandel Macinyre Alasdair Charles Taylor We discovered in the work that the claim of these theorists on individual and community is identical to African ideal And the critique exposes the inadequacies in their claim as well as the African ideal because development today is beyond the narrow context of communal life which puts African under the illusion that communities constitute a paradise lost As such there is the need for African to seek their rights this will enable them to function properly in the global scheme of thing

The Ambiguous Power of Social Media: Hegemony or Resistance?

Recent developments have demonstrated the efficacy and effectiveness of social media as a veritable tool for mobilization and networking. Ordinary citizens rely on the power of social media to mobilize against sit-tight leaders. Oppressed citizens use social media to protest against bad government and anti-people’s policies. Based on the findings of a recent research, this article discusses recent protests across the world and how citizens use the new media and social media during the protests to stay connected, plot strategies and circulate news to the rest of the world. The article concluded that; with the new media, citizen-reporters and social media, there is no hiding place or safe haven for sit-tight leaders and anti-people policies as citizens are better empowered than ever by emerging technologies to challenge the status quo. The paper therefore hypothesizes that the ambiguous power of social media has become a tool for resistance movements as well as hegemony as demonstrated at the protest sites around the world such as the 2014 Burkinabé Uprising, Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring, the chilean students’ protest, the Los Indignados movement, the Québec student’s strike and Idle no more in Canada etc., The ambiguous power of the  social media has become a major issue in recent years in view of the use of the social media by protester to stay connected during protest to resist authoritarian regimes around the world. The use of the social media as a tool for resistance or hegemony in recent years has brought the issue to the Ambiguous power of the social media to the forefront of academic debate. It therefore becomes imperative to explore the double edge sword nature of the social media to determine its full impact on the society. This will add to our knowledge of social media as a veritable tool for resistance and hegemony.     Keywords: Social Media, New Technology, New media, Citizen Reporters, Democracy, Networking, Hegemony, Resistance

DC Motor with Load Coupled by Gears Speed Control using Modified Ziegler-Nichols Based PID Tunings

The used of DC motor in various applications has been increased due to the ease with which it speed can be controlled to give the desired performance characteristics under various condition. PID controllers are widely used in DC motor speed control due to its simple structure and robustness to the modeling error, however their effectiveness is often limited due to the poor selection (or tuning) of its parameters. To facilitate the determination of the appropriate values of the parameters of the PID controller for the control of DC motor at any set point therefore required using appropriate tuning method. This paper provides a better understanding of how PID controller is tuned using Ziegler-Nichols Step Response, Cohen-Coon Method and Chien–Hrones–Reswick (CHR) method. Experimental results of PID control of DC motor with load coupled by gear shows that CHR-PID tunings gives a much improved performance over Ziegler-Nichols Step Response and Cohen-Coon PID-tuning with settling time of 355sec., 112sec., and 111 sec . respectively at each set point Keywords: DC motor, Ziegler-Nichols Step Response, Cohen-Coon method and CHR metho

The Influence of Rape Myth Acceptance and Situational Factors in Defining Sex and Labelling Rape among Female University Students in Nigeria

Existing literature have posited that the problem of rape aggravates if it is unacknowledged as a result of the influence of rape myth acceptance. Being an understudied phenomenon, the present study sought to explore rape myths and examine situational factors that appear to differentiate women who experience various levels of victimization. Through mixed-method victimization surveys that covered four universities in Lagos and Ogun states, involving 206 respondents and 12 in-depth interviewees, the study found that emotions and societal perception of rape are strong factors in determining personal conception and description of rape-like experiences. The study concludes that young women should be enlightened about the health implication of nonconsensual sex, irrespective of their emotional attachment to the offender

Investigating African ‘Digital-Immigrant’ Students’ Reactions to Moodle Resources

In this study, we investigated the reactions and perceptions of ‘digital immigrant’ students to the adoption of blended learning combining the Moodle VLE and traditional face-to-face instructional delivery method on EAP courses in a Nigerian university of technology. Data sets from extractable online logs for activities, discussion board interaction and two online surveys are triangulated by focus group discussion responses. The data revealed that students’ use of the online components of the courses are high and perceptions of the various values such as relevance, reflective thinking, interactivity, tutor support, interpretation, learning experience and benefit are very positive, and are in the range of 60s to 90s in percentage points. However, peer to peer interaction while positive is not as high, indicating the additional work that need be done in addition to the challenges of infrastructure and cost that students would want addressed. Implications of the findings include the potentials of blended learning in difficult academic contexts and subject areas, the relevance of social interaction platforms in language learning and other subject areas, and the crucial role technology can play in large class contexts.Key words: Digital immigrant; Moodle; Blended learning; Interaction; Critical thinking; Learner autonom

“It couldn’t have been rape”: How Social Perception and Rape Scripts Influence Unacknowledged Sexual Assault in Nigeria

Empirical studies have established that the problem of rape aggravates if it is unacknowledged as a result of the influence of social perception and victim’s rape script. Such victims will be susceptible to psychological distress and lowered self-esteem among other negative effects. In Nigeria, the social perception of rape has been described as serving to perpetuate the sexual victimisation against women. This study therefore, examined how the social perception of rape impact on personal attitudinal beliefs of rape among female university students in the country and the extent to which rape scripts of young women lead to the growing rate of unacknowledged rape. Using a mixed-method victimisation survey that covered four universities in Lagos and Ogun states, Nigeria; the study recruited 206 female students who have experienced rape or attempted rape, while 12 of them were further engaged in in-depth interviews. The results of the study suggest that not acknowledging a rape is primarily a response to suffering an assault that is not consistent with societal definitions of rape and supporting script theory. The study also found that some of the strongly held rape myth among young female university students include; non-recognition of rape incidence between dating partners, non-recognition of domestic rape between husband and wife, rape is always for the sake of sex, rape is only perpetrated by stranger or mere acquaintances, women are mostly responsible for their rape victimisation and if the location of rape or sexual assault is the rapist’s house, then the woman is at fault. The key factors influencing rape script on sexual violence include; the use or unused of weapon, the venue of the rape event, the emotional attachment of the victim to the offender and the post-assault relationship between the victim and offender. The study concludes that the unacknowledged status of date rape by victims in the Nigerian society is mainly a factor of the acceptance of societal rape myth which impacted on the understanding of the women about what sex and rape is actually about. Consequently, appropriate measures needs to be taken by the government, women rights organisations and other stakeholders to enlighten the women to understand not only the real meaning of rape and sexual assault, but also the health implications of sexual violence irrespective of the personality of the offender. Keywords: Rape, Victimisation, Rape scripts, Sexual assault, Unacknowledged rap

Patterns and Processes of Recruitment and Trafficking into sex Work in Nigeria

Nigeria contributes to the global problem of the trafficking of young women and girls mainly for sexual exploitation as a major country of origin of the victims. Using information gathered from Edo and Lagos States of Nigeria, through the use of Case studies, In-depth and key-Informant Interviews, this paper probes the strategies employed by the traffickers and activities that characterize the recruitment and trafficking into sex work. The study found the family to be both facilitators of recruitment and exploiters of the prostitution of their relatives. The recruitment patterns and trafficking processes were characterized with incidences of deception, extortion, violence and exploitation with severe consequences on the emotional, psychological and health condition of the victims. To contain the activities of the traffickers, the use of formal and informal channels of education to enlighten the populace on the ulterior motives of the traffickers is suggested

In VitroDegradation of Bitumen from Tar Sand by Microorganisms around the Bitumen Deposit

In vitro degradation of bitumen by microorganisms isolated around bitumen deposit at Agbabu was investigated. The microorganisms were isolated from soil sample collected around bitumen deposit and bitumen itself. The ability of individual isolates to utilize bitumen as sole carbon source in mineral salt medium was investigated. The results showed a decrease in the pH of the medium with an increase in the bacteria cell densities within the period of incubation, thereby confirming activities of the isolates in the medium. Bacillus subtilis (29.15%) caused highest weight loss from the bitumen, while Pseudomonas aeruginosa (12.03%) caused the least among the bacteria isolate. Other bacteria isolated were Acinetobacter sp. and Staphylococcus aureus. All the isolates caused weight loss from the bitumen. For moulds, Arthrobotrys oligospora caused higher percentage weight loss (19.13%), than Aspergillus niger in 28 days of incubation. By the 56 days of incubation, Bacillus subtilis was responsible for highest weight loss (49.50%), while Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibited the lowest percentage (23.17%). For the moulds, Arthrobotrys oligospora caused the higher weight loss (42.83%) while Aspergillus niger had 37.33%. Thus, this established that the microorganisms isolated from the soil around the Agbabu bitumen and the bitumen itself could degrade bitumen from tar sand, hence their potential usefulness in remediation of bitumen polluted environment when the exploitation of the resource commenced. Keywords: Bitumen; Bacteria; Mould; Hydrocarbo

A Qualitative Exploration of the Coping Strategies of Female Offenders in Nigerian Prisons

Deprivation and importation theories propose that the experience and adjustment of inmates to prison life is dependent on the restrictive prison milieu and their pre-prison experiences and orientation. This implies that prison’s sub-culture mediate the relationship between demographic characteristics and adjustment to prison life. Although this core assumption underlies both theories, few researchers have attempted to test its validity, while those that does have largely focused on male offenders. Guided by an integration of the two theories, this current study explored the specific gender-related challenges that female inmates of Nigerian prisons are confronted with and the adjustment measures adopted by female prisoners. Qualitative, in-depth oral interviews were employed to gather information from 32 purposively selected female inmates and six prison officials of Ijebu-Ode and Old Abeokuta prisons. There are evidential supports for the integrative/alliance theory as key findings of this study confirm determinants of adjustability of the inmates to prison life as including age, level of religious commitment, years of incarceration, prison history, and pre-prison experience like socioeconomic, marital (especially those with children) and educational status. Various strategies used to adjust to prison life by the inmates included self-withdrawal, indulgence and some level of social reclusion (asceticism); forging cordial relationships with fellow inmates and staff; and participating very actively in the religious programmes within the prisons. The study suggests that both government and nongovernmental organisations should intervene and develop social supports that recognise the biogenic peculiarities of female inmates in order for the prisons to meet the two objectives of rehabilitating and reforming the female offenders.