In-Town Tour Optimization of Conventional Mode for Municipal Solid Waste Collection

This study illustrates the application of a simple and efficient Solver add-in tool in Microsoft Office Excel© 2010 software for in-town tour optimization of solid waste collection. Data required for tour optimization was obtained from the municipal authority, field studies, and a digitized map of Ilorin, Nigeria while collection operation was formulated as a Traveling Salesman Problem on Excel spreadsheet. The results obtained from the optimization of ten prominent routes revealed that two empirical routes had the same tour distance as the optimized tour. However, in the remaining eight routes, the optimization process reduced tour distance by 2.04-19.27 %, tour time by 0.33-22.80 %, and fuel consumption by 1.78-20.54 %. The cost incurred in purchasing diesel is also expected to decrease by US$0.11-US$1.65/vehicle/day. Therefore, the proposed method can serve as a valuable tool for reducing some socio-economic and environmental impacts associated with solid waste collection

Assessment of Noise Pollution From Sawmill Activities in Ilorin, Nigeria

This study examined noise pollution from sawmilling in Ilorin metropolis, Nigeria. Noise measurements were made using HD600 digital data logging sound level meter in conjunction with structured questionnaire which was designed to elicit noise related information. The results of the study showed that the background noise within the sawmills was 58.1-64.86 dB(A) while machine equivalent noise was 81.1-112.3 dB(A). Approximately 73% of all the noise measurements are above the recommended limit of 85 dB(A) and these high noise intensities can initiate or perpetuate some work related health challenges. Also a noise contour map which shows the spatial impact of sawmill noise on the metropolis was developed. Within the sawmills, most of the workers are unprotected, disturbed and complain of noise-related ailments such as tinnitus (96.6%), headache (86.6%) and hearing impairment (71.9%). Therefore noise prevention and control strategies are suggested in addition to frequent audiometric tests, training, education, and enforcement of noise regulations.http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v34i1.

A GIS-Based Optimization Technique for Spatial Location of Municipal Waste Bins in a Developing City

Prime spatial features such as environmental constraints and indigenous transit routes which determine optimal waste bin locations in developing areas are often neglected. In this study, we illustrate a technique that includes these features to determine the optimal locations of waste bins for case study in Ilorin, Nigeria. The built-in solver for p-median problems in the Geographic information system (GIS)-based package; TransCAD v. 5.0 was used to determine the optimal locations of one to ten waste bins. This optimization technique requires less computational time and the output of ten computer runs showed that partial service coverage was obtained when p=1 to 5 while full service coverage was achieved with p≥6. Also the GIS optimized waste bin locations tend to be more accessible to waste generators than the empirical waste bin locations. Hence, this technique has the potential to improve service coverage and public satisfaction in developing areas.Keywords: Municipal solid waste; Geographic information system; waste bin; optimal location; developing city

Understanding perception and adaptation to climate change among cocoa farmers in tropical condition

No Abstrac

Evaluation of Noise Pollution and Effects on Workers during Wheat Processing

This study assessed the intensity and likely effects of noise on workers during wheat processing. Noise measurements were taken using HD600 sound level meter. Subjective assessment of the effects of noise was undertaken using semi structured questionnaire. Also audiometric test was conducted on workers using AD229e diagnostic audiometer. The results of the study show that during wheat processing operations, the noise level in the factory ranges between 56.0 dB(A) and100.9 dB(A). Also, only 25.6 % of all the readings was below the specified limit of 85 dB(A). Workers are also observed to have certain forms of physiological and psychological disorders related to noise. The audiometric test results revealed that 33 % of the examined workers have defect in their left or right ear. Based on these results, WHO Class-5 hearing protector is recommended to be worn by workers in the processing sections while room acoustics should be upgraded to absorb some sounds transmitted to offices. © JASEMKeywords: Wheat processing, noise, machines, workers, audiometric examinatio

Role of Geomatics in the Management of Disasters and Infrastructural Failures

The article identifies the role of Geomatics in the highly interdisciplinary disaster management to include identification and mapping of hazard prone areas, deformation monitoring of hazard prone areas and massive engineering structures, production of rescue maps and assessment of damages among others. A case study of surveying activities in the proposed flood management of Asa River in Ilorin metropolis, Nigeria was presented. The study identified possible causes of the flood to include silting along the river, blockades of free flow of water resulting from human activities such as dumping of refuse in the river and natural causes such as growth of vegetation along the river channel. The study recommends the development and deployment of Geomatics potentials in the three phases of disaster management namely; pre-disaster phase, disaster phase and post disaster phase.Keywords: Geomatics, Disaster, Mapping, Assessment, Managemen

Evaluation of Municipal Solid Waste Management System and Willingness-To-Pay for its Improvements in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

This paper reports the evaluation of households’ usage of the current solid waste management system (SWMS) within the city of Ilorin, central Nigeria and investigates the determinants of household’s willingness-to-Pay (WTP) for its improvement. Data was collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire administered to households within four neighbourhoods that represent the major subdivisions in the metropolis. The multiple regression model was applied in explaining household’s usage of the current system and WTP.The study found that 36% and 64% respectively of the households were unsatisfied and moderately satisfied with the current waste management system.The combined effect of household’s demographic profiles, geometric profile and position of waste management facility gave a significant fitted model to show the relationship between household’s willingness to pay and the considered predictors.http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v34i4.2

Structuring Data for Intelligent Predictive Maintenance in Asset Management

Predictive maintenance (PdM) within asset management improves savings in operational cost, productivity, and safety management capabilities. While PdM can be administered using various methods, growing interest in Arti cial Intelligence (AI) has lead to current state of the art PdM relying on machine learning (ML) technology. Like other tools used in PdM for asset management, standards for applying ML technology for PdM are required. This work introduces a standard of practice in regards to usage of asset data to develop ML analytic tools for PdM. It provides a standard method for ensuring asset data is in a form conducive to ML algorithms, and ensuring retention of asset information necessary for optimum PdM during the data transform. In the ML domain, it has been proven through research initiatives that the data structure used to train and test ML algorithms has a great impact on their performance and accuracy. Using poorly trained models for estimation due to improper data usage, can leave some AI-based PdM tools vulnerable to high rates of inaccurate estimations. Thus, leading to value loss during an asset's life cycle.This research was supported by the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship, American Australian Association Education Fund Fellowship, National GEM Consortium, Sustain-Owner (Sustainable Design and Management of Industrial Assets through Total Value and Cost of Ownership), a project sponsored by the EU Framework Programme Horizon 2020, MSCA-RISE-2014: Marie Sk lodowska-Curie Actions Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (Rise) (grant agreement number 645733 Sustain-owner H2020-MSCA-RISE-2014

Circular Economy: Nigeria Perspective

Nigeria is a lower middle-income country and is ranked as the largest economy in Africa with a gross domestic product of 444.92 billion (www.imf.org). The country is located on the western coast of Africa, has an area of 923, 763 km2 and is bounded by Benin Republic in the west, Niger Republic in the north, Cameroun in the east and Gulf of Guinea in the south

Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality and life expectancy, 1950-2017 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background Assessments of age-specific mortality and life expectancy have been done by the UN Population Division, Department of Economics and Social Affairs (UNPOP), the United States Census Bureau, WHO, and as part of previous iterations of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD). Previous iterations of the GBD used population estimates from UNPOP, which were not derived in a way that was internally consistent with the estimates of the numbers of deaths in the GBD. The present iteration of the GBD, GBD 2017, improves on previous assessments and provides timely estimates of the mortality experience of populations globally. Methods The GBD uses all available data to produce estimates of mortality rates between 1950 and 2017 for 23 age groups, both sexes, and 918 locations, including 195 countries and territories and subnational locations for 16 countries. Data used include vital registration systetns, sample registration systetns, household surveys (complete birth histories, summary birth histories, sibling histories), censuses (summary birth histories, household deaths), and Demographic Surveillance Sites. In total, this analysis used 8259 data sources. Estimates of the probability of death between birth and the age of 5 years and between ages 15 and 60 years are generated and then input into a model life table system to produce complete life tables for all locations and years. Fatal discontinuities and mortality due to HIV/AIDS are analysed separately and then incorporated into the estimation. We analyse the relationship between age-specific mortality and development status using the Socio-demographic Index, a composite measure based on fertility under the age of 25 years, education, and income. There are four main methodological improvements in GBD 2017 compared with GBD 2016: 622 additional data sources have been incorporated; new estimates of population, generated by the GBD study, are used; statistical methods used in different components of the analysis have been further standardised and improved; and the analysis has been extended backwards in time by two decades to start in 1950. Findings Globally, 18.7% (95% uncertainty interval 18.4-19.0) of deaths were registered in 1950 and that proportion has been steadily increasing since, with 58.8% (58.2-59.3) of all deaths being registered in 2015. At the global level, between 1950 and 2017, life expectancy increased from 48.1 years (46.5-49.6) to 70.5 years (70.1-70.8) for men and from 52.9 years (51.7-54.0) to 75.6 years (75.3-75.9) for women. Despite this overall progress, there remains substantial variation in life expectancy at birth in 2017, which ranges from 49.1 years (46.5-51.7) for men in the Central African Republic to 87.6 years (86.9-88.1) among women in Singapore. The greatest progress across age groups was for children younger than 5 years; under-5 mortality dropped from 216.0 deaths (196.3-238.1) per 1000 livebirths in 1950 to 38.9 deaths (35.6-42.83) per 1000 livebirths in 2017, with huge reductions across countries. Nevertheless, there were still 5.4 million (5.2-5.6) deaths among children younger than 5 years in the world in 2017. Progress has been less pronounced and more variable for adults, especially for adult tnales, who had stagnant or increasing mortality rates in several countries. The gap between male and female life expectancy between 1950 and 2017, while relatively stable at the global level, shows distinctive patterns across super-regions and has consistently been the largest in central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia, and smallest in south Asia. Performance was also variable across countries and time in observed mortality rates compared with those expected on the basis of development. Interpretation This analysis of age-sex-specific mortality shows that there are remarkably complex patterns in population mortality across countries. The findings of this study highlight global successes, such as the large decline in under-5 mortality, which reflects significant local, national, and global commitment and investment over several decades. However, they also bring attention to mortality patterns that are a cause for concern, particularly among adult men and, to a lesser extent, wotnen, whose mortality rates have stagnated in many countries over the time period of this study, and in some cases are increasing. Copyright C) 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe