Enhancing Election Monitoring and Observation using E-Messaging Tools

Election monitoring and observation are an integral part of an electoral process. They help to enhance the transparency and credibility of elections as well as the acceptance of results. Challenges faced by election monitoring and observation organizations include: the need for coordination and cooperation among observer groups; the need for follow-up on recommendations made after an election; the need to develop technologies appropriate for assessing e-voting technologies; and the need to develop commonly shared criteria for assessing democratic elections. In addition, challenges peculiar to Nigeria include: difficult terrain, poor Internet coverage, poor electricity and political instability bringing about insecurity. In this paper, we present contemporary e-messaging tools and initiatives that will help to address these challenges and thereby enhance the efficiency of election monitoring and observation missions

An Architectural Framework for Collaboration of Heterogeneous Communication Devices Using WAP and Mobile Device Augmented(MDA)Gateway Integration

Within the last couple of years, the challenge of displaying collaborative multimedia information has become very important with the large diversity of communication devices such as Personal Computers, laptops, notebooks and handheld devices. The shared data and information may be presented with different views depending on the communication device used by a particular collaborator. The use of various web tools (HTML, WML etc) offers some solutions to the problem but if the target application requires more complex features such as rich multimedia data than is manageable using HTML or WML format, something else need to be done. In this paper, we propose a framework that integrates WAP and MDA Gateway to support collaboration among virtual teams and nomadic workers using heterogeneous communication devices. We then discuss an approach for augmenting mobile device small screen capabilities with surrounding large screen display device

A Neural-CBR System for Real Property Valuation

In recent times, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques for real property valuation has been on the increase. Some expert systems that leveraged on machine intelligence concepts include rule-based reasoning, case-based reasoning and artificial neural networks. These approaches have proved reliable thus far and in certain cases outperformed the use of statistical predictive models such as hedonic regression, logistic regression, and discriminant analysis. However, individual artificial intelligence approaches have their inherent limitations. These limitations hamper the quality of decision support they proffer when used alone for real property valuation. In this paper, we present a Neural-CBR system for real property valuation, which is based on a hybrid architecture that combines Artificial Neural Networks and Case- Based Reasoning techniques. An evaluation of the system was conducted and the experimental results revealed that the system has higher satisfactory level of performance when compared with individual Artificial Neural Network and Case- Based Reasoning systems

Critical Review of Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) for Asset Management in Electric Power Distribution System

The purpose of maintenance is to extend equipment lifetime or at least the mean time to the next failure. Maintenance too incurs expenditures that result in very costly consequences when not performed or performed too little, and it may not even be economical to perform it too frequently. Therefore the two costs must be balanced. In the past, this balance had been estimated by extrapolating the experience obtained from existing systems and using the rule - of – thumb methods. Nowadays, the tempo of advanced and softiscated research in that direction has rendered such rule – of – thumb methods obsolete. The literature works describing the reliability centred maintenance methods for managing distribution assets have grown until the papers can now be numbered in thousands. This paper presents critical review of the various existing methods that have been developed by different reseachers and proposes a probabilistic model that will provide a quantitative connection between reliability and maintenance, a link missing in all the heuristic approaches

Nitrogen and weed management in transplanted tomato in the Nigerian forest-savanna transition zone

Weed infestation and inherent low soil fertility are among primary reasons for low yields of tomato in Nigeria. Field trials were carried out during the wet season of 2015 and 2016 to evaluate yield response of tomato to nitrogen (N) application and weed control methods in the forest-savanna transition zone of Abeokuta, Nigeria. Positive relationship exists between growth of weed species and increase in N application. Across the years of study, increase in N up to 90 kg/ha increased weed density by 11–25%, however, the increased N gave the transplanted tomato competitive advantage and thus enhanced weed smothering. Pre-transplant application of butachlor (50% w/v) or probaben® (metolachlor 20% w/v+prometryn 20% w/v) each at 2.0 kg a.i/ha followed by supplementary hoe weeding at 6 weeks after transplanting (WAT) significantly reduced weed density by at least 15% and increased fruit yield of tomato by at least 32%, compared to use of the pre-transplant herbicides alone, across both years of study. The greatest tomato fruit yield of 12.2 t/ha was obtained with pre-transplant application of butachlor at 2.0 kg a.i/ha followed by supplementary hoe weeding at 6 WAT, averaged for both years. In general, this study suggests that increased application of N up to 90 kg/ha, and complementary weed control by pre-transplant herbicide and hoe weeding at 6 WAT would improve yield of tomato in the forestsavanna transition zone of Nigeria

Estimating An Optimal Backpropagation Algorithm for Training An ANN with the EGFR Exon 19 Nucleotide Sequence: An Electronic Diagnostic Basis for Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer(NSCLC)

One of the most common forms of medical malpractices globally is an error in diagnosis. An improper diagnosis occurs when a doctor fails to identify a disease or report a disease when the patient is actually healthy. A disease that is commonly misdiagnosed is lung cancer. This cancer type is a major health problem internationally because it is responsible for 15% of all cancer diagnosis and 29% of all cancer deaths. The two major sub-types of lung cancer are; small cell lung cancer (about 13%) and non-small cell lung cancer (%SCLC- about 87%). The chance of surviving lung cancer depends on its correct diagnosis and/or the stage at the time it is diagnosed. However, recent studies have identified somatic mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene in a subset of non-small cell lung cancer (%SCLC) tumors. These mutations occur in the tyrosine kinase domain of the gene. The most predominant of the mutations in all %SCLC patients examined is deletion mutation in exon 19 and it accounts for approximately 90% of the EGFR-activating mutations. This makes EGFR genomic sequence a good candidate for implementing an electronic diagnostic system for %SCLC. In this study aimed at estimating an optimum backpropagation training algorithm for a genomic based A%% system for %SCLC diagnosis, the nucleotide sequences of EGFR’s exon 19 of a noncancerous cell were used to train an artificial neural network (A%%). Several A%% back propagation training algorithms were tested in MATLAB R2008a to obtain an optimal algorithm for training the network. Of the nine different algorithms tested, we achieved the best performance (i.e. the least mean square error) with the minimum epoch (training iterations) and training time using the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm

Development of a Portable IP-Based Remote Controlled System for Mobile Robot

The use of Mobile Robots to interact with objects in remote locations has proved to be useful in areas not easily accessible or too dangerous for humans. Various means have been used to remotely operate or control Mobile Robots. These range from wired connection to Wireless connection like radio frequency signal and more recently internet controlled Mobile Robot using the TCP/IP protocol stack. However, the problem of remote control dependence on the Mobile Robot Platform or configuration has made it difficult to switch controllers between Mobile Robots. In this work, a portable IPbased remote control system has been designed and implemented to remove the constraint imposed by the Mobile Robot's platform in choosing the control interface. The system developed was built on three loosely coupled components working together to ensure a high degree of Control interface portability. The Mobile Robot Gateway component was used to receive and send data from the Mobile Robo

CHANGES IN SPERMIOGRAMS, BIOCHEMICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL INDICES FOLLOWING SUCCESSIVE ELECTROEJACULATION DURING DIFFERENT PERIODS OF THE DAY IN WEST AFRICAN DWARF BUCKS

This study was conducted to investigate the changes that might occur in spermiograms, blood andphysiological indices following successive electroejaculation (EE) during different periods of the day.Twenty (20) West African Dwarf (WAD) bucks were grouped into four consisting of five bucks eachand ejaculated at 0900, 1200, 0300 and 0600Hrs for 3 successive days in a completely randomizeddesign. The results showed that progressive sperm motility, sperm concentration and mass activityfollowed similar trend and the values deteriorated with respect to elevated temperatures during semencollection periods (p<0.05). Also, primary abnormality increased with respect to elevated temperaturesduring semen collection periods (p<0.05). The results also showed that Testosterone, Na+,K+,GlucoseAlanine Aminotransferase (ALT), Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) and Aspartate Aminotransferase(AST) were similar irrespective of the periods of semen collection except cortisol that increased withrespect to the semen collection periods (p<0.05). The rectal temperature and pulse rate were not affected,irrespective of the period of the day bucks were ejaculated. The findings of this study indicatethat reduced ejaculate quality probably reflects stress stimuli arising from increased ambient temperature.Physiological traits in WAD goat is probably the adaptive mechanism evolved to cope with stressarising from elevated temperature

A Data Mining Process Framework for Churn Management in Mobile Telecommunication Industry

Churning which is a sudden defection of a subscriber to competitors is a disturbing problem in the global telecommunication industry. However, the effectiveness of existing churn control strategies can be improved if an integrated approach that incorporates several dimensions of the phenomenon of churning is adopted. In contrast to existing approaches, this paper proposes an integrated approach to churn management and control by using a data mining process framework that enables churn prediction, determination of reason(s) for churn, and recommendation of appropriate intervention strategy for customer retention. A datamining experiment that was undertaken using data from a major telecom operator in Nigeria to assess the viability of the approach yielded encouraging results