Impact of Landuse Morphology on Urban Transportation

People, cities, nations and the world, in general, would remain largely underdeveloped without transportation systems. However, Transportation puts significant pressure on land use and poses a great challenge to urban sustainability in developing countries. This study examines the influence of Land use structure on Intra-urban transportation in the developing city of cities in the West African sub-region – using Enugu city as a case study. The study uses a descriptive research method. A survey was carried out in six districts within the Enugu metropolis based on a stratified, purposive sampling technique. Questionnaires were used as data collection instruments; 400 respondence participated in the study employing Yamane equation. Furthermore, a twelve-hour (7 am to 7 pm) traffic count was conducted to assess traffic volume. The study finding revealed that Transportation within the urban areas is significantly impacted by Land-use structure, city morphology, neighbourhood characteristics in terms of population and residential density of the city. The hypothesis suggests no significant difference between the various land uses across the Enugu metropolis (p = 0.129). It was also discovered that an average of 122,431 Passenger Car Units (PCU) constantly ply the metropolis roads to service a total population of 564,725 daily, indicated a high rate of car dependency. The study surmises that land use generates vehicular traffic, which impacts the socio-economic environment and the effectiveness of the transportation system. The significance of this study is that the findings contribute to the existing knowledge base that would advance stratic policy formation towards acceleration of the uptake of sustainable urban transportation systems in the region. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2021-03091758 Full Text: PD

An investigation of challenges in the existing pattern of intra-city traffic in Enugu metropolis

Cities all over the world are characterized by a set of activities, which account for the concentration of people in them, achievable by means of transportation. However, this integral aspect of urban infrastructure face great challenge in most urban areas. This research examines the challenges in the existing pattern of intra-city traffic in Enugu metropolis. Six neighbourhood make up the study population drawn from three high, two medium and one low residential densities neighbourhoods based on stratified and simple random sampling technique. Data collection instrument were questionnaires administered to 400 respondents. The result of the study indicates that major travel mode within Enugu metropolis is mini buses and tricycles while commuters undergo stress during their trips regardless of the good condition of roads within the metropolis. Furthermore, it highlights traffic congestion during peak period and narrowness of most roads within the metropolis as the main challenge to existing pattern of intra-city traffic. It concludes and recommend for the re-introduction of Non-motorized transport mode of walking and cycling complemented by the Coal city public transit shuttles that once existed. It also advocates for policies that ensure decentralization of activity to reduce congestion and the need for daily travel

\u3ci\u3eDrosophila\u3c/i\u3e Muller F Elements Maintain a Distinct Set of Genomic Properties Over 40 Million Years of Evolution

The Muller F element (4.2 Mb, ~80 protein-coding genes) is an unusual autosome of Drosophila melanogaster; it is mostly heterochromatic with a low recombination rate. To investigate how these properties impact the evolution of repeats and genes, we manually improved the sequence and annotated the genes on the D. erecta, D. mojavensis, and D. grimshawi F elements and euchromatic domains from the Muller D element. We find that F elements have greater transposon density (25–50%) than euchromatic reference regions (3–11%). Among the F elements, D. grimshawi has the lowest transposon density (particularly DINE-1: 2% vs. 11–27%). F element genes have larger coding spans, more coding exons, larger introns, and lower codon bias. Comparison of the Effective Number of Codons with the Codon Adaptation Index shows that, in contrast to the other species, codon bias in D. grimshawi F element genes can be attributed primarily to selection instead of mutational biases, suggesting that density and types of transposons affect the degree of local heterochromatin formation. F element genes have lower estimated DNA melting temperatures than D element genes, potentially facilitating transcription through heterochromatin. Most F element genes (~90%) have remained on that element, but the F element has smaller syntenic blocks than genome averages (3.4–3.6 vs. 8.4–8.8 genes per block), indicating greater rates of inversion despite lower rates of recombination. Overall, the F element has maintained characteristics that are distinct from other autosomes in the Drosophila lineage, illuminating the constraints imposed by a heterochromatic milieu