Application of data mining techniques to predict the performance of matured Vertical Flow Constructed Wetlands Systems treating urban wastewater

The rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, due to technological advancement, led to severe environmental pollution. The environmental pollution in the last few decades resulted in an adverse impact on the environment causing massive accumulation of wastewater. Wastewater is one of the closest sources of environmental problems, at the same time water scarcity is becoming alarming due to its high demand as the global population is increasing. Hence, the application for managing available water resources becomes crucial. The ever-increasing demand for water brings the need for wastewater treatment as an alternative source of water. Constructed Wetlands (CW) have gained broader research attention due to their environmental and safety benefits for wastewater treatment. In this study, over three years of monitoring performance data from 03rd December 2014 to 28th March 2018 (thirty-nine months) of the vertical flow vertical wetlands system, receiving and treating domestic wastewater, were collected and utilised to assess and investigate the treatment performance efficiency of the Vertical Flow Constructed Wetland Systems (VFCWs) for removing pollutants from wastewater. Different laboratory-scale vertical-flow constructed wetlands filters filled with gravel and planted with common reed were built to remove removal from wastewater. The overall evaluation of the system treatment performance was calculated using percentage removal efficiency. The results were recorded it was observed that all vertical flow constructed wetland filters had recorded high removal performance for the water quality parameters, irrespective of filter set-up and operation. The system was discovered to be very useful in pollutants removal (water quality parameters) with significant efficiency. However, the high cost of analysis laboratory tests, time-consuming parameters couple with uncertainties associated with an analysis of water quality variables, lead to the development of two data mining technique models Multiple Linear Regressions (MLR) and Multilayer Perceptron (MLP). To predict the wastewater treatment performance of CW by predicting selected output water quality parameters these include Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), orthophosphate phosphorous (PO4-P), ammonium nitrogen (NH4-N) and suspended solids (SS) with respect to other known input parameters that will provide comfortable, reliable and cost-effective methods. Correlation analysis was conducted to select the most highly correlated input parameters to be used for the model development (prediction of output parameter). The monitoring dataset of all the parameters used was divided into training dataset to build prediction models (MLR and MLP) and testing dataset to validate the models constructed. In this current work, 70% of the whole data was used as a training dataset while the remaining 30% of the data set was used as a testing dataset. The prediction models built were evaluated and compared using two model evaluation criteria: graphical model evaluation (scatter plot and hydrograph) and numerical model error evaluation criteria using five model evaluation criteria, these include: Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), regression coefficient (r), Relative Absolute Error (RAE), mean absolute error (MAE) and root relative squared error (RRSE). The results obtained indicated that the predicted values of output parameters were in good agreement and relationship with their respective measured parameters. Thus, this showed that the two models built yielded satisfactory predictions and both models had performed reasonably well in predicting output variables concentrations accurately given the value of input dependent variable. Furthermore, the comparison between the model's outcomes showed that MLP model prediction performance was discovered to be better than the MLR model in a majority of water quality parameters. Both models built could be effectively used as a tool for predicting removal of water quality parameters efficiency of vertical flow constructed wetlands treating domestic wastewater and in predicting constructed wetland performance in wastewater treatment process in term of pollutants removal. The results demonstrated the potentiality of vertical flow constructed wetlands to treat domestic wastewater and remove pollutants for future reuse

Evaluation of antiulcer activity of aqueous ethanol extract of Thesium viride on ethanol and aspirin induced models in rats

Thesiumviride Hill (Santalaceae) is a sub-shrub hemiparasite that grows up to 45cm tall and widely distributed in Europe, Asia and Africa. It is used in treatment of ulcer and jaundice. Phytochemical screening was carried out on the aqueous ethanol extract of the whole plant by using standard phytochemical methods. Acute oral toxicity test was carried out and antiulcer activity was conducted using absolute ethanol and aspirin as the ulcerogenic agents on rats where the ulcer index was the parameter and percentage preventive index was determined. The aqueous ethanol extract of the plant was found to contain flavonoids,  anthraquinones, glycosidesand alkaloids. Acute toxicity test showed an oral LD50 greater than 5000 mg/kg. In ethanol model, aqueous ethanol extract at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg exhibited significant (P<0.0001) protection against ulcer with mean ulcer indices of 4.40 ± 0.60 and 1.80 ± 0.37 respectively as compared with negative (12.80 ± 0.97) and positive (4.00 ± 0.71)control mean ulcer indices. In aspirin model, aqueous ethanol extract at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg demonstrated  significant (P<0.05) protection against ulcer with mean ulcer indices of 3.20 ± 0.80 and 2.60 ± 0.24 respectively ascompared with negative (5.60 ± 0.97) and positive (1.00 ± 0.44) controlmean ulcer indices. The higher dose of the extract demonstrated greater protective ability with percentage preventive index 85.94% in ethanol induced model and 53.57% in aspirin induced model. The aqueous ethanol extract of the plant was found to be non-toxic and contains some phytochemicals that could be responsible for its antiulcer activity.Keywords: Thesiumviride, Phytochemical, LD50, Ulcer index, Aqueous ethanol extrac

Development of an Optimal Coordination Scheme For Dual Relay Setting In Distribution Network Using Smell Agent Optimization Algorithm

This research work is aimed at developing an optimal coordination scheme for dual relay settings in distribution system. The fault current through a relay in forward direction is usually higher than that in the reverse direction for distribution system. Therefore, it is preferable to have a dual setting directional over-current relay. These relays have the capability to operate in both directions (forward and reverse direction) of fault current with two independent relay settings. Additional fault current contribution to the fault location is present due to the integration of distributed generation to the system. The coordination problem is therefore formulated as a nonlinear optimization problem to help mitigate the operating times of the relays using smell agent optimization (SAO) technique. The developed model was applied on IEEE 14-bus network equipped with synchronous distributed generation. The protection setting comprises of two time dial settings (TDS) and a pick up current setting for each relay. The SAO was used to obtain the TDS with the sole purpose of minimizing it while ensuring that the constraints set were satisfied. In the case of TDS with three cases of faults considered. the results obtained showed that the maximum fault current in all the three cases represent 6.79% while the minimum fault current was reduced to 2.70% when compared with the base case. The developed technique thereby achieved a reduction of time dial settings for which the relay operation of 14.50% and 13.69% reduction for the adopted 14 bus IEEE network

Effect of Gross Alpha and Beta in Groundwater Intake and Estimation of Groundwater Table in Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil

Groundwater levels in Kano University of Science and Technology (KUST), Wudil were measured in hand-dug wells and boreholes. Water samples were collected in both hand-dug wells and boreholes in the study area, and their radiological quality was measured using an internal proportion counter (model EURISYS MEASURE IN 20) instrument, Results of the measurements shows the gross alpha and beta particles presence. The average depth to water table was 419 m, while the gross alpha activity ranging between 0.022 Bq/l to 0.0005 Bq/l, with an average (mean) of 0.0062 Bq/l, and that of beta activity ranges between 0.345 Bq/l to 0.0080 Bq/l, with an average (mean) of 0.0478 Bq/l. These results reveals that; the groundwater in the study area, is not radioactively contaminated, as the values obtained were all below the World Health Organization (WHO), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Australian Laboratory Services (ALS) drinking water guideline values of 1.0 Bq/l for the gross beta radioactivity, and value of 0.5 Bq/l for gross alpha activity, values of 0.1 Bq/l for both the gross alpha and beta and values of 0.5 Bq/l for both gross alpha and beta activities respectively. Hence, the groundwater of the study area (KUST, Wudil.) is radioactively safe to use

Medico-social Problems of Patients with Vesico-vaginal Fistula in Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital, Kano

Background: Vesico-vaginal fistula is still a persisting scourge in the developing countries with devastating medical and social consequences. These consequences were studied among patients presenting with VVF at a large referral center in Kano, Northern Nigeria. Methods: A total of 120 patients with Vesico-vaginal fistula admitted at the VVF centre of the Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital, Kano were investigated using structured questionnaires to determine their medical and social problems. Additional information on clinical features was obtained from patients' case notes. Results: Their ages ranged between 10 and 36 years with a median of 16 years. A majority of the patients 87 (72.5%) were between 10-20 years. Most of the patients 98(81.6%) had their first marriage between the ages of 10 - 15 years. Patients were found to suffer from vulval dermatitis, foot drop, amenorrhoea, recurrent urinary tract infections and dysmenorrhoea as main medical problems. Economically they cannot work because they are shunned by the society. They are considered to have brought shame and dishonour to themselves and their families, and where they manage to avoid not being divorced by their husbands they quite often lose any form of support from the husbands. Conclusion: Special counselling and enlightenment programme on VVF, the need to train more traditional birth attendants and the need to improve referral of women likely to have VVF to facilities that offer emergency obstetric services were recommended

Meeting the Needs of Small Scale Farmers in Nigeria: The Commodity Price Broadcast Approach

Commodity price is a systematic process of disposing farm produce to give farmers a good remuneration for products. Giwa market from North West Zone was purposively choosen. 120 farmers were randomly selected from market surrounding villages. Information was obtained by the use of structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics which were used to describe the mean (x) distribution of the prices per commodity; bar charts and tables were used to present the result of the study. Farmers derived more information on market prices of agricultural produce and facilitated decision on what, how, when, and where to market their produce. This would aid farmers to have better earnings. The recommendations included: more market information from other location should be sought and intervention should be intensified to create more awareness on the importance of commodity price for agricultural and national development

Meeting the Needs of Small Scale Farmers in Nigeria: The Commodity Price Broadcast Approach

Commodity price is a systematic process of disposing farm produce to give farmers a good remuneration for products. Giwa market from North West Zone was purposively choosen. 120 farmers were randomly selected from market surrounding villages. Information was obtained by the use of structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics which were used to describe the mean (x) distribution of the prices per commodity; bar charts and tables were used to present the result of the study. Farmers derived more information on market prices of agricultural produce and facilitated decision on what, how, when, and where to market their produce. This would aid farmers to have better earnings. The recommendations included: more market information from other location should be sought and intervention should be intensified to create more awareness on the importance of commodity price for agricultural and national development

Syphilis in a Nigerian Paramilitary Agency: Need for Treatment Policy

Background: Sexually transmitted diseases are widespread in the developing countries and constitute a major public health problem in Sub-Saharan Africa. More recently, there has been a resurgence of syphilis. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence rate of syphilis among newly recruited senior cadres of a Nigerian Security Agency. Method: Eight hundred and fifteen newly recruited men and women sent for serological test for syphilis (STS) in our laboratory were all screened accordingly using Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR) test. All those that were positive wee confirmed using treponema pallidum haemagglutination (TPHA) test. Results: The seroprevalence rate of treponema pallidum infection was 4.0% (95%CI = 2.8% -5.6%). The rate was significantly higher among women (8.0%) compare to men (3.4%) (\u3c72 = 5.3 df = 1 P = 0.02). Considered by age, the highest seroprevalence of 6.7% was seen among oldest recruits (30-39) years age group compared to 4.2% among the younger ones. This trend was however, not statistically significant (\u3c72trend = 1.6 df =3 P = 0.20). Conclusion: Syphilis seropositivity is highly prevalent among the paramilitary population hence the need for prophylactic treatment with benzathine penicillin to be instituted for seropositive individuals as a matter of policy by the government. This could reduce the incidence of HIV infection among Nigerians.Contexte: Les maladies sexuellement transmissibles sont largement r\ue9pondues dans les pays en d\ue9veloppement et constituent un probl\ue8me majeur de sant\ue9 publique en Afrique sub-Saharienne. Plus r\ue9cemment il y'a recrudescence de la syphilis. Le but de cette \ue9tude \ue9tait de d\ue9terminer le taux de s\ue9ropr\ue9valence de la Syphilis chez des cadres sup\ue9rieurs nouvellement recrut\ue9s au sein d'une Agence Nig\ue9riane de S\ue9curit\ue9. M\ue9thodes : Huit cents quinze hommes et femmes nouvellement recrut\ue9s ont b\ue9n\ue9fici\ue9 d'une s\ue9rologie syphilitique dans notre laboratoire en utilisant le test rapide RPR (Rapid Plasma Reagin). Tous les tests positifs ont \ue9t\ue9 confirm\ue9s par le test de treponema pallidum haemagglutination (TPHA). R\ue9sultats: Le taux de s\ue9ropr\ue9valence de l'infection \ue0 treponema pallidum \ue9tait de 4,0% (95%CI=2,8%-5,6%). Le taux \ue9tait significativement plus haut chez les femmes (8,0%) compar\ue9 aux hommes (3,4%)(\u3c72 = 5.3 df = 1 P = 0.02). Concernant l'\ue2ge, les taux de s\ue9ropr\ue9valence les plus \ue9lev\ue9s \ue9taient retrouv\ue9s parmi les sujets les plus \ue2g\ue9s (30-39) compar\ue9s \ue0 4,2% chez les sujets les plus jeunes. Cette tendance n'est pas toutefois pas statistiquement significative (\u3c72trend = 1.6 df =3, P = 0.20). Conclusion: La S\ue9ropositivit\ue9 syphilitique a une grande pr\ue9valence dans la population de paramilitaires, d'o\uf9 la n\ue9cessit\ue9 d'une prophylaxie par de la benzathine penicillin, qui doit \ueatre institu\ue9e pour les sujets s\ue9ropositifs devant l'absence de strat\ue9gie gouvernementale. Cela pourrait r\ue9duire l'incidence de l'infection \ue0 VIH au Nigeria

Predictors of Safer Conception Practices Among HIV-Infected Women in Northern Nigeria

Background: Persons living with HIV often face discrimination in safe sex and reproductive choices, especially in low-resource settings. This study assessed fertility desires and intentions, risk perception and correlates of ever use of at least one safer conception method among HIV-infected women attending a tertiary health facility in Kano, Nigeria.Methods: Structured questionnaires were administered to a cross section of 328 of 427 eligible HIV-infected women. Fertility desires and intentions, risk perception and safer conception practice were analyzed. Logistic regression was employed to assess for predictors. Results: Of the 328 respondents, 150 respondents (45.7%) wanted more children. The proportions of respondents aware of their transmission risk during pregnancy, delivery, and breastfeeding were 69.5%, 75.3%, and 78.9%, respectively. Further, 68.9% of respondents were aware of the prospects of bearing HIV-negative children without infecting their partners. About 64.8% of women were aware of at least one safer conception method. Safer conception methods ever-used by the participants include: antiretroviral therapy (ART) (36.7%), timed unprotected intercourse with (10.9%), and without pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) (17.2%), intravaginal insemination (7.3%) and intrauterine insemination (4.7%). Safer conception practice was predicted by marital status (married versus single, adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.10-3.55), parity (2-4 versus 0, AOR = 12.1, 95% CI = 3.7-39.8), occupation (civil servants versus traders, AOR = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.16-0.86), husband’s serostatus (seroconcordant versus serodiscordant) (AOR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.13-4.64), couple contraceptive use (users versus non-users) (AOR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.16-5.83) and transmission risk perception (high risk versus low/no risk) (AOR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.18-3.90).Conclusion: We found high levels of fertility desires and intentions and moderate risk perception among a cohort of HIV-infected women in urban Kano, Nigeria. The use of safer conception practices was not common. Our findings underscore the need for healthcare provider capacity building to enhance safer conception counseling and service delivery