Charcoal Production and Producers’ Tree Species Preference in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State, Nigeria

A survey of charcoal production in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State, Nigeria, was carried out to determine the demographic characteristics of the producers, examine and explore charcoal production methods and processes, identify the tree species used in charcoal production and explore their desirable qualities, as well as examining the sustainable charcoal production in the study area. Purposive sampling technique was employed in the study. Four villages; Yangba, Gada-Oli, Tamanai and Tunga-Boka, where charcoal production is prevalent were selected. Fifty (50) copies of questionnaire were purposively administered to charcoal producers in the four villages, with thirty four (34) copies retrieved. Descriptive statistics tools were used to analyze the variables of interest. Variables which were analysed include sex, age, educational status, marital status, methods of charcoal production, e.t.c. The results of the study revealed that earth mound kiln (65%) and earth pit kiln (35%) are the two methods of charcoal production employed by the producers in the study area. Prosopis Africana (73%) is the most preferred tree species used by charcoal producers in the study area for charcoal production.The study has revealed that commercial charcoal production is gradually becoming one of the major sources of sustenance and currently plays a major role in promoting entrepreneurial development in Borgu L.G.A of Niger State with earth mound kiln method (65%) mostly employed. There should be increased supply of wood for charcoal production through plantations and woodlots; unchecked harvesting of trees without replacement should be addressed as well as development and implementation of short and long-term plans for massive tree planting. Keywords: charcoal, tree, specie, borgu, preferenc

Meteorological parameter anomalies and anomalous radio propagation over Nigeria

Distribution and variation of anomalous radio propagation, temperature and relative humidity anomalies were obtained and analyzed using six years (2010-2015) Era interim data. Seasonal spatial distribution of refractivity gradient and its components were analyzed. The result showed that about 90% of wet component contributed to the variation of refractivity gradient. Highest range of refractivity gradients and its wet components were obtained during the wet season. The result of correlation between ducting occurrence and temperature showed strong negative correlation except in Lagos where positive correlation of 3% was observed. However, positive correlation which ranges between 39% and 70% exist between duct occurrence and relative humidity except in Lagos in Nigeria. Refractivity gradients, relative humidity anomaly and temperature experience a monthly variation. These variations can be attributed to the seasonal movement of inter-tropical discontinuity (ITD) across Nigeria. Keywords: anomalous, anomaly, correlation, IT

Prevalence of diabetes mellitus and the associated behavioral risks factors among the staff of three secondary schools in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria

Objective: The prevalence of type 2 Diabetes is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, hence the need for early identification of risk factors. This study, therefore, aimed to determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and the associated behavioral risks among secondary school staff in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria.Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 118 staff at three secondary schools in Owo was conducted using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Demographic and clinical data were obtained as well as fasting or random blood glucose measurements using standard methods. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 21.0.Results: The mean age of participants was 43 ± 8 years, 59.3% were females. Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus was found in 2.8% of the participants, 18.5% were hypertensive, 22.0% were Obese while 25.4% had abdominal obesity. In all, 13.6% smoke cigarette, 35.6% drank alcohol, 49.2% does not add at least a spoonful of vegetable to their meals, 27.1% does not engage in physical exercise while 78.0% do not eat fruits at least once a day. About 58.4% of the respondents had at least one risky behaviour. More male respondents (22.9%) had a self-perceived risk of Diabetes Mellitus (p=0.001), 40.0% of female respondents had abdominal obesity (p<0.001). Correlation (r=0.347) exist between Waist/Hip ratio and random blood glucose, (p=0.012)Conclusion: Despite low prevalence of diabetes mellitus, many had at least one risky behaviour. Intensifying efforts on educating the general population on the risk factors for Diabetes Mellitus and lifestyle modification is important.Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus, behavioural risk factors, lifestyle, blood pressure, obesit

Computational Numerical Solution for Traveling Salesman Problem

This paper examined and analysed the desire of Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) to find the cheapest way of visiting all given set of cities and returning to the starting point.     We presented a unique decomposition approach model for TSP in which the requirements and features of practical application in communication network, road transportation and supply chains are put into consideration.  We used a Mathematical Modeling solution with the application of Ant Colony Search Algorithm (ACSA) approach for result computation. In our approach, different Agents were created for difference purposes.   Information agent gathered information about best tour and detected the solution agent that arrived at a given point with information message containing details of where the solution agent has come from as well as best tour cost.  The place ant performs local pheromone decay on the relevant links.   This help to avoid random visit to irrelevant edges and allows the place ant to calculate the cost of tour of all place ants including the latest pheromone level on the links to each of the place ants. The solution agent uses available information to decide  which node to visit next and informs the place ant of  its decision to move to a given destination and update better tour  previously sampled while information about where to go next also obtained.       The place ant updates its pheromone value for that link using the equivalent of the algorithm for local pheromone update.    The cycle continues until solution agent arrives at its destination. The main advantage of our approach is that it permits the use of mixed integer programming and combinatorial optimization techniques to compute real optimal routing path, solving the problem in practice by returning actual shortest route with its numerical value and not the best effort result as provided by some previous models and analytical methods. The implementation was carried out using C# programming language.  Data used were generated and the performance evaluation of the model was carried out through simulation using Matlab 7.0.  The result shows that by considering all possible paths between a node as the source and another as the destination, all possible routes for a particular journey with shortest route in each case were generated. Keywords: Ant Colony, Combinatorial Optimization, Mixed Integer Programming, Pheromone, Search Algorithm and Traveling Salesman

Computational Numerical Solution for Traveling Salesman Problem

This paper examined and analyzed the desire of Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) to find the cheapest way of visiting all given set of cities and returning to the starting point.     We presented a unique decomposition approach model for TSP in which the requirements and features of practical application in communication network, road transportation and supply chains are put into consideration.  We used a Mathematical Modeling solution with the application of Ant Colony Search Algorithm (ACSA) approach for result computation.  In our approach, different Agents were created for difference purposes.   Information agent gathered information about best tour and detected the solution agent that arrived at a given point with information message containing details of where the solution agent has come from as well as best tour cost.  The place ant performs local pheromone decay on the relevant links.   This help to avoid random visit to irrelevant edges and allows the place ant to calculate the cost of tour of all place ants including the latest pheromone level on the links to each of the place ants. The solution agent uses available information to decide  which node to visit next and informs the place ant of  its decision to move to a given destination and update better tour  previously sampled while information about where to go next also obtained.  The place ant updates its pheromone value for that link using the equivalent of the algorithm for local pheromone update.  The cycle continues until solution agent arrives at its destination. The main advantage of our approach is that it permits the use of mixed integer programming and combinatorial optimization techniques to compute real optimal routing path, solving the problem in practice by returning actual shortest route with its numerical value and not the best effort result as provided by some previous models and analytical methods. The implementation was carried out using C# programming language.  Data used were generated and the performance evaluation of the model was carried out through simulation using Matlab 7.0.  The result shows that by considering all possible paths between a node as the source and another as the destination, all possible routes for a particular journey with shortest route in each case were generated. Keywords: Ant Colony, Combinatorial Optimization, Mixed Integer Programming, Pheromone, Search Algorithm and Traveling Salesman

Energy Efficiency in Building: Case of Buildings at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Nigeria today faces serious challenge in providing adequate energy to meet the needs of her citizenry. Efforts are currently geared towards generation of more energy to ease the problem. While these efforts are commendable, it is equally desirable to explore ways to minimize consumption of generated energy. The objective of this work is to investigate the effect of building orientation on energy demand in buildings. This paper considered the use of standard design considerations, fundamental cooling load equations and the guidelines stipulated by the American Society of Heating, Cooling and Air conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). The study takes the designs of three buildings within the University of Ibadan, Nigeria into consideration with the view to harness the energy saving potentials through building orientation and selection of efficient cooling equipment. The results obtained were 155.34, 224.75, 86.35 kW and 163.60, 232.04 and 90.64 kW for the three lecture envelopes including the Faculty of Science, CBN and the Department of Chemistry lecture theatres using the North-South and East-West building orientations respectively. Increase in energy demand of 7.96, 7.29 and 4.29 kW was thus obtained with the East-West building orientation over North-South. Energy efficiency is thus guaranteed with North-South building orientatio

Determinant of agroforestry practices among small holder farmers in Oyo State Nigeria

The multiplicity of agroforestry practices demand the choice of appropriate methods that will give the rural farmers an excellent result. Thus, this study analysed the factors determining the choice of agroforestry practices among small holder farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria. Primary data was obtained using multi-stage sampling technique. Structured questionnaire was administered to 250 selected small holder farmers to elicit relevant information and 211 was retrieved and used for this study. The findings revealed that most 55% of the farmers chose agrisilvicutural system while 33.2% and 11.8% of the farmers chose agrosilvopastoral and silvopastoral systems respectively. Most of the farmers were males 89.1%, with average age of 47years indicating they were relatively young with basic formal education. The average farm size of 3.34ha indicated that the study covered small holder farmers. The multinomial logit result showed that factors such as educational level, meeting attendance, type of labour used, household assets significantly determined the choice of agroforestry practices adopted by the farmers. The study therefore recommends the implementation of policies that promote more enlightenment on the benefits of agroforestry to both the educated and non-educated farmers to facilitate quick adoption, provision of incentives to farmers that attend meetings regularly and making available improved agroforestry methods and practices to enhance wider suitability of agroforestry practices

Awareness and acceptability of rotavirus vaccine among mothers of under-five children attending children outpatient clinic of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital

Background: Diarrhoea diseases remain a major contributor to infant and under-five morbidity and mortality, particularly in developing countries. Administration of the rotavirus vaccine is one of the effective measures to prevent acute and severe forms of diarrhoea in children. Rotavirus  vaccine is yet to be fully incorporated into the National Programme on the Immunization schedule. This study assessed the awareness and   willingness of mothers to the uptake of rotavirus vaccine for their under-five children at Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), Ado-Ekiti.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among 301 mothers of under-five children attending the Children Outpatient Clinic of EKSUTH. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data analysis was performed with SPSS version 23.Results: Forty–two (14%) of the mothers had heard of rotavirus vaccine. Most mothers, 277(92%), will allow their wards to take the rotavirus vaccine. Two hundred and eighty mothers (93%) will advocate for the incorporation of rotavirus vaccine into the National Programme on Immunization Schedule. Eighty-five (28.2%) of the respondents, however, had one concern or the other about rotavirus vaccine.Conclusion: There is a low level of awareness and knowledge about rotavirus vaccines among mothers of under-five children in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Despite this, the willingness to uptake the vaccine was high among respondents. Our findings suggest the need to fully incorporate rotavirus vaccine into the national programme on immunization to make it widely available to mothers and caregivers of under-five children Keyword: Awareness, Acceptability, Rotavirus vaccine, Under-five childre

Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Trees structure the Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations1,2,3,4,5,6 in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories7, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world’s most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries