Using Approximate Method for the Construction of Mosque Domes

Domes remain a unique structure in building construction as a result of stylistic forms and composition in the field of architecture. They are important elements that adequately define the Islamic architecture. The construction of domes which is a doubly curved surface and formed by rectilinear structures always resulted in difficulties to get the curvilinear shape correctly. The study therefore made the use of an approximate method to develop the dome using materials that are provided in the locality. The knowledge of descriptive geometry in surface development was adopted to obtain approximation cone components that produce the hemispherical dome. The components were properly installed and supported by centering which composed eight equally spaced timber frameworks that were supported by planks. Lack of appropriate modern technological advancement should not be factor militating against production of perfect forms, thus appropriate technical drawing basic skills should be acquired by the builders to take the construction of dome from a poor to a good system of accurate centering with good quality control

STRENGTH PROPERTIES OF SLURRY INFILTRATED FIBROUS CONCRETE (SIFCON) PRODUCED WITH DISCRETE BAMBOO AND STEEL FIBRES

This paper examined the comparison between the mechanical properties of slurry infiltrated fibrous concrete with short steel fiber and discrete bamboo. The differences in properties of the concrete with fiber, concrete without fiber and concrete with discrete bamboo was determined. Compressive and flexural strengths of concrete and slump were also determined. A total of six mix batches of concrete containing 0% (control), 1%, 2% and 3% of steel fiber and discrete bamboo was incorporated into concrete, while 0%, 0.5%, 0.75% and 1.0% of steel fibre and discrete bamboo by volume fraction of concrete were used for flexural strength test. The bamboo stripes were sun dried, cut in sizes ranging from 50- 63mm in length and 4.4mm thick for easy mix with concrete while the steel fiber was 25mm in length and 0.4mm thick. The concrete prism used was 300mm x 100 mm x 100mm for compressive strength test and beam 350mm x 100mm x 100mm for flexural strength test. A thickness of 10mm cement slurry was infiltrated into the beam prism while the remaining 90mm thickness was filled with concrete. Plain concrete without fiber or discrete bamboo served as control. The addition of steel fibre increased the strength of concrete

PROCESS OPTIMIZATION OF OIL EXPRESSION FROM WATERMELON (CITRULLUS LANATUS) SEEDS

Watermelon fruit contains large quantities of seeds and these seeds are under-utilized. It contains reasonable amount of oil (22%) which if expressed will serve as vegetable oil for human consumption or biodiesel for powering agricultural machines and boost the income of the farmers. The main objective of this research work is to study the interaction effect of operating parameters on the mechanical oil expression from the seed. The variables considered include applied pressure (85.00, 90.00, 95.00, 100.00 and 105.00 kN/mm2), roasting temperature (70.00, 80.00, 90.00, 100 and 110 °C) and moisture content (6.00, 8.00, 10.00, 12.00 and 14.00 %). A total sum of 20 batch experiments were carried out and the maximum oil yield was 13.49% (at corresponding moisture content of 6.00%, roasting temperature of 85.00oC and applied pressure of 105.00 kN/mm2 respectively) and minimum oil yield obtained was 9.41%.(at corresponding moisture content of 14.00%, roasting temperature 80 °C and applied pressure of 85.00 kN/mm2 respectively). While the optimum oil yield of 12.42% was obtained from the expression at corresponding moisture content of 6.00%, roasting temperature of 80.00ºC, and applied pressure of 105.00 kN/mm2. The result showed that the three independent variables had significant effect on oil yield and regression model equation was developed to predict the oil yield from watermelon seeds at known variables

Trip pattern of low density residential area in semi urban industrial cluster: predictive modeling

This research elucidates the trip pattern of the low-density residential zone in a semi-urban industrial cluster of southwestern Nigeria. These sets of dwellers are often times neglected in the transportation planning process. To achieve the aim of this research, domiciliary information gathering procedure was employed with 0.82 return rates. It was backed up with the focus group discussion method. Data on frequency of trips, per capita trip, modal choice, and socioeconomic and demographic data were collected, collated, and analysed. Accordingly, a predictive model was formulated for the trip pattern of the low-density area. This was achieved with the aid of statistical software SPSS version 21.Consequently, the results of the multiple regression models showed that both monthly income and car ownership had a significant positive influence on the work trip while only car ownership positively influences non-work trip. R2 values of 0.729 and 0.739 were obtained for the descriptive model at 95% confidence level. This established the robustness of the model, the analysis showed that monthly income and car ownership had a significant positive influence on the work trip with an Rsquare value of 0.729 and 0.739 for work and non-work trip respectively. This indicated that household will embark on more trips with an increase in car ownership and monthly income. However, effective transportation planning and traffic infrastructural development were recommended to meet the demands of the increased number of trips daily

OPTIMAL ROUTE DETERMINATION FOR POSTAL DELIVERY USING ANT COLONY OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHM

There are a lot of optimization challenges in the world, as we all know. The vehicle routing problem is one of the more complex and high-level problems. Vehicle Routing Problem is a real-life problem in the Postal Delivery System logistics and, if not properly attended to, can lead to wastage of resources that could have been directed towards other things. Several studies have been carried out to tackle this problem using different techniques and algorithms. This study used the Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm along with some powerful APIs to find an optimal route for the delivery of posts to customers in a Postal Delivering System. When Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm is used to solve the vehicle routing problem in transportation systems, each Ant's journey is mere “part” of a feasible solution. To put it in another way, numerous ants' pathways might make up a viable solution. Routes are determined for a delivery vehicle, with the objective of minimizing customer waiting time and operation cost. Experimental results indicate that the solution is optimal and more accurat

Antiretroviral Therapy‑related Problems among Human Immunodeficiency Virus‑infected Patients: A Focus on Medication Adherence and Pill Burden

Background: There are problems associated with antiretroviral therapy despite its achievement. Poor medication adherence and inability to tolerate large pill burden are major problems facing patients with chronic illnesses. These drug therapy problems are under-studied among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in Nigeria. We evaluated adherence and pill burden among this set of patients in a tertiary hospital in Lagos. Methods: Data for eligible HIV‑infected adults were documented from case notes and through interviews using a well‑structured  questionnaire. Important details extracted were sociodemographics, pills information, and CD4 counts. The main outcome measures were drug adherence, as assessed by the four‑item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale and pill burden, as measured by daily pill >5. Results: Of the 296 patients, 219 (74%) were females. Median age (interquartile range) was 40 (35.0–47.7) years. Majority (262; 88.5%) were married, had at least a secondary education (142:48.0%), and CD4 count >500 cells/ml (215; 72.6%). Pill burden >5 pills/day was observed in 12.2% of the patients, while adherence was documented for 83.4% of the patients. Majority (259; 87.5%) were receiving fixed‑dose  combination of antiretroviral drugs. Forgetfulness (16.5%) and being too busy to take pills (10.5%) were the most common reasons for nonadherence. Pill burden in those who were not receiving fixed‑dose combination was significantly associated with medication nonadherence. However, only pill burden was found to be an independent prognosticator of non-adherance. (Odd ratio = 0.67, confidenceinterval = 0.03–1.66, P < 0.00). Conclusion: Medication nonadherence and pill burden were observed in more than one‑tenth of patients. These were the two major  antiretroviral therapy‑related problems reported in this study. Keywords: Adherence, antiretroviral therapy, human immunodeficiency virus, people living with human immunodeficiency virus/acquiredimmunodeficiency syndrome, pill burde

The influence of the cultural climate of the training environment on physicians' self-perception of competence and preparedness for practice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In current supervisory practice, the learning environment in which the training of specialist registrars (SpRs) takes place is important. Examples of such learning environments are the hospital settings and/or geographical locations where training occurs. Our objective was to investigate whether the cultural climate of different learning environments influences physicians' perceived level of competence and preparedness for practice.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>An electronic questionnaire was sent to an equal group of paediatricians who had trained in clinical settings located in Europe and the Caribbean. 30 items (Likert scale 1–4 = totally disagree-totally agree) were used to measure the level of preparedness of the respondents in 7 physician competencies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>42 participants were included for analysis. The distribution of participants in both groups was comparable. The overall perception of preparedness in the Caribbean group was 2.93 (SD = 0.47) and 2.86 (SD = 0.72) in the European group. The European group felt less prepared in the competency as manager 1.81 (SD = 1.06) compared to their Caribbean counterparts 2.72 (SD = 0.66). The difference was significant (p = 0.006).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The training in the different environments was perceived as adequate and comparable in effect. The learning environment's cultural climate appeared to influence the physician's perception of their competencies and preparedness for clinical practice.</p

An audit of paediatric nasal foreign bodies in Ilorin, Nigeria

Children with nasal foreign bodies are commonly seen in everyday practice. The aim of this study was to document the pattern of foreign bodies in the nose, their treatment and outcome. Methods. This was a prospective audit of all children seen in the ear, nose and throat clinic, accident and emergency unit and emergency paediatric unit at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria, from August 2005 to July 2006. Results. Of a total of 173 patients with ear, nose and throat foreign bodies seen during the study period, 71 patients had foreign bodies in the nose. The male/female ratio was 1.5:1 and the mean age was 2.5 years (range 1 - 15 years), under-5s comprising 72% of the patients. The most common foreign bodies were grains and seeds (35%). Presentation was within 24 hours in 45% of cases, between 1 and 5 days in 27%, and longer in the rest. Of the patients 51% had inserted the foreign body into the nose themselves, and in 39% of cases this had happened at school. In most cases (68%) the foreign body had been inserted into the right nostril. Most children had an offensive nasal discharge (45%) or were asymptomatic (27%). Parents were the first to make the diagnosis in 63% of cases, and in 32% of cases removal had been attempted before presentation. Most of the foreign bodies (89%) were mechanically extracted with a Jobson-Horne probe. In 61% of cases removal was done by a senior registrar. General anaesthesia was needed in a minority of cases. Minimal epistaxis after removal occurred in 50.7%, and only 1 patient had septal perforation. Conclusion. Nasal foreign bodies are still a challenge among under-5s. Public health education is needed to make parents and caregivers aware that it is hazardous for a child to insert a foreign body into the nose. Consistent with published guidelines, the majority of cases can be managed safely with direct extraction in the office setting. With adequate training, primary health care practitioners can manage most cases successfully and will know when to refer complicated ones