Group Student-Project Allocation Using Constraint Optimization Techniques

The allocation of projects to final year students in various disciplines is a major challenge to many universities in Nigeria and elsewhere. In most cases manual method has been the pre-dominant for this activity. However, many problems arise which among other things include project duplication and delay in project activities. Other works concentrated on project allocation with both students and supervisors preferences, which may not be suitable for departments with small number of academics. In order to minimize the chances for these problems to occur, this study presents a constraint optimization approach to solving the student project allocation problem for the Computer Science programme of the Department of Mathematics, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto. The problem was modelled using constraint optimization (COP) techniques and its prototype was implemented on a Java platform which concentrated largely on students preferences on projects only, to ensure that a maximum number of students got their first choice projects. Upon testing the model, the results obtained showed that 85 out of the 95 students (90%) got allocation in the first round, from which 67 students (73%)got their first choices from the 24 projects supplied by 12 supervisors, which showed maximum allocation of students’ best choices

Small Ruminant Trypanosomiasis in Rigasa, Suburban Kaduna, Northwest, Nigeria

Tsetse-transmitted Trypanosomiasis is still regarded as one of the most severe medical and veterinary problems in Africa. The potential of domestic animals serving as reservoirs for Trypanosomiasis infections in humans and animals (in South, East and West Africa) has been widely discussed. Small ruminant production is a very important aspect of livestock production in sub Saharan Africa. Small ruminants are estimated to provide up to 30% of meat and 15% of milk production in sub Saharan Africa. Prevalence rates in Northern Nigeria are varied from 1.0% to 35.20%. Small ruminants may also serve as reservoirs of infection to cattle. This is very significant as small ruminants have been shown to be relatively trypanotolerant and most owners do not routinely treat them for Trypanosomiasis; thereby further enhancing their capacity as carriers. This study was carried out to investigate the prevalence of Trypanosomiasis in herds of goats reared alongside cattle that were kept by extensive management within Kaduna metropolis. Trypanosomiasis was found to be prevalent in the area. The role of small ruminants as carriers and possible reservoir hosts for Trypanosomiasis in cattle is also discussed