Search results for: North Eastern Nigeria

Authors: Amaechi O. Azi, Uche D. Aluge, Lim H. San, Godwin A. Agbo

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This paper is centered on the investigation of mineral deposits in selected locations in Oshiri province in Ebonyi State. Mineral deposits contribute immensely to the economic growth of a society. In researching lead and zinc oxide-bearing sites at Oshiri, geological and geophysical research technique was employed. Petrozenith, Earth Resistivity Meter, and Schlumberger setup were selected to examine the electrical characteristics of the subsurface. To determine the apparent resistivity of the subsurface, five soundings were taken, and the field data were processed using WinResist software. The mudstone, lead-shale, shale-granite, and lateritic topsoil were the four geoelectric strata that were found. The third layer, which corresponds to the shale-lead lithology, has a resistivity value between 211.9 m to 807.7 m at a depth of 25 m. Due to its resistivity levels and geological trend, this layer makes an excellent signature for lead-zinc occurrence. This zone is expected to house deposits of lead and zinc oxide in commercial quantity.

Keywords: Schlumberger, current, resistivity, lithology

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Authors: Alokananda Nath

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Land is an important issue anywhere in the world as it is one of the fundamental elements in human settlements. Since the urban areas are considered to be the drivers of economy for any country across the world and the phenomenon of ‘urbanization’ happening everywhere, there is always a greater pressure on urban land and its management. Many states in India have realized the importance of land as a valuable resource and have implemented certain framework for managing and developing land. But in West Bengal no such statutory framework has been formulated till now and a very out dated model of land acquisition for public purpose is practiced. Due to the lop-sided character of urban growth in the entire eastern region of India, the city of Kolkata continues to bear the burden of excessive growth of population and consequent urbanization of the adjoining areas at a rapid pace. This research tries to look into these conflicts with respect to the present pattern of development in the context of Kolkata and suggest a system for land management in order to implement the planning processes. For this purpose, five case study areas were taken up within the Kolkata Metropolitan Area and subsequent analysis of their present land management and development techniques was done. The findings reveal that there is a lack of political will as well as administrative inefficiency on part of both the development authority and the local bodies. Mostly the local bodies lack the financial resources and technical expertise to work out any kind of land management framework or work out any kind of model in order to manage the development that is happening. All these place undue strain on city infrastructure systems and reduce the potential of cities to contribute as engines of economic growth. The focus of reforms, therefore, ought to be on streamlining the urban planning process, judicious and optimal land use, efficient plan implementation mechanisms, improvement of titling and registration processes.

Keywords: urbanization, land management framework, land development, policy reforms, land-use planning processes

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Authors: Philip Tachin

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Despite the positive contributions that religion has impacted human society, religious discrimination and violence also have been growing globally with extreme negative effects on human life and social relationships. Believers in religious extremism are motivated by a sense of exhibiting true religious piety in which case they do not only withhold their practical benevolence from those who do not belong to their faith but they even seek the elimination of other adherents from human existence. This phenomenon has a very high magnitude in Nigeria over the years, which deserves more research for the purpose of finding sustainable solutions to the problem. Calvin believed that true religious piety must, among other things, be categorized in personal and corporate positive social actions that esteem human needs irrespective of ethnic, ideological and belief differences. It is therefore appropriate to pose the following questions: Should true religious piety be seen in terms of how the actions of adherents positively impact human society? Could Calvin’s idea on this issue be very significant and helpful in the context of the Nigerian situation? In answering these questions, this research will limit its investigation to Calvin’s Institutes and some of his Commentaries. The goal of this research is to offer an instructive orientation to the readers that will help in building a more tolerable, peaceful, and a free and virtuous society.

Keywords: Calvin, human good, religious piety, virtuous society

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Authors: Ayorinde B. Ogunremi, Kehinde A. Adewoyin, Adebamwo Adebayo

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Record of radionuclide concentration in an environment is essential to ensure human safety due to exposure to ionizing radiation. This study aimed at assessing the radionuclide concentration and doses from soil samples in the study area. Twenty soil samples were collected and dried in the oven at 110°C to remove the moisture, pulverized, and sieved. 200 g of each of the samples were sealed in cylindrical sample holders; they were left for four weeks to attain secular equilibrium between ²²⁶Ra and its decay daughters, after which the sample was analyzed using gamma-ray spectrometry. After the well-guided procedure for the calibrations, the analysis of the samples was carried out using a well-calibrated NaI (TI) and well-shielded detector coupled to a computer resident quantum MCA2100 R Multichannel analyzer for 36,000 s. The mean activity concentrations of ⁴⁰K, ²²⁶Ra, and ²³²Th obtained were calculated to be 272.37 ± 33.58, 10.97 ± 3.24, 9.39 ± 2.27 Bqkg-1 respectively. The average absorbed dose obtained was 22.10 nGy/h. The radium equivalent activity (Raeq) was estimated to be 43.27 Bq/kg. The activity concentrations (Bq/kg) were below the recommended values, which are 420, 33, and 45 for ⁴⁰K, ²²⁶Ra, and ²³²Th, respectively. Considering the results, we conclude thus, the radiation level within the estate poses no significant health risk on dwellers and workers.

Keywords: absorbed, effective, multichannel, radionuclide

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Authors: T. S. Bubuche, L. Abubakar, N.D. Ibrahim, A. A. Aliero, H. M. Sama, B. S. Haliru

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A two-year study was conducted at the Fadama farm of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, Nigeria. Correlations and path coefficients analysis were used to determine the interrelationship and importance of various characters as components of yield in sugarcane during 20011-012 and 2012-013 growing seasons. Fourteen sugarcane hybrids and a local check were evaluated. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) and replicated three times. Significant and positive correlation were recorded between total cane weight/ha and single stalk weight, between single stalk weight and final brix and between stalk girth and stalk length while final brix and number of milliable cane/ha recorded no significant correlation. Traits that had high direct contribution to the final yield were number of stalk/stool, number of milliable cane/ha, single stalk weight and brix content while high indirect positive contributions were observed in growth habit, number of internode per stalk and stalk length..

Keywords: correlation, path analysis, sugarcane, yield components

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Authors: Jieh-Jiuh Wang

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Disasters happen frequently due to the global climate changes today. The cultural heritage conservation should be considered from the perspectives of surrounding environments and large-scale disasters. Most current thoughts about the disaster prevention of cultural heritages in Taiwan are single-point thoughts emphasizing firefighting, decay prevention, and construction reinforcement and ignoring the whole concept of the environment. The traditional conservation cannot defend against more and more tremendous and frequent natural disasters caused by climate changes. More and more cultural heritages are confronting the high risk of disasters. This study adopts the perspective of risk identification and takes flood as the main disaster category. It analyzes the amount and categories of cultural heritages that might suffer from disasters with the geographic information system integrating the latest flooding potential data from National Fire Agency and Water Resources Agency and the basic data of cultural heritages. It examines the actual risk of cultural heritages confronting floods and serves as the accordance for future considerations of risk measures and preparation for reducing disasters. The result of the study finds the positive relationship between the disaster affected situation of national cultural heritages and the rainfall intensity. The order of impacted level by floods is historical buildings, historical sites indicated by municipalities and counties, and national historical sites and relics. However, traditional settlements and cultural landscapes are not impacted. It might be related to the taboo space in the traditional culture of site selection (concepts of disaster avoidance). As for the regional distribution on the other hand, cultural heritages in central and northern Taiwan suffer from more shocking floods, while the heritages in northern and eastern Taiwan suffer from more serious flooding depth.

Keywords: cultural heritage, flood, preventive conservation, risk management

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Authors: Wenyang Wan

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The study of urban land use and landscape pattern is the current hotspot in the fields of planning and design, ecology, etc., which is of great significance for the construction of the overall humanistic ecosystem of the city and optimization of the urban spatial structure. Banan District, as the main part of the eastern eco-city planning of Chongqing Municipality, is a high ground for highlighting the ecological characteristics of Chongqing, realizing effective transformation of ecological value, and promoting the integrated development of urban and rural areas. The analytical methods of land use transfer matrix (GIS) and landscape pattern index (Fragstats) were used to study the characteristics and laws of the evolution of land use landscape pattern in Banan District from 2000 to 2020, which provide some reference value for Banan District to alleviate the ecological contradiction of landscape. The results of the study show that ① Banan District is rich in land use types, of which the area of cultivated land will still account for 57.15% of the total area of the landscape until 2020, accounting for an absolute advantage in land use structure of Banan District; ② From 2000 to 2020, land use conversion in Banan District is characterized as Cropland > woodland > grassland > shrubland > built-up land > water bodies > wetlands, with cropland converted to built-up land being the largest; ③ From 2000 to 2020, the landscape elements of Banan District were distributed in a balanced way, and the landscape types were rich and diversified, but due to the influence of human interference, it also presented the characteristics that the shape of the landscape elements tended to be irregular, and the dominant patches were distributed in a scattered manner, and the patches had poor connectivity. It is recommended that in future regional ecological construction, the layout should be rationally optimized, the relationship between landscape components should be coordinated, the connectivity between landscape patches should be strengthened, and the degree of landscape fragmentation should be reduced.

Keywords: land use transfer, landscape pattern evolution, GIS and Fragstats, Banan district

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Authors: Lilik Sudiajeng, Wiraga Wayan, Lanang Parwita I Gusti

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This is the ongoing research started in 2013 with the final aim is to design the recharge wells both for housing and industry for ground water conservation in Bali - Indonesia. The research started in Denpasar Regency, one of the strategic areas in Bali. The research showed that there is some critical area of ground water resources, especially in north and west part of Denpasar Regency. It driven by the rapid increase of the tourism industry which is followed by the high rate of population, change of land use that leads to the decreasing of rain water catchment areas, and less awareness on preserve natural resources, including ground water. Focus Group Discussion concluded that in order to solve the problem of groundwater crisis, requires the contribution of all parties, started from making simple recharge well for housing. Because of the availability of land is limited and expensive, it is necessary to present an ergonomic shallow recharge well in accordance with the ability of the family or community. The ergonomics shallow recharge well is designed based on the data of hydrology and the characteristics of soil. The design is very flexible depending on the availability of land, environmentally friendly, energy efficient, culture-based, and affordable. To meet the recommended standard of ground water quality, then it equipped with a filtration and sedimentation ponds. Before design recharge wells is disseminated to the public, it is necessary to analyze the effectiveness of the wells to harvest and absorb rainwater into the ground.

Keywords: ergonomics, ground water resources, recharge well, sustainable

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Authors: S. P. Akinbogun, P. Oloruntoyin

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One of the millennium development goals is the reduction of illiteracy. The state of user friendliness of the educational buildings is expected to play a significant role in the quest, particularly among the physically challenged. This study considers the state of access of educational buildings to disabled on wheel chair and crutches. It draws context from one of the federal universities in Nigeria. The study is basically qualitative; data were collected through structured interview and observation to assess compliance with the prescribed accessibility standard of academic buildings in the Federal University of Technology Akure. The study found that narrow entrances and routes of buildings, raised steps at entrances of the buildings, and ramps were absent. This implies exclusion as it renders most of the buildings inaccessible to wheelchair users. Perhaps, it accounts for low enrolment of wheelchair users in the institution despite many of them in the city. The implication is a challenge in the achievement of the millennium development goal concerning the reduction in the level of illiteracy in the country. The study suggests that government should strictly ensure that public buildings should satisfy or retrofitted to meet disabled access before development approval. This should be followed with the issuance of certificate of compliance upon completion.

Keywords: public building, accessibility, physically challenged, education

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Authors: Takudzwa C. Taruza, Carel B. Schoeman, Ilse M. Schoeman

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The proliferation of informal settlements remains one of the major planning challenges in democratic South Africa. In spite of the various local, national and international initiatives to promote the creation of sustainable human settlements, informal settlements continue to exist as spatially marginalised societies characterised by poverty, unemployment, squalor conditions and disaster risks. It is argued that, in practice, intervention is mainly directed at achieving set quantitative targets and goals rather than improving the lives of the inhabitants. The relevant planning instruments do not adequately address the integration of informal settlements into the broader planning framework. This paper is based on the analysis of the informal settlement intervention within the North West Province. Financial constraints, bureaucracy in housing delivery and lack of horizontal and vertical integration in spatial planning and programme implementation are amongst the major factors that caused stagnation in some of the upgrading programmes which in turn hindered the attainment of the target set as part of the Outcome 8 Delivery Agreement. Moreover, the absence of distinct indicators for the assessment of the qualitative progress of upgrading programmes indicates shortcomings in the intervention policies and programmes to promote the creation of sustainable human settlements. Thus, this paper seeks to proffer an assessment toolkit as well as a framework for the implementation of a Sustainable Informal Settlement Programme.

Keywords: formalization of informal settlements, planning intervention, sustainable formalization indicators, sustainable human settlements

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Authors: Alokananda Ghosh, Shraban Sarkar

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The study aims to identify suitable sites for new hospitals with critical obstetric care facilities in Birbhum, one of the vulnerable and underserved districts of Eastern India, considering six main and 14 sub-criteria, using GIS-based Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) approach. The criteria were identified through field surveys and previous literature. After collecting expert decisions, a pairwise comparison matrix was prepared using the Saaty scale to calculate the weights through AHP. On the contrary, objective weighting methods, i.e., Entropy and Criteria Importance through Interaction Correlation (CRITIC), were used to perform the MAUT. Finally, suitability maps were prepared by weighted sum analysis. Sensitivity analyses of AHP were performed to explore the effect of dominant criteria. Results from AHP reveal that ‘maternal death in transit’ followed by ‘accessibility and connectivity’, ‘maternal health care service (MHCS) coverage gap’ were three important criteria with comparatively higher weighted values. Whereas ‘accessibility and connectivity’ and ‘maternal death in transit’ were observed to have more imprint in entropy and CRITIC, respectively. While comparing the predictive suitable classes of these three models with the layer of existing hospitals, except Entropy-MAUT, the other two are pointing towards the left-over underserved areas of existing facilities. Only 43%-67% of existing hospitals were in the moderate to lower suitable class. Therefore, the results of the predictive models might bring valuable input in future planning.

Keywords: hospital site suitability, analytic hierarchy process, multi-attribute utility theory, entropy, criteria importance through interaction correlation, multi-criteria decision analysis

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Authors: Surajo Isa

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In as much as mathematics is important to national development, it is regrettable to note that in Nigeria Students academic achievement especially in public examinations remains poor. Among the several factors responsible for such a poor performance is the lack of bringing cultural elements into the conventional school mathematics. The design for this study is triangulation in nature which is set to examined 800 students From 20 School (40 each from male and female schools). Ten (10) male and ten (10) female schools consisting of 400 male and 400 female students to formed the experiment and control groups with a further sub-groping of samples to represent urban and rural settings for both male and female groups. While the experimental groups were taught using ethnomathematics techniques, the control groups were taught using conventional techniques, the results of a t-test for independent samples at p =0.05 level of significance with tcritical = 1.968 showed that (a) boys performed significantly better than girls (b) there is no significantly difference in performance between urban and rural girls (c) significant difference in academic performance was obtained between urban and rural boys. Generally, it was observed that teaching mathematics with ethnomathematics technique would help in great achievement in mathematics.

Keywords: ethnomathematics, achievement, gender, settlement

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Authors: Tonga Agadi Danladi, Ajao Wasiu Bamidele, Terdue Dyeko

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Recent advancement in microwave communications technologies especially in telecommunications and broadcasting have resulted in congestion on the frequencies below 10GHz. This has forced microwave designers to look for high frequencies. Unfortunately for frequencies greater than 10GHz rain becomes one of the main factors of attenuation in signal strength. At frequencies from 10GHz upwards, rain drop sizes leads to outages that compromises the availability and quality of service this making it a critical factor in satellite link budget design. Rain rate and rain attenuation predictions are vital steps to be considered when designing microwave satellite communication link operating at Ku-band frequencies (112-18GHz). Unreliable rain rates data in the tropical regions of the world like Nigeria from radio communication group of the international Telecommunication Union (ITU-R) makes it difficult for microwave engineers to determine a realistic rain margin that needs to be accommodated in satellite link budget design in such region. This work presents an empirical tool for predicting the amount of signal due to rain on DBS signal operating at the Ku-band.

Keywords: attenuation, Ku-Band, microwave communication, rain rates

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Authors: B. G. Oguntuase, M. O. Olofinsae

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This study was carried out to assess the contribution of bush meat to Edo people’s livelihood and the consequence of utilization on conservation. Five markets were selected in Ovia Southwest local government area of Edo State, twenty bush meat sellers were selected from each market. Direct observations were made to document the composition of wild animals under sale in the study area. A total of one hundred questionnaires were administered to the respondents. The questionnaires were all retrieved and analyzed using descriptive analysis. The results show that thirteen animal species are being traded in the area. The price for the animal species (whole animal) ranged from N200 to N9,520. Respondents reported that there is a decline in the animal population over time. Between 64% and 95% of the respondents acknowledged population decline in seven of the thirteen animal species available for sale compared to what it used to be some ten years ago. Sales of wild animal species could be regarded as a profitable business in the rural community, supporting livelihood of the community, but could have devastating effect on conservation as already observed in this study if harvesting of wild animals is not regulated on controlled or sustainable basis.

Keywords: conservation, economic benefits, hunting, population, wild animals

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Authors: Sriranjani Srinivasan

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To appreciate Indian art and architecture by studying it in India alone will only lead to partial understanding of the whole story and the variety of the statement has been amply proved by subsequent decades of patient research. The results of the work of the Archaeological Survey of India forms only one half of the picture, the other half emerges with the studies of the archaeology and art of the Far East that progressed almost simultaneously under the Archaeological Survey of the Dutch East Indies, the École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO), or French School of Asian Studies, and allied institutions. The conclusions arrived at have only rendered the assertion that India produced her ultimate master pieces only through foreign influences and in foreign lands (the South-Eastern peninsular and archipelagic regions) almost axiomatic. Angkor in Cambodia and Borobudur in Java, undoubtedly the two greatest architectural marvels of Indian genius, for in content and spirit these (and other monuments of varying magnitudes), are purely Indian, would well illustrate the statement mentioned earlier. Stimulated research followed the discoveries and among the many studies and publications of such pioneers like Coedes, Parmentier, Coomaraswamy and many others in Dutch, French and English made growing contributions to the subject. This paper will discuss in detail the impact of India on the architecture of South East Asia by detailed comparison of architectural styles, elements, and construction materials of a few specific architectural master pieces, in both India and South East Asian countries. It will also analyze the reasoning behind the influence of India on South East Asian countries in spite of them being exposed to the equally culturally rich and civilized kingdoms of China. The intention of this paper is to understand that, conquest by war is not always the only reason for architectural influences and impacts.

Keywords: architectural influence, Buddhist architecture, Indian architecture, Southeast Asian architecture

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Authors: Dries Dulsster

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This research we want to discuss the implications of the concept of ‘lalangue’ and illustrate its importance for lacanian psychoanalysis and its clinical practice. We will look at this concept through an in depth reading of Lacan’s later seminars, his lectures at the North-American universities and his study on James Joyce. We will illustrate the importance of this concept with a case study from a clinical practice. We will argue that the introduction of ‘lalangue’ has several theoretical and clinical implications that will radically change Lacans teachings. We will illustrate the distinction between language and lalangue. Language serves communication, but this is not the case with lalangue. We will claim that there is jouissance in language and will approach this by introducing the concept of ‘lalangue’. We will ask ourselves what the effect will be of this distinction and how we can use this in clinical practice. The concept of ‘lalangue’ will introduce a new way of thinking about the unconscious. It will force us to no longer view the unconscious as Symbolic, but as Imaginary or Real. Another implication will be the approach on the symptom, no longer approaching it as a formation of the unconscious. It will be renamed as ‘sinthome’, as function of the real. Last of all it will force us to rethink the lacanian interpretation and how we direct the treatment. The implications on a clinical level will be how we think about the lacanian interpretation and the direction of the treatment. We will no longer focus on language and meaning, but focus on jouissance and the ways in which the subject deals with this. We will illustrate this importance with a clinical case study. To summarize, the concept of lalangue forces us to radically rethink lacanian psychoanalysis, with major implications on a theoretical and clinical level. It introduces new concepts such as the real unconscious and the sinthome. It will also make us rethink the way we work as lacanian psychoanalysts.

Keywords: Lacan's later teaching, language, Lalangue, the unconscious

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Authors: G. Espriú-Pérez, F. A. Vargas-Oviedo, I. Zenteno-Aguirrezábal, M. D. Moya-Bencomo

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One of the injuries with a higher incidence among university-level athletes in the North of Mexico is presented in the knee. This injury generates absenteeism in training and competitions for at least 8 weeks. There is no active quantitative methodology, or protocol, that directly contributes to the clinical evaluation performed by the medical personnel at the prevalence of knee injuries. The main objective is to contribute with a quantitative tool that allows further development of preventive and corrective measures to these injuries. The study analyzed 55 athletes for 6 weeks, belonging to the disciplines of basketball, volleyball, soccer and swimming. Using a motion capture system (Nexus®, Vicon®), a three-dimensional analysis was developed that allows the measurement of the range of movement of the joint. To focus on the performance of the lower limb, eleven different movements were chosen from the Functional Performance Test, Functional Movement Screen, and the Cincinnati Jump Test. The research identifies the profile of the natural movement of a healthy knee, with the use of medical guidance, and its differences between each sport. The data recovered by the single-leg crossover hop managed to differentiate the type of knee movement among athletes. A maximum difference of 60° of offset was found in the adduction movement between male and female athletes of the same discipline. The research also seeks to serve as a guideline for the implementation of protocols that help identify the recovery level of such injuries.

Keywords: Cincinnati jump test, functional movement screen, functional performance test, knee, motion capture system

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Authors: Yvette Reisinger

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Relatively little is known about the Arab travel market, especially the outbound travel market from Arab countries in the Middle East. The Kuwaiti travel market is the smallest yet fastest growing in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. The Kuwaiti travel market represents a great potential for the international tourism industry. Kuwaiti nationals have a very high spending power due to the Kuwaiti dinar being the highest-valued currency unit in the world. Although Europe, North America, and Asia/Pacific try to attract the Arab tourist market the number of Kuwaiti travellers attracted to these destinations is very low. The success in attracting the Kuwaiti travel market to Western countries must be guided by an analysis of the factors that affect its travel decisions. The objective of the study is to identify major factors that influence Kuwaiti nationals’ intentions to travel to Western countries. A model is developed and empirically tested on a sample of 343 Kuwaiti nationals. A series of regression analyses are run to determine the effects of different factors on Kuwaiti’s travel decisions. A Herman’s single factor test and Durbin-Watson test are used to assess the validity of the regression model. Analysis is controlled for socio-demographics. The results show that the Muslim friendly amenities and destination cognitive image exert significant effects on Kuwaiti nationals’ intentions to travel to Western countries. The study provides a better understanding of the factors that attract Kuwaiti tourists to Western countries. By knowing what encourages Kuwaitis to travel to Western countries marketers can plan and promote these countries accordingly. The study provides a foundation of future empirical research into the Kuwaiti/Arab travel market.

Keywords: Kuwaiti travel market, travel decisions, Western countries

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Authors: Yehya Elsayed, Sarah Dalibalta, Fareedah Alqtaishat, Ioline Gomes, Nagelle Fernandes

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Bakhour or Arabian incense is traditionally used to perfume houses, shops and clothing as part of cultural or religious practices in several Middle Eastern countries. Conventionally, Bakhour consists of a mixture of natural ingredients such as chips of agarwood (oud), musk and sandalwoods that are soaked in scented oil. Bakhour is usually burned by charcoal or by using gas or electric burners to produce the scented smoke. It is necessary to evaluate the impact of such practice on human health and environment especially that the burning of Bakhour is usually done on a regular basis and in closed areas without proper ventilation. Although significant amount of research has been reported in scientific literature on the chemical analysis of various types of incense smoke, unfortunately only very few of them focused specifically on the health impacts of Bakhour. Raw Bakhour samples, their smoke emissions and the ash residue were analyzed to assess the existence of toxic ingredients and their possible influence on health and the environment. Three brands of Bakhour samples were analyzed for the presence of harmful heavy metals and organic compounds. Thermal Desorption Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (TD-GC-MS) was used to identify organic compounds while Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) and Scanning Electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer (SEM-EDS) were used to analyze the presence of toxic and heavy metals. Organic compounds from the smoke were collected on specific tenax and activated carbon adsorption tubes. More than 850 chemical compounds were identified. The presence of 19 carcinogens, 23 toxins and 173 irritants were confirmed. Additionally, heavy metals were detected in amounts similar to those present in cigarettes. However, it was noticed that many of the detected compounds in the smoke lacked clinical studies on their health effects which shows the need for further clinical studies to be devoted to this area of study.

Keywords: Bakhour, incense smoke, pollution, indoor environment, health risk, chemical analysis

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Authors: Yehya Elsayed, Sarah Dalibalta, Fareedah Alqtaishat, Ioline Gomes, Nagelle Fernandes

Abstract:

Bakhour, or Arabian incense, is traditionally used to perfume houses, shops and clothing as part of cultural or religious practices in several Middle Eastern countries. Conventionally, Bakhour consists of a mixture of natural ingredients such as chips of agarwood (oud), musk and sandalwoods that are soaked in scented oil. Bakhour is usually burned by charcoal or by using gas or electric burners to produce the scented smoke. It is necessary to evaluate the impact of such practice on human health and environment especially that the burning of Bakhour is usually done on a regular basis and in closed areas without proper ventilation. Although significant amount of research has been reported in scientific literature on the chemical analysis of various types of incense smoke, unfortunately, only very few of them focused specifically on the health impacts of Bakhour. Raw Bakhour samples, their smoke emissions and the ash residue were analyzed to assess the existence of toxic ingredients and their possible influence on health and the environment. Three brands of Bakhour samples were analyzed for the presence of harmful heavy metals and organic compounds. Thermal Desorption Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (TD-GC-MS) was used to identify organic compounds while Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) and Scanning Electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer (SEM-EDS) were used to analyze the presence of toxic and heavy metals.. Organic compounds from the smoke were collected on specific tenax and activated carbon adsorption tubes. More than 850 chemical compounds were identified. The presence of 19 carcinogens, 23 toxins, and 173 irritants were confirmed. Additionally, heavy metals were detected in amounts similar to those present in cigarettes. However, it was noticed that many of the detected compounds in the smoke lacked clinical studies on their health effects which shows the need for further clinical studies to be devoted to this area of study.

Keywords: bakhour, incense smoke, pollution, indoor environment, health risk, chemical analysis

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Authors: M. Bolacalı, Y. Öztürk, O. Yılmaz, M. Küçük, M. A. Karslı

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The aim of the study was to determine various body measurements from the birth to the 30-day age of Boer x Hair goats F1 crossbred kids and pure Hair goat kids raised in Van in Eastern Anatolia region, and reveal factors such as the effects of year, dame body weight, genotype, dame age, birth type and sex on this parameter. 49 kids born in 2012 and 76 kids born in 2014 were utilized in the study. In the statistical analysis of various body measurements data was performed using the General Lineer Model procedure in SPSS software. Duncan's multiple range test was used for multiple comparisons. Boer x Hair goats F1 crossbred kids and pure Hair goat kids from various body measurements cidago height, body length, chest length, chest depth, chest circumference, circumference of leg, cannon bone circumference, chest width were determinated in general respectively 29.90 and 27.88 cm; 29.49 and 27.93 cm; 17.28 and 16.68 cm; 13.34 and 12.82 cm; 31.74 and 29.85 cm; 28.43 and 23.95 cm; 5.41 and 5.15 cm; 8.71 and 7.63 cm at birth, respectively; 35.01 and 32.98 cm; 35.20 and 33.30 cm; 18.82 and 18.17 cm; 15.64 and 14.83 cm; 39.08 and 37.30 cm; 34.29 and 29.25 cm; 5.80 and 5.42 cm; 9.87 and 8.85 cm at 30 days age, respectively. Among factors affecting cidago height in this study, the effect of dame body weight and sex were not significant, but genotype, dame age and birth type were significant (P < 0,05 and P < 0,01) at birth; dame body weight effect of the cidago height was not significant, but the effect of genotype, birth type, of dame age and sex were significant (P < 0.05, P < 0.05 and P<0.001) at 30-day age. The effect of genotype and sex of body length were not significant, but dam age, dame body weight and birth type were significant (P < 0.05, P < 0.05 and P<0.001, respectively) at birth; the effect of sex to body length was not significant, but genotype, dame age, dame body weight and birth type were significant (P < 0.01, P < 0.05, P < 0.05 and P < 0.001, respectively) at 30-day age. While circumference of leg was insignificant the effect of dame age and sex, genotype, dame body weight and type of the birth were significant (P < 0.001, P < 0.05 and P < 0.001) at birth; the circumstance of leg at 30-day age was found to be important the effect of examined other factors except for sex (P < 0.05 and P < 0.001). The obtained results, when considered in terms of a variety of body sizes, from birth to 30-day age growth period, showed that the kids of Boer x Hair Goat F1 hybrids have higher values than the kids of Hair Goats.

Keywords: Boer x hair goat F1 crossbred, hair goat, body measurements, cidago height

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Authors: Raliatu Mohammed Kashim

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The study investigated primary school teachers conceptual and procedural knowledge of rational numbers to determine how it effects on pupil’s achievement on rational number. Specifically, primary school teachers’ level of conceptual and procedural knowledge about rational number and its effects on their pupils understanding of rational number in primary school was explored. The study was carried out in Bauchi state of Nigeria, Using a multistage design. The first stage was a descriptive design. The second stage involves a pre-test post-test only quasi experiment design. The population of the study comprises of six mathematics teachers holding the Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) teaching primary six and their two hundred and ten pupils in intact class. Two instrument namely Conceptual and Procedural knowledge Test (CPKT) and Rational number Achievement Test (RAT) were used for data collection. Data collected was analyzed using ANCOVA and Scheffe’s Test. The result revealed a significant differences between pupils taught by teachers with high conceptual and procedural knowledge and those target by teachers with low conceptual and procedural knowledge.

Keywords: conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, rational numbers, multistage design

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Authors: Don Buddika Oshadi Malaweera, Lora Harris, Bruce Rathgeber, Chibuike C. Udenigwe, Kirsti Rouvinen-Watt

Abstract:

Fatty liver disease is among the three most severe health concerns for mink and believed to occur through the same mechanism as nursing sickness. In North America, nursing sickness affects about 45% of mink farms and in Canada, approximately 50,000 mink females is affected annually. Orotic acid (OA) plays a critical role in lipid metabolism and can increase hepatic lipids by enhancing Sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c expression and decreasing Carnitine palmitoyl transferase I activity. This study was conducted to identify particular pathways and regulatory control points involved in fatty liver development, and evaluate the effectiveness of arginine and bioactive peptides for prevention and treatment of fatty liver disease in mink. A total of 45 mink were used in 9 treatments. The experimental diets consisted of 1% OA, 2% L-arginine and 5% of whey protein hydrolysates. At the end of 10 days of experimental period, the mink were anaesthetized, sampled for blood and euthanized, samples were obtained for histological, biochemical and molecular assays. The blood samples will be analyzed for clinical chemistry and triacylglycerol. The liver samples will be analyzed for total lipid content and analyzed for 6 genes of interest involved in adipogenic transformation, ER stress, and liver inflammation.

Keywords: fatty liver, L-arginine, mink, orotic acid, whey protein hydrolysates

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Authors: Okoh Chinasa, Asimuonye Augusta

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This study investigated the trends in language testing in Primary Schools in Rivers State. English language past question papers were collected from four (4) Primary Schools in Onelga Local Government Area and Ahoada East Local Government Area. Four research questions guided the study. The study is aimed at finding out the appropriateness of test formats used for language testing and the language skills tested. The past question papers collected which served as the instrument were analyzed based on given criteria developed by the researchers in line with documentary frequency studies, a type of survey study. The study revealed that some of the four language skills were not adequately assessed and that the termly question papers were developed by a central examination body. From the past questions, it was observed that an imbalance exists in the test format used. The paper recommended that all the language skills should be tested using correct test formats to ensure that pupils were given a fair chance to show what they know and can do in English language and for teachers to be able to use the test results for effective decision making.

Keywords: discrete test, integrative test, testing approach, test format

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Authors: Reem Saad Alqahtani

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Drawing on minority literature, this research highlights the role of three contemporary Arab American writers, considering the significance of the historical and cultural contexts of the brutal attacks of 9/11. The focus of the research is to draw attention to the poetry of Samuel Hazo, Nathalie Handal, and Naomi Shihab Nye as representatives of the identity crisis, whose experiences left them feeling marginalized and alienated in both societies, and reflected as one of the ethnic American minority groups, as demonstrated in their poetry, with a special focus on hybridity, resistance, identity, and empowerment. The study explores the writers’ post-9/11 experience, affected by the United States’ long history of marginalization and discrimination against people of colour, placing Arab American literature with that of other ethnic American groups who share the same experience and contribute to composing literature characterized by the aesthetics of cultural hybridity, cultural complexity, and the politics of minorities to promote solidarity and coalition building. Indeed, the three selected Arab American writers have found a link between their narration and the identity of the exiled by establishing an identity that is a kind of synthesis of diverse identities of Western reality and Eastern nostalgia. The approaches applied in this study will include historical/biographical, postcolonial, and discourse analysis. The first will be used to emphasize the influence of the biographical aspects related to the community, identity, and resistance of the three poets on their poetry. The second is used to investigate the effects of postcolonialism on the poets and their responses to it, while the third understand the sociocultural, political, and historical dimensions of the texts, establishing these poets as representative of the Arab American experience. This study is significant because it will help shed light on the importance of the Arabic hybrid identity in creating resistance to minority communities within American society.

Keywords: Arab American, identity, hybridity, post-9/11

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Authors: Sa-Kil Kim, Jang-Soo Lee

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On March 31, 1993, a severe fire accident took place in a nuclear power plant located in Narora in North India. The event involved a major fire in the turbine building of NAPS unit-1 and resulted in a total loss of power to the unit for 17 hours. In addition, there was a heavy ingress of smoke in the control room, mainly through the intake of the ventilation system, forcing the operators to vacate the control room. The Narora fire accident provides us lessons indicating that operators could lose their mind and predictable behaviors during a fire. After the Fukushima accident, which resulted from a natural disaster, unanticipated external events are also required to be prepared and controlled for the ultimate safety of nuclear power plants. From last year, our research team has developed a test and evaluation facility that can simulate external events such as an earthquake and fire based on the operators’ real-sense. As one of the results of the project, we proposed a unit real-sense-based facility that can simulate fire events in a control room for utilizing a test-bed of human factor validation. The test-bed has the operator’s workstation shape and functions to simulate fire conditions such as smoke, heat, and auditory alarms in accordance with the prepared fire scenarios. Furthermore, the test-bed can be used for the operators’ training and experience.

Keywords: human behavior in fire, human factors validation, nuclear power plants, real-sense-based fire simulation

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Authors: Enze Zhang

Abstract:

Large numbers of inter-basin water transfer (IBWT) projects are constructed or proposed all around the world as solutions to water distribution and supply problems. Nowadays, as climate change warms the atmosphere, alters the hydrologic cycle, and perturbs water availability, large scale IBWTs which are sensitive to these water-related changes may carry significant risk. Given this reality, IBWTs have elicited great controversy and assessments of vulnerability to climate change are urgently needed worldwide. In this paper, we consider the South-to-North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP) in China as a case study, and introduce a bottom-up vulnerability assessment framework. Key hazards and risks related to climate change that threaten future water availability for the SNWTP are firstly identified. Then a performance indicator is presented to quantify the vulnerability of IBWT by taking three main elements (i.e., sensitivity, adaptive capacity, and exposure degree) into account. A probabilistic Budyko model is adapted to estimate water availability responses to a wide range of possibilities for future climate conditions in each region of the study area. After bottom-up quantifying the vulnerability based on the estimated water availability, our findings confirm that SNWTP would greatly alleviate geographical imbalances in water availability under some moderate climate change scenarios but raises questions about whether it is a long-term solution because the donor basin has a high level of vulnerability due to extreme climate change.

Keywords: vulnerability, climate change, inter-basin water transfer, bottom-up

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Authors: Shola Haruna Adeosun, F. Adebiyi Ajoke, Odedeji Adeoye

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Video billboard advertising by networks and brand switching was conceived out of inquisition at the huge billboard advertising expenditures made by the three major GSM network operators in Nigeria. The study was anchored on Lagos State Metropolis with a current census population over 1,000,000. From this population, a purposive sample of 400 was adopted, and the questionnaire designed for the survey was carefully allocated to members of this ample in the five geographical zones of the city so that each rung of the society was well represented. The data obtained were analyzed using tables and simple percentages. The results obtained showed that subscribers of these networks were hardly influenced by the video billboard advertisements. They overwhelmingly showed that rather than the slogans of the GSM networks carried on the video billboards, it was the incentives to subscribers as well as the promotional strategies of these organizations that moved them to switch from one network to another. These switching lasted only as long as the incentives and promotions were in effect. The results of the study also seemed to rekindle the age-old debate on media effects, by the unyielding schools of the theory of ‘all-powerful media’, ‘the limited effects media’, ‘the controlled effects media’ and ‘the negotiated media influence’.

Keywords: evaluation, impact, video billboard, marketing, services

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Authors: Jacobo Tabla, P. F. Rodriguez-Espinosa, M. E. Perez-Lopez

Abstract:

Valsequillo reservoir located in Puebla City, Central Mexico receives water from the Atoyac River (Northwest) and from Alseseca River in the north. It has been the receptacle of municipal and industrial wastes for the past few decades affecting the water quality lethally. As a result, there is an outburst of water hyacinths (Eichhornia crassipes) in the reservoir occupying around 50 % of the total area. Therefore, the aim of the present work was to assess the concentration levels of toxic metals (Co, Zn, Ni, Cu and As) in the water hyacinths and the ambient waters during the dry season. Fourteen water samples and three water hyacinth samples were procured from the Valsequillo reservoir. The collected samples of water hyacinth (roots, rhizome, stems and leaves) were analyzed using an Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) Ultramass 700 (Varian Inc.) to determine the metal levels. Results showed that water hyacinth presented an exhaustion in metal capture from the inlet to outlet of the reservoir. The maximum bioaccumulation factors (BF) of Co, Zn, Ni, Cu and As were 5000, 47474, 4929, 17090 and 74000 respectively. On the other hand, the maximum Translocation Factor (TF) of 0.85 was observed in Zn, whilst Co presented the minimum TF of 0.059. Thus, the results presented the fact that water hyacinth in Valsequillo reservoir proves to be an important environmental utility for efficiently accumulating and translocating heavy metals from the ambient waters to its organelles (stems and leaves).

Keywords: bioaccumulation factor, toxic metals, translocation factor, water hyacinth

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Authors: Ibeku Bernadine Ezenwanyi

Abstract:

Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAI), also called ‘Nosocomial Infection’ is an infection you get while in the hospital for another reason. They are an important cause of morbidity and mortality. This study examined the epidemiology, clinical outcomes of some instruments used on patients especially catheter that was passed on them during their stay in the hospital. It was discovered that they had catheter–associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI). An observational study was carried out from January to March, 2022, on 180 patients (80 males and 100 females) admitted in the surgical wards, medical wards, dialysis unit and intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital. The patient’s urine samples were collected for urine culture and the isolation was carried out using plate count agar medium and macconkey agar. Among the 80 males, 45 had Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) mostly proteus infection and among the 100 females, 70 also had (UTI) and the most common was caused by Escherichia coli. Other strain of microorganisms such as Klebsiella, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It is important to follow up patients that these devices were used on with antibiotics to make sure that these infections are not developed because the rate of these infections (UTI) are high especially in females.

Keywords: catheter, urinary tract infection, nosocomial infection, microorganisms

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