Archives-December 

The mechanical advantage of using composite is high strength to weight ratios which increases their capabilities for aerospace, structural and automobile applications. The epoxy-coated reinforcement (ECR) has gained mainstream acceptance to extend the useful life of highway structures. The volume fraction of reinforcement affects the overall strength a composite and the orientation of fibers in matrix plays a significant role in determining the debonding behavior. The present work focuses on the determination of compressive strength and debonding behavior of steel reinforced epoxy composite with different orientation angles of fibers. The results revealed that among different orientations of fibers, reinforcement at 0° angles shows maximum compressive strength and least debonding than 45° and 90° angle of reinforcement.

Training is a vital in crystallizing acceptable technological classroom practices. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to discover the perceptions of Indigenous Amerindian preservice teachers about the adoption of digital technology in the classroom. Rogers’s diffusion of innovation theory and David and Venkatesh technology of acceptance model served as theoretical precepts to understand indigenous Amerindian preservice teachers’ perceptions about the use of digital technology, perceived barriers, and the coping and adopting mechanism throughout their pedagogical practices. Ten indigenous Amerindian preservice teachers participated in this qualitative study. Semistructured, interviews were the primary data collection tool. Open coding was used to generate themes, and analyzed emergent coding. The findings of this indicated that the rate of adoption of digital technology could accelerate if (a) training is strategic, (b) reduction of institutional barriers, and (c) professional practices are aligned for educational growth. Indigenous Amerindian preservice teachers may be served well to acquire the skills and overcome the technological barriers to better prepare learners beyond the classroom. Even though internet access would facilitate indigenous Amerindians in Guyana to develop technology literacy skills and access educational resources, some preservice teachers have a low rate of technology adoption in the classroom. This study may contribute to knowledge to the field of digital technology and furthers understanding of pedagogical practices. The findings may contribute to positive social change in that professional development centers can improve skills that provide flexible learning for IAPT to integrate digital technology beyond the classroom. and serve as a catalyst to promote growth by capacity building.

Somalia is a country that has experienced excessive amounts of political instability during the past decade. Somalia, like most other countries in Africa, was colonized by European nations during the late 1800s (Roth, Somalia a country in turmoil , 2004). According to United nation Development Program (UNDP), the prolonged fighting in Somalia led to massive loss of property, lives and destruction of the society (UNDP 2008). Political instability contributed to massive suffering and poverty in Somalia, there has been massive unemployment and migration of people from the country. The study guided by the following objectives, to find out whether quality education affects economic development of Somalia, to ascertain how the gross domestic product affects economic development of Somalia, to determine the extent to which investments affects economic development. This study was descriptive in nature and it will utilize cross-sectional data collected through a standard questionnaire. This study will be conducted in Mogadishu City, the capital of Somalia. The target populations of this study will be114348 residents of Hodan District (UNFPA, 2014). In order to provide valid estimates, 384 respondents will be selected with Simple random sampling and only those present at that time will be chosen. The findings it shows that quality education plays a significant role in the economic development of the country. The study showed that a large percentage of the respondents in Somalia agree that it through offering quality education to the people of Somalia that productivity of the country will improve and economic development. The correlation analysis between the independent variable indicated strong relationship between the independent variables. This indicates that the independent variables were significant enough to impact the dependent variable. There is a strong relation between higher GDP and good quality education indicated by 57.8 percent. The relationship between Higher GDP and Savings is the only way we can increase economic growth indicated by 51.9 was significant enough to influence the dependent variable. The government of Somalia should strive for education quality improvement through renovating the teacher education and training system, improving teachers' quality and teacher status, reform and adaptation of curriculum at all levels The study established that savings and investment is the only way a country can increase economic growth, for any country to achieve economic growth there must be significant savings first.Investment means an increase in capital spending, e.g. buying new machines, building bigger factories and education. For example, investing in skills and education can increase labor productivity. Investment in new technology and capital can increase the productive capacity of the economy.

This study established the association between fish farming management practices and fish yield in Kakamega County, Kenya. The results were that fish farmers who record the highest fish harvest of over 400 Kgs of fish output per 300 m2 fishpond are those who check water quality at their ponds and apply corrective measures; and those who get their fingerlings from accredited sources. The success of fish farming as an economic livelihood activity in Kakamega County depends on the proper application and appropriate implementation of fish farming management practices. These include management of water and management of the production units through appropriate stocking, feeding and record keeping.

This work presents the results of a flood risk assessment in Akoko-Edo and environs using GIS and landsat-TM data. This study is aimed at identifying the causes of the flood and quantifying the hydrological processes leading to this extreme event through a Geographic Information System (GIS) and Landsat approach. It also assesses the situation, through the analysis of the spatial and temporal rainfall variability and the quantification of the discharge at different locations in the study area and compared with other cases that are believed to be the cause for high runoff volume .This study thus tries to identify the causes for the occurrence of floods and future risks to look over options for prevention or reduction of the hazard in the area by concentrating the study in the area through GIS and landsat based analysis. The data was processed and enhanced to give colour composites, geologic maps, drainage pattern, land use and land cover map, flood risk area map, rain fall map. The results showed that Akoko- Edo area has a low risk to flooding in the Northwest area while in Etsako East area there is high risk towards the Northwest, central and the Eastern part of the area, as well as towards the Northern part there is a very high risk of flooding. In the central area, there is a moderate risk while there is a low to very low risk towards the southeastern part of the area. Etsako west has a moderately high risk to flooding in the Southern part to a very high risk in the South while in the central there is a very high risk to flooding for people living around the area but towards the North there is a very low to low risk of flooding.

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria is located in Southern part of the country and by Nigeria’s political arrangement is in the South-South geo-political zone. The region is made up of nine oil-producing states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers. The region is almost the size of England and is dominated by mangrove-lined creeks. The region is an ethnographic watershed made up of ethnic groups such as Ibibio, Efik, Izon, (Ijaw), Itsekiri, Urhobo, Isoko, Kalabari,, Okrika, Andoni, Igbo, Bini, Ogoni and so on. From the 2006 census, the region has a population of about 32 million people. Although many European powers such as the Portuguese, Dutch, French and Germans did business in the region, the footprints of the British remain indelible in the area. Diverse British agents such as the explorers, traders, missionaries and administrators contributed to the annexation of the area as part of the British Empire. One of the potent instruments adopted by the imperialist agents was the gunboat diplomacy which involved the use of superior military capability to bombard and threaten various communities in a bid to extract anti-slave and protection treaties as well as other favourable privileges against the will of the people. The paper examines the process from 1836 when the British traders implemented the first major gunboat diplomatic act and secured a treaty with the Bonny monarch. The discourse ends in 1885, when the British declared a Protectorate over the Oil Rivers, an episode which marked the genesis of the colonization of that part of Nigeria. The present resort to the use of arms by the youths of the oil rich region to press for improved condition appears to be a reenactment of the British gunboat policy. The paper adopts a historical analytical methodology.

The health care field contain large amount of data and in order to process this data, we must use any advanced techniques that will be helpful to deliver effective results and make effective decisions on the data and obtain relevant results. Heart disease is a major problem and is one of the main reasons for saying no. of deaths occurring worldwide. In this paper, the practical framework of Heart Disease Prediction is applied using algorithms in Machine Learning such as Logistic regression, Naïve Bayes, Support vector machine, KNN, decision tree, random forest, XG-Boost and the neural network. This framework uses 13 factors such as age, gender, blood pressure, cholesterol, oldpeak, cp, etc. In the first step, we upload a database file and select an algorithm to perform on the selected database. Then accuracy is predicted for each selected algorithm and graph, and the model is designed for the one with the highest accuracy by training the database in it. In the next stage, input is given to each candidate parameter and based on that method produced, the stage with heart disease is predicted. We then take precautionary measures by looking at the patient's condition. Our strategy is effective in predicting the heart attack of a traumatized person. The Heart Disease Prediction Framework developed in this concept is one of the different methods that can be used within the heart disease category.

A new hybrid approach of Genetic Algorithm (GA) with local search algorithm is proposed to solve Course Timetabling Problems (CTP). In which, GA architecture is enhanced by proposing various selection, crossover and mutation operators. Diversity in population helps to get global optimum. In order to accommodate diversity of population and to avoid local optima, grade selection and combinatorial partially matched crossover operators are proposed. To increase the convergence rate and to produce guaranteed result, various mutation strategies are proposed with gene tuning approach. To improve the quality of the solution, steepest ascent hill climbing local search algorithm has been proposed. With these, hybrid approach with enhanced GA is implemented on CTP and hence its quality is proved by getting more promising and consistent results in all operations of the possible twelve combination of GA proposed operators. Also, proved experimentally that combination of grade selection, combinatorial partially matched crossover and adaptive mutation strategy operators is performing the best among all twelve proposed combinations and a combination of operators from the literature by yielding the average relative convergence rate as 31% which is greater than all others’ convergence rate.

The impact of distributed generation in the grid network of the Nigerian South-South Region is studied in this paper. DG capacity installation in the network was modelled using NEPLAN software. Reduction of network and transmission line losses as well as minimisation of transmission line congestion and voltage profile improvement for the nodes of the network were observed in the results.

Education is important for the effective functioning of society and plays a key role in every individual’s behaviour. Alcohol abuse is defined as an alcohol use disorder. Alcoholism and alcohol dependence among teachers in Kenya have increased exponentially. The study thus sought to assess the influence the level of education on alcohol abuse among public school teachers in Nyeri County, Kenya. A mixed method approach employing self-administered structured questionnaires and in-depth interviews was used to undertake the study. The target population consisted of teachers employed by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in public primary and secondary schools. A sampling frame was obtained from the TSC providing a list of all teachers in the county and the schools they teach in. The study utilized the stratified sampling methodology to select participants, where strata used was the subcounty and type of school (primary/secondary) after which a random sample was used to identify the teachers who participated in the research. A sample of 385 teachers was selected from a population of 6,264 from Nyeri County. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. An interview schedule was presented to the TSC County Director to capture the views concerning the alcohol situation in the county. Data was coded and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results on the prevalence of alcohol use revealed that 59% of teachers use alcohol while 32.7% fall under the category of hazardous use. The Chi square test and t-test for independence of means were used for inferential analysis. The level of education was noted to have a significant effect on alcohol abuse with the number of teachers with lower educational qualifications being associated with alcohol abuse. The study recommends urgent interventional strategies targeting the enhancement of personal growth through higher education in the management of alcohol abuse among teachers.