Archives-August 2012

Satellite images are used to extract linear features, like roads, etc. The extraction of linear features or boundaries defining the extents of lands, land covers features are important in Cadastral Surveying. Cadastral Surveying is the cornerstone of any Cadastral System. A two dimensional cadastral plan is a model which represents both the cadastral and geometrical information of a two dimensional labeled Image. This paper aims at using a combination of canny and morphological operations for extracting representations of cadastral boundaries from high resolution Satellite imagery hence minimizing the human interventions. The Satellite imagery is initially rectified hence establishing the satellite imagery in the correct orientation and spatial location for further analysis. We, then employ the much available Satellite imagery to segment the relevant cadastral features using the above mentioned methods. We evaluate the potential of using high resolution Satellite imagery to achieve Cadastral goals of boundary detection and extraction of farmlands using image processing algorithms. This method proves effective as it minimizes the human demerits hence providing another perspective of achieving cadastral goals as emphasized by the UN cadastral vision for an improved socio economic development.

Conversion within quantities of same units and between quantities of different units is a thorny subject to Elective and Integrated Science students of Bueman Senior High School and its treatment by tutors sometimes becomes very difficult such that most tutors resort to handling the subject theoretically / abstractly. When this happens most students seemed not to comprehend the subject. In view of this, one aspect of the DTM-Conversion model (i.e. D-Conversion model) was tested on first year Elective Science and Integrated Science students of Bueman Senior High School, Jasikan. The DTM-Conversion Model is a model that has been designed by the researcher to make the teaching of conversion in measurement very easy to tutors and meaningful to students. The D-Conversion Model was tested on forty nine (49) 2011/2012 first year Elective science students and forty nine (49) Integrated Science Students’ all of Bueman Senior High School by teaching the D-Conversion Model for a period of two hours. A five item test was administered, collected and recorded. Comparison of the two test results i.e. Test before the lesson (TBL), and Test with the use of the D-Conversion model (TDC) showed that, Elective and Integrated Science students seemed to comprehend conversion of length in measurement when the D-Conversion model was employed.

This paper provides analysis of household characteristics based on micro-level household data of 2004-05 by the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) Islamabad. The cross tabulation analysis of household characteristics and homeownership shows that homeowners as compared to renters are in a better living condition. They have a better quality of houses as well as number of rooms for living is greater than those of non-homeowners are. Electricity connection as a quality indicator for homeownership is the most common utility whereas gas and telephone is the least common. It is also seen that there is no significant difference between renters and homeowners in regard to type of toilets available in houses. In all three areas urban, rural and overall Pakistan, homeownership rate increases as age increases. The analysis shows weak relationship between educational level of household head and homeownership rates. The occupation of the household head has no significant effect on homeownership rate. The households headed by divorced and widowed heads have higher rates of homeownership as compared to the other two categories (currently married and never married).

The effects of stress ratio on the fatigue crack propagation of the 6061 T6 alloy aluminum with a thickness of 5 mm were investigated at room temperature. The fatigue crack growth rates were studied at stress ratios of 0.1with stress range, Ds=80 MPa using centre cracked-tension specimen M (T). The results are expressed in term of crack tip stress intensity factor range that was derived from linear elastic theory. From the collected data, the fatigue crack growth versus stress intensity factor range was plotted. It was obtained that the overall stress intensity factor range is within 6 to 19.5 MPaÖ m, and the value of fatigue crack growth rate is within 10^-7 to 10^-3 mm/cycle. For R=0.1 the stress intensity factor range is within 8 to 19.5 MPaÖ m, and the value of fatigue crack growth rate is within 10^-6 to 10^-4 mm/cycle. Finally, the value of (m) and (C) were determined from the graph using the Paris Law equation. The results showed that the increase in continuous crack length and load cycle will result to the acceleration of fatigue crack growth. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was used to check the microscopic of fractured surface. From the fractography analysis, the material fails in ductile fracture. Hopefully this collection data’s will used as reference to the next researcher.

Web Content is a core component of e-learning and includes issues such as pedagogy and learning and includes issues such as pedagogy and learning object re-use. Pedagogical elements are an attempt to define structures or units of educational material. For example, this could be a lesson, an assignment, a multiple choice question, a quiz, a discussion group or a case study. These units should be format independent, so although it may be in any of the following methods, pedagogical structures would not include a textbook, a web page, a video conference or podcast. When beginning to create e-learning content, the pedagogical approaches need to be evaluated. Simple pedagogical approaches make it easy to create content, but lack flexibility, richness and downstream functionality. On the other hand, complex pedagogical approaches can be difficult to set up and slow to develop, though they have the potential to provide more engaging learning experiences for students, Somewhere between these extremes is an ideal pedagogy that allows a particular educator to effectively create educational materials while simultaneously providing the most engaging educational experiences for students

A dynamic graphical display among the set of independent variables (partial regression plot), tolerance value, variance inflation factor (VIF) and pair wise correlation matrix among the set of predictors offers a variety of measures for assessing the problem of colinearity and multicollinearity in a multiple regression diagnostics. Multicollinearity is a violation of one of the assumption of regression analysis. Many diagnostics measures have been proposed for detecting multicollinearity. A tolerance value of less than 0.10 or 0.20 which is equivalent to a VIF of 5 or 10, p value>0.05 and the pair-wise correlation showing a linear dependence of 0.90 and above. A transformation is carried out to remove the problem of multicollinearity and the removal will help to improve on the model (yi = b0 +b ₁X₁ + b₂X₂ +……+ b_kX_k, improve coefficient of determination (r²) and validate any of the assumption of regression analysis of homocesdasticity, linearity, normality and independence of the observations. Examples using stimulated small data sets illustrate this approach

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of Aspergillus niger (A. niger) degraded citrus pulp on the performance, nutrient utilization, haematological and serum biochemistry on layers. A total of two hundred and fifty two (252) laying birds that were thirty (30) weeks old were randomly allocated to the diets. Degraded and undegraded citrus pulps were used to formulate rations for laying birds for six weeks. There were seven treatments and treatment 1 was the control with 0% citrus pulp (CTP) inclusion level. The degraded and the undegraded CTP were used at 3, 5 and 7% inclusion levels. Thirty six birds were allocated to each of the diets with three (3) replicates at 12 birds each. A. niger mycelium was inoculated on milled citrus pulp by solid state fermentation method (SSF) for seven (7) days and the product was used as the degraded sample. The crude protein, gross energy, NFE and ash of the degraded citrus pulp rose from 14.10 to 16.14%, 2.88 to 3.79 Kcal/kg, 58.21to 61.31% and 4.61 to 5.11% respectively while the crude fibre content reduced from 8.15 to 6.41%. Result on performance of birds revealed that there were significant (P<0.05) differences in egg production and feed intake. The highest egg production (89%) was recorded by the birds placed on 7% inclusion level of degraded citrus pulp (DCTP) while the least value (84%) was found in birds placed on birds fed 7% undegraded CTP (UCTP). The highest feed consumption (4.8 kg/bird/week) was found in treatment with highest level of UCTP (7%). In egg quality parameter, it was observed that there were significant (P>0.05) differences in weight of egg, weight of yolk, albumen and shell thickness. In the haematological and serum biochemistry, it was observed that there were significant (P<0.05) differences in parked cell volume, mean corpuscular volume and total protein.

This study was carried out to evaluate the changes in nutritional quality of corn offal (CO) fermented with Penicillium notatum and Penicillium citrinum using in vitro gas production technique. After the fungal biodegradation of CO in a solid state fermentation, the chemical composition and in vitro digestibility of the undegraded and the degraded CO were determined. It was observed that there were significant (P<0.05) differences in the crude fibre values. The crude fibre (CF) significantly (P>0.05) decreased. It decreased from 8.02g/100gDM for the control (UC) to 5.41g/100gDM for Penicillium notatum degraded corn offal (PNC) and 6.22g/100gDM for Penicillium citrinum degraded corn offal (PCC). The results also showed significant (P<0.05) differences in the values for detergent fibres. There was a significant (P<0.05) increase in the crude protein (CP) contents from 10.69g/100gDM for the control (UCO) to 16.69g/100gDM for PCC and 14.41g/100gDM for PNC. The value of organic matter digestibility (OMD) was from 28.46 to 62.28%, metabolizable energy (ME) improved from 4.59 to 10.18MJ/kg DM and short chain fatty acid (SCFA) values ranged from 0.03 to 0.85µM. There were significant (P<0.05) differences in the values obtained for potentially degradable fractions (b) ML. Rate of degradation of b, that is, C, was faster in the degraded CO compared with the undegraded CO. The obtained results revealed the possibility of using fungal treatment for the improvement of nutritional quality of corn offal for ruminant nutrition.

Wole Soyinka remains unarguably the most published and the most widely read/studied African author. As such, the price he has to pay for the popularity of his works is that various scholars across the globe tend to interpret them from different perspectives with the result that there seems to be no end to fresh insights being given his especially dramatic works some of which date as far back as 1950s. But, as Ogunbiyi (1981) notes, while some of Soyinka’s plays like The Lion and the Jewel make easy reading, others become almost incomprehensible to the majority of either audience or reader. Many studies into this “obscurantism” in Soyinka have been carried on from the linguistic and semiotic points of view. This study adds to the quest to explain away the source of difficulty level in Soyinka’s The Road. The researcher applies the text to Rowland Barthes’ theory in Narratology with the purpose to finding out how the symbolic character contributes to making the understanding of a literary text difficult.

This paper examines the availability and variations of timber species within Ibadan Metropolis and Oyo Town Oyo State, Nigeria. Sixty copies of structured questionnaire were randomly administered on timber sellers from randomly selected timber markets in Ibadan and Oyo town. The selected markets in Ibadan were Bodija Timber Market (18), Sango Timber Market (12), Oke-Ado Timber Market (7) and Apata Timber Market (7). Those visited in Oyo were Sabo Timber Market (5), Owode Timber Market (6) and Oroki Timber Market (5). Descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage distributions were used to analyze the collected data. Study revealed that 70% of the timber dealers were between 30 and 70 years of age, with 60% of them having been in business for more than 40 years. Various reasons were given by the traders on why they engaged in the timber business and these include availability, durability and demand, with majority (38.3%) of them citing the demand for the timber species as the reason why they traded the species. It was discovered from the study that certain timber species have become endangered species due to over- exploitation and these include Nauclea dideriichii, Tectona grandis, Terminalia spp., Khaya senegalensis Milicia excelsa, among others. The scarcity of these fine quality species has then brought into the market species in a few years ago were considered only suitable for low-end uses. These include Daniella oliveirii Pycnanathus angolensis(Akomu), Albizia zygia(Ayunre) and others. Therefore, there a is need for the planting of fast growing plantation species by State forestry departments in six geopolitical zones in Nigeria, as a replacement for commercially popular species; and as alternatives to decreasing availability of popular timber species so as to avoid running out of valuable and good quality timber species in the nearest future.