Changes in Anatomical Features of Chromolaena Odorata during Phytoaccumulation of Heavy Metals

The present study investigated the accumulation of selected HMs by Chromolaena odorata and the concomitant effects on leaf anatomical features. Top soils were collected from a marked plot and pooled together to obtain a composite sample. The soil was sun-dried to constant weight and measured into experimental pots at 20kg each). The pots were divided into 5 metal groups with 3 sub-groups each. Each group was polluted with Manganese (Mn), Cadmium (Cd), Copper (Cu), Lead (Pb) and Zinc (Zn) in their respective chloride forms. Concentrations of the metals in the soil were initially based on their respective ecological screening value/benchmark (ESV). The ESV values for the 5 HMs were 50, 4, 100, 50 and 50 mg/kg respectively. Within each group, the respective HMs was applied in 3 concentrations of 1ESV, 3ESV and 5ESV. The control experiment consisted of plants grown in soils with no exogenous application of the test metals. The experiment was triplicated. Twenty hours later, equal sized stem cuttings of C. odorata (2.0 – 2.3cm in thickness, 30 cm in length) were planted per experimental pot. Six months later, results showed significant accumulation of metals in plant stem, leaves, and most especially the root. Mn was the most accumulated HM in all plant parts (9.22 – 17.86 mg/kg), compared to Cd (0.85 – 1.66 mg/kg).Significant changes in folial anatomy were reported in HM-impacted plants compared to the control. There were more upper epidermal stomata (270 – 353 mm2) in Mn-exposed plants compared to the others. Increase in vascular bundle thickness (p<0.01) was reported in HM-exposed plants compared to control. Highly significant decrease in stem parenchyma thickness (p<0.01) never the less parenchyma thickness of HM-exposed plants ranged from 46.37 – 49.53 µm in Zn and Pb-exposed plants compared to 79.23 µm in the control.

Designing a Real-time Swept Spectrum Analyser with USRP B210

Cognitive radio has received considerable amount of attention as a promising technique to provide dynamic spectrum allocation. Spectrum sensing is one of the basic functions in the cognitive radio and is crucial to all other functions. Software- defined radios (SDRs) are considered due to its very high flexibility and have become a common platform for CR implementation replacing expensive spectrum analysers. The most popular among various SDR platforms is the universal software-defined radio peripheral (USRP). This paper presents a real-time swept spectrum sensing solution based on USRP B210. It also presents a detailed explanation of the concept of energy detection and the methodology for wide-band sensing. Finally, the performance of the proposed sensing solution is analysed through FFT graphs and spectrogram plot taken for 8 hours. The results showed that the proposed sensing solution was capable of achieving high resolution in the frequency domain of the wide band measured which implies that wide bands with heterogenous signals like the ISM band can be accurately resolved and analysed.

Perception of Residents on the Menace of Solid Waste on Environmental Quality in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria

The paper examined the perception of residents on the menace of solid waste on environmental quality in Benin City, Edo State. There is a linkage between waste management and environmental quality as a filthy environment stimulates environmental ill-quality. The objective of study is to examine human perception and knowledge of residences of the menace of solid waste disposal on environmental quality. Data for this study were obtained from primary and secondary sources. Primary data were obtained from 25 selected wards and communities (comprising of 110 settlements) which constitutes the study area. These data were collected through systematic sampling technique from the selected streets and houses in each of Oredo, Egor and Ikpoba-Okha Local Government council areas. In each of the selected street, the 2nd, middle and 2nd to the last households were selected and administered with questionnaire. A total of 1,781questionnaires were administered in the 768 polling unit stations acrossed the 3 local government areas of the study. Secondary data were sourced from published and documentary materials. Both the descriptive and statistical analyses were used for the study. The results show that there is variance in human perception and environmental quality does not vary significantly among residents of the 3 Local Government areas namely: Oredo, Egor and Ikpoba-Okha in Benin City. The study recommends that there should be a change of human attitudes and techniques on waste management and proffer better orientations of the menace of waste on environmental quality. There should be stiff measures of enforcement on residences while Sanitary Health Officers needs to intensify drives on sanitation and crammed down on offenders and environmental waste managers of the danger of indiscriminate dumps of waste anywhere and anyhow in the City of Benin. Finally, there should be improved waste management mechanism, routine fumigation and remediation been carried out on regular bases on the components of the environment as this will help to curb the menace of ill-managed waste disposal in Benin City.

Utilization of Quarry Dust as a Partial Replacement of Sand in Concrete Making

The use of crushed quarry dust as a partial replacement of river sand in concrete production was investigated in this study. This is expedient as quarry dust can be available at some locations with insufficient river sand for construction purposes. The use of quarry dust is also in concrete is also a measure necessary for improvement of concrete strength. River sand was replaced with quarry dust for different mix designs of concrete for 0% to 25% replacement levels with 5% intervals. The physical properties of river sand and quarry dust were tested and reported and the workability as well as compressive strengths of the concrete mixtures were also tested. It was observed that the slump values increased with increase in percentage replacement of sand with quarry dust. The compressive strength of cubes at 28 day curing for control mixture of 1:3:6 at 0% partial replacement of river sand with quarry dust was 12.6N/mm2 but compressive strengths of 21.5 N/mm2 and 26.0 N/mm2 were gotten for 1:2:4 concrete and 1:1.5:3 concrete respectively. As the quarry dust content increased to 25%, the 28day compressive strength increased to 13.58 N/mm2 and 21.57 N/mm2 for the 1:3:6 and 1:2:4 mixes respectively. Compressive strength values decreased to a value of 25.72N/mm2 for the 1:1.5:3 concrete mix. The maximum compressive strength values were reached at 20% quarry dust content at the age of 28 days for the three concrete grades investigated. The increase in compressive strength with inclusion of quarry dust was attributed to the higher specific gravity of quarry dust above river sand. The compressive strength of quarry dust concrete continued to increase with age for all the percentages of quarry dust contents. Quarry dust was recommended as a suitable partial replacement for river bed sand in concrete production.

Spatio-Temporal Evaluation of Urban Growth of Zuru Metropolis, Nigeria

The pattern of development in a city is mostly governed by urban dynamics, with population increase being the primary driving force. Built-up cover is the most important predictor of urban expansion. Zuru metropolis in Kebbi State has witnessed remarkable developmental activities caused by human influences such as buildings, road constructions, and population growth for over decades. Urban growth was ascertained for a period of 30 years through the analysis of Landsat imagery of 1988, 1998, 2008 and 2018. The datasets were classified into five (5) land covers, namely, built-up, water body, rocky surface, vegetation, and others. Quantitative assessment of the urban growth was ascertained by computing post-classification LC dynamics and Land Consumption Rate/Land Absorption Coefficient (LCR/LAC). The results showed that the built-up cover (urban area) conspicuously increased with area of 693.35 ha, 728.74 ha, 5210.5 ha and 6845.75 ha respectively for the period of study (1988 – 2018). The increment in built-up area was indicative of population growth from 1988 to 2018. The study revealed that between 1988 to 2018 showed that built-up increased by 11.78%, while rocky surface and water body have shrunk by 16.44% and 0.02% respectively, which can be attributed to anthropogenic activities in which rocky surface and waterbody have been transformed into built-up cover. It further revealed that the urban area experienced crowdedness in the years 2008 and 2018 respectively due to high LCR values of 2.71% compared to LCR values of 0.0714% and 0.0558% in 1988 and 1998. Land transformation into urban area and spread of the population to the outskirts of the study area was prominent between 1998 and 2008 due to high LAC value of 0.0998. The study concluded that there was transformation of rocky surface and waterbody into urban area, which was caused by population growth, human and agricultural activities in Zuru metropolis.

Flood Susceptibility Mapping of Makera District and Environs in Kaduna South Local Government Area of Kaduna State-Nigeria

The increased flood incidences experienced all over the world due to climate change dynamics call for a concerted effort towards forestalling future hazards. This study thus, identified the areas that are susceptibility to floods in parts of the Makera district of the Kaduna South Local Government Area in Nigeria using geospatial techniques. Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to produce thematic layers of the factors contributing to flooding (elevation, slope, drainage density, rainfall, land use/land cover); and a multi-criteria evaluation particularly the “Analytical Hierarchical process” (AHP) was applied to determine the locations at risk. The various thematic layers were integrated into the weighted overlay tool in the ArcGIS 10.3 environment to generate the final susceptibility map. The overlay tool was also used to determine the elements at risk of flood in the study area. The results show that the areas that were highly susceptible to flood constituted about 39% of the study area, while moderate and low vulnerable areas constituted about 26% and 35%, respectively. The result of the multi-criteria analysis revealed that land use/land cover (0.601) was the factor that contributed the most to flooding in the study area based on the criteria weights followed by rainfall (0.470), drainage density (0.326), elevation (0.144), and slope (0.099), respectively. The study recommends that authorities concerned should ensure strict adherence to land use planning act, such that floodplains are avoided during development of any type.

The implication of Energy on Nigeria’s Economy: Case Study of Crude Oil Energy Source

The shortfall in crude oil production, the major source of energy supply and revenue generation in Nigeria, affects all spheres of activities in the country. Activities like politics, economic, budgeting, infrastructural development, the standard of living, and foreign exchange reserve. Therefore, it is imperative to address the implication of energy (crude oil source) on the economy of Nigeria. Hence, a linear regression analysis was used and by first creating a link between oil production (main energy source) and oil earnings (economy) to establish a relationship upon which social-political factors such as the organization of petroleum exporting countries (OPEC), civil disturbance, flexible regulating framework, infrastructural services, community inclusion for equitable sharing of benefit, and Niger Delta development commission are used as check and balance on oil production and oil earning and their implications on the Nigeria economy. By way of calibration, the paper examines the amount of oil per barrel needed to be produced in a year that would guarantee an increase in oil earnings in Nigeria. The data used for this analysis were collected from the central bank of Nigeria (CBN) statistic bulletin on crude oil production and total earning in Nigeria between 1980 to 1999. The paper also suggests measures that would enhance the increase in the production of oil from which the country would be able to earn more revenue. The result shows that increasing oil production will simultaneously increase earnings from oil and, consequently, overhaul the various activities such as economy, infrastructural development, health, education sectors, and living standard of the citizen.

Evaluation of Peanut Shell, Bentonite Clay and its Composites in the Removal of Dye (Malachite Green) from Industrial Wastewater

Curtailing the effects of environmental pollution being a major problem encountered by third-world countries, this study was embarked on to reduce the effect of land and water pollution caused by improper disposal of dye used by industries by using readily available agricultural waste like peanut Shell, bentonite clay and its composite. Analysis that was used included Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Electron dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) Some physical parameters were considered too: Absorbent load, Contact time, pH and Concentration. The results from the SEM, EDX and FTIR showed the adsorptive capacities of the absorbents, it’s functional and the compounds contained. The result of the physical parameters for adsorbent load; Peanut shell the percentage removal increase from 26.93%-28.0% .For bentonite clay increase from 7.05%-8.24%. The combination of both peanut shell and bentonite increased from 93.22%-95.40%. For the contact time the dye removal percentage increase from 99.13%-99.37% which later decreased to 98.16%.Bentonite clay decreased from 71.09%-69.53% and later increased to 70.13%. The combination decreased from 52.33%-51.29% and increased to 52.60%bbut decreased at the last lap to 50.83% At 60-80minutes optimal time was achieved due to saturation of active sites for high removal of dye efficiency. pH was observed too which varied. Peanut shell shows that the percentage removal increased from 61.89%-62.37% then decreased to 60.87%.Bentonite clay decreased from completely from 99.72%-97.58%. The combination decreased from 32.14%-31.94% then increased to 33.54%.We can say that for the peanut shell and the combination of both peanut shell and bentonite clay pH was increased slightly at the acidic side.

Water and Sanitation Situation in Selected Villages in Ifedore Local Government Area of Ondo State, Nigeria

Water is essential for life, while sanitation is for dignity. Worldwide, Nigeria is second to India in term of open defecation, with an estimated population of 109 million open defecators. The rural areas currently lagged behind the urban areas in term of water and sanitation. A survey of two villages in the Ifedore Local Government of Ondo State, Nigeria was conducted, using 88 respondents selected through purposive sampling technique from Ikota and Aaye village cluster. Findings from the study revealed that sources of water are boreholes, wells and streams. On the other hand, most of the indigenes still practice open defecation, though some of them use water closet, pour flush toilet and variances of pit latrine as toilet. Most of them still expect the government to install and maintain facilities provided. It is suggested that demand driven and the bottom-top approach where the people first believe that water and sanitation prevent diseases and provide longevity be explored. It is believed that reinventing the services of sanitary officers (Wole Wole), will help in disseminating and enforcing proper hygienic practices.