International Letters of Natural Sciences Vol. 20

Abstract: In recent years, Nigeria has witness rapid development especially in the area of infrastructural development like roads, bridges, buildings etc. The conventional methods used in concrete mixing have its own peculiar problems, like time wasting, material wasting and errors. These problems have been the cause of structural failures which has given rise to loss of life and properties. Hence the need to development a method that will take care of all these anomalies witness in the conventional method. This work is aim at removing these anomalies by the use of Scheffes optimization method. This optimization method can predict the compressive strength of a concrete given the mix ratios and also predict the mix ratios required to give a compressive strength for a particular concrete made by completely replacing river sand with quarry dust. With this method it will be easy to predict the compressive strength of concrete based on the type of structure it is to be used for, there by eliminating the problems associated with structural collapse due to errors in concrete mixing by conventional method

Abstract: The study assessed the influence of environmental hazards on the development of rural communities in Abia State. Three research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study was 1,772 executive members of 175 Community Development Associations from where a sample of five hundred and nine executive members from 70 Community Development Associations was drawn. Self-structured questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. It was face validated by two experts in Educational Administration and Educational Measurement/ Evaluation from Abia State University, Uturu. The reliability of the instrument was tested on 25 executive members of Ayamele and Ifite-Ogwari Community Development Associations, both are Local Government Areas in Anambra State. Reliability coefficient of 0.88 was obtained using Cronbach Alpha estimate. The data were analyzed by computing and comparing the mean scores and standard deviation. Also, the null hypotheses were tested using t-test statistics. The findings of the study revealed the influence of deforestation, agricultural development and industries and technology on the environment. The study therefore recommended among others that Abia State Government should organize seminars, workshop and conferences for Community Development Associations executive members and other community leaders on the issues concerning environmental protection.

Abstract: Aspects of human infection with Onchocerca volvulus was investigated in 9 villages in Okigwe LGA of Imo State, Nigeria between January 2010 and December 2011. The objectives were to compare the prevalence of different manifestations of Onchocerciasis according to gender and age, with view to determine if there had been a change in prevalence of Onchocerciasis among residents of some communities in Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo State. A cross sectional survey method was adopted for the study, blood free skin snips were collected from randomly selected consenting adults aged 5-62 years. Palpation for mobile subcutaneous lumps and clinical manifestation were observed among 960 persons comprising 511 males and 449 females. The commonest lesions observed were poor vision 17 %, nodules 15 %, leopard skin 20 %, lizard skin 15 %, and hanging groin 3 %. Musculo-skeletal pain (MSP) was recorded as one of the major complaints by 30 % of the subjects. The result showed that Onchocerciasis clinical manifestations are still prevalent, however nodules prevalence reduced among the sampled population (69.8 %).

Abstract: Plant is one of the major forms of life on earth. It can produce its own food but cannot move about. Plants have well organized structures. They are beautiful and they determine local climates and are used as live fences. They phytoremediate and cool our environment. They provide us with oxygen, medicines, fuel, timber, recreation, industrial products; preservatives, pesticides in addition to all the three necessities of life: food, clothing and shelter. They purify the air and water bodies. It is therefore impossible to talk about life without plants because of their importance to the balance of nature. However, people have altered and often degraded their environment, though it has been taking place so gradually that its effects have not been drastically felt. Despite the enormous benefits of plants to humanity, they are disappearing at alarming rates. The reasons for this loss are many and include many anthropogenic activities. It is therefore quite imperative to ensure their effective conservation. This paper summarizes available information about the direct and the indirect benefits of plants and suggests some important measures to ensure their posterity. I hope, by bringing this information together, people will appreciate our plants and be frugal in using them

Abstract: Waste management is the collection, transportation, processing, recycling or disposal of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity and is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, aesthetics, amenity and the environment and also to recover resources. Waste management can involve solid liquid or gaseous substances with different methods and fields of emphasis for each. Waste management practices differ for developed, developing nations, for urban and rural areas, and for residential and industrial production. This paper tries to deal with illegal and unplanned solid waste disposal; it also attempts to proffer solutions to the problem of improper waste disposal through incineration and recycling of metals, cellophane and Teflon and how Bauchi state can generate some revenue through the recycling of these waste materials. The paper also tries to educate on the problems associated with landfills while dealing briefly, on the advantages of biological processing and also how waste can be avoided and reduced. The paper also tries to present waste management concepts in relation to Bauchi city.

Abstract: Marcus Vitruvious polio, the Roman writer, Architect and Engineer, was famous for asserting in his book De Architectura that a structure must exhibit the three qualities of firmitas, utilitas and venustas – that is, it must be strong or durable, useful and beautiful. Hugo Alvar Aalto the Finnish Architect and designer, argued that the responsible designer/Architect must “do no harm” on the end users of such a building nor provide environments unsuitable for their use. Part of the federal Government of Nigeria’s transformation agenda is the provision of quality and affordable infrastructure through Housing and Urban Development. But the spate of collapsed buildings in the country has reached an alarming rate. The incessant cases are enough reasons to declare a state of emergency in the construction industry. A building collapse could be a total or partial failure of one or more components of a building leading to the inability of the building to perform its principle function of safety and stability. In an attempt to find a solution to this menace, this paper therefore tries to examine some of the major causes of building collapse and tries to proffer remedial measures that may curb its devastating effects. The paper also briefly outlines its implications on real estate investment and also briefly tries to advice on procedures for rescuing people from collapsed buildings.

Abstract: Nowadays development of infrastructures is becoming number one priority in the world, particularly in the developing countries. So there are great demands within the construction industries for river sand as fine aggregate used in the production of concrete. This has created a very difficult situation; the cost of river sand has increased and also there is great fear from environmentalist and ecologist that in the future there may be scarcity of river sand and the environment and the ecology will be distorted. Hence, the need to find materials which are affordable and available to partially or totally replaced river sand in the production of concrete. This work is focused on the use of quarry dust as a total replacement to river sand in the production of concrete, and comparing the results (compressive strength) to that obtained from conversional concrete made with river sand

Abstract: The present study documents the ethnomedicinal and conservation status of 91 herbs belonging to 81 genera and 66 families in tehsil Banda Daud Shah during 2012-2013. The information about conservation and ethnobotanical was collected through questioners and personal interviews during fieldwork using the IUCN 2001, Red Data List Categories and Criteria. Among these 36 species were found to be rare, vulnerable (30 species), infrequent (13 species), endangered (8 species) and dominant (4 species). From the present investigation we concluded that most plant species are going to become endangered because the natural vegetation area was change into urbanization.