Academic literature on the topic 'Information behavior – Nigeria – Case studies'

The aim of this study is to examine how accountability is practised by charity institutions in Nigeria.The paper employs Ebrahim’s charity accountability framework to analyse BudgIT’s website, public related documents and news. It is observed that the practice of accountability by BudgIT lays emphasis on upward accountability to donors, focused on primarily reporting basic descriptive financial and performance information. However the research is based on a content analysis of a single charity organisation and, therefore, any generalising of the conclusions beyond BudgIT may not represent the reporting behaviour of all charity institutions in Nigeria.This paper is among the few studies that investigate the reporting behaviour of charitable institutions in a developing country, thus contributing to the scanty literature on charitable accountability in Nigeria.

Maternal mortality accounts for most deaths in agrarian communities of Nigeria due to poor access to midwives services and inadequate Skilled Birth Attendants (SBAs). The Midwives Service Scheme (MSS) was established to engage more SBAs and advocate better utilization of pre and post-natal care services. Studies have focused on maternal mortality reduction, however, information on underlying factors that predispose MSS target beneficiaries to its utilization is scarce. Therefore, utilization of MSS among women farmers in southwestern Nigeria was investigated. A four-stage sampling procedure was used. Three states from southwestern states (Oyo, Ogun and Ekiti) were randomly selected. Thereafter, ten Local Government Areas (LGAs) from eighteen LGAs that adopted MSS programme in the selected states were sampled. Also, 30% of the MSS facilities in the sampled LGAs were selected, resulting in 13 MSS facilities. Proportionate sampling technique was used to select 20% of registered women farmers in the selected 13 MSS facilities to give 207 respondents. Interview schedule was used to collect data on respondents’ socioeconomic characteristics, Maternal Health Information Sources (MHIS), Maternal Health Information Seeking Behavior (MHISB) and utilization of MSS. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. About (55.6%) of the respondents had formal education. MHISB and effectiveness of MSS was rated low by 53.2% and 55.6% of the respondents, respectively. MSS was moderately utilized by 64.7% of the respondents. The MSS utilization was 49.24 ± 11.39 (Oyo), 45.08 ± 9.28 (Ogun) and 44.00 ± 10.71 (Ekiti). Respondents’ education (χ2 = 12.85), family size (r = 0.02), monthly income (r = 0.48) related positively and significantly (r = 0.27) to MSS utilization.

Background: Using directives have been the standard approach of changing public behavior. But studies have shown that directives fail because people hate being told what to do. Telling individuals to use limited resources and other social amenities in rural areas to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection may lead to skepticism in practice of public health recommendations on COVID-19 prevention. Even non-availability of basic hand washing facilities (soap and clean water) which form fundamental mechanism to prevent COVID-19 can expose people to infection. Study assesses factors and conditions that influence the practice of Center for disease control (CDC) preventive measures against COVID-19 in rural areas.Methods: This is a qualitative study that utilized information from 36 health care professionals under the aegis of committee for COVID-19 prevention. These committee members are working together in partnership with state government to provide services to control, prevent and cushion effects of COVID-19 pandemic.Results: Findings from 36 health care professionals made up of 10 (27.8%) females and 26 (72.2%) males showed that factors such as denial of existence of the virus, labeling virus as only urban limited, poor knowledge of mode of transmission, terming virus as ploy politicians use to siphon resources meant for rural development contributed to non-observation of CDC guidelines for COVID-19 prevention.Conclusions: Denying existence of COVID-19 and not observing CDC guidelines will increase community transmission thereby, expose people in communities to infection. Therefore, education is needed to enlighten people in communities on benefits of observing CDC guidelines.

Abstract Emergencies are bound to happen anywhere at any time and as such pre-planning is necessary. This study outlined a procedure by which students on a university campus can be evacuated safely, while optimising use of available resources. Applications of optimisation techniques in campus emergency planning studies are not common, especially in developing countries. Collaboration of students is essential for a successful campus emergency evacuation, as such this study examined factors that will predict students’ behaviour in an emergency. The study adopted a location-allocation (L-A) model based decision support system (DSS) to implement the campus evacuation plan. The DSS was implemented within a geographic information system (GIS) environment. A total of 150 students were selected randomly across six faculties at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria for the study. In the event of an emergency it is proposed that all the students will move to designated assembly areas. The output from the emergency decision support system will be used to direct students from the assembly areas to appropriate evacuation points. The DSS was specifically applied in this study to find the locations of five evacuation points that will minimise travel distances of all students from thirteen assembly areas. The results from the DSS showed the average travel distance is 328.43 metres. This study used the binary logistic regression model to predict factors that will influence students to assist in an emergency. The result of the analysis showed that their level of consciousness of emergencies is the only factor that will significantly influence them to assist in an emergency. The findings from this study showed that for a disaster resilient university it must develop an all-hazards comprehensive plan, conduct regular emergency training and exercises, and develop a partnership with the host community for joint use of emergency resources. Keywords: Decision Support System ; Emergency Preparedness; Evacuation Plan; Location-Allocation Models; University Campus.

The study examines postgraduate student’s information seeking behavior in the faculty of management sciences, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria. Information play critical role in human daily activities such as school life, work, marital life and any other kind of scenario. The concept of information seeking behavior has attracted researchers’ attention and has been of great concern to stakeholders in the academia. Academic libraries avail information from different sources and formats. Objectively the study examines postgraduate students’ information seeking behavior in order to understand students’ information seeking behavior and provide guide to improve the quality of education and performance. Survey research design were use and the population consist of the entire postgraduate students in the faculty of management sciences at Bayero University, Kano, due to difficulty to reach all the population, purposive sampling were applied which result to the selection of (200) respondents comprising of (50) respondents from each of the four departments and questionnaire were issued to them. From the findings it is obvious that in the course of carrying out their studies postgraduate students seek information as a result of activities they engage such exam preparation, dissertation/thesis work, updating knowledge, lecture notes update, personal reading and general reading. However, the result implies that majority of the respondents use library for information concerning exam preparation while the lowest is for general reading to improve their knowledge. The study conclude that postgraduate students do engage in information seeking behaviour for various reasons even though these are hinder by some obstacles. The study recommends the need for management to improve service delivery in the aspect of electronic library, researchers should be guided easily and educated so as to facilitate easy collection of library materials, users should also be guided to enhance easy retrieval of information, continuous training of library staff should be given attention in order for them to be friendly and give quality service to information seekers and finally problem of poor electricity supply should be addressed to make the environment conducive for learning.

Rapid urbanization rates impact significantly on the nature of Land Cover patterns of the environment, which has been evident in the depletion of vegetal reserves and in general modifying the human climatic systems (Henderson, et al., 2017; Kumar, Masago, Mishra, & Fukushi, 2018; Luo and Lau, 2017). This study explores remote sensing classification technique and other auxiliary data to determine LULCC for a period of 50 years (1967-2016). The LULCC types identified were quantitatively evaluated using the change detection approach from results of maximum likelihood classification algorithm in GIS. Accuracy assessment results were evaluated and found to be between 56 to 98 percent of the LULC classification. The change detection analysis revealed change in the LULC types in Minna from 1976 to 2016. Built-up area increases from 74.82ha in 1976 to 116.58ha in 2016. Farmlands increased from 2.23 ha to 46.45ha and bared surface increases from 120.00ha to 161.31ha between 1976 to 2016 resulting to decline in vegetation, water body, and wetlands. The Decade of rapid urbanization was found to coincide with the period of increased Public Private Partnership Agreement (PPPA). Increase in farmlands was due to the adoption of urban agriculture which has influence on food security and the environmental sustainability. The observed increase in built up areas, farmlands and bare surfaces has substantially led to reduction in vegetation and water bodies. The oscillatory nature of water bodies LULCC which was not particularly consistent with the rates of urbanization also suggests that beyond the urbanization process, other factors may influence the LULCC of water bodies in urban settlements. Keywords: Minna, Niger State, Remote Sensing, Land Surface Characteristics References Akinrinmade, A., Ibrahim, K., & Abdurrahman, A. (2012). Geological Investigation of Tagwai Dams using Remote Sensing Technique, Minna Niger State, Nigeria. Journal of Environment, 1(01), pp. 26-32. Amadi, A., & Olasehinde, P. (2010). Application of remote sensing techniques in hydrogeological mapping of parts of Bosso Area, Minna, North-Central Nigeria. International Journal of Physical Sciences, 5(9), pp. 1465-1474. Aplin, P., & Smith, G. (2008). Advances in object-based image classification. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 37(B7), pp. 725-728. Ayele, G. T., Tebeje, A. K., Demissie, S. S., Belete, M. A., Jemberrie, M. A., Teshome, W. M., . . . Teshale, E. Z. (2018). Time Series Land Cover Mapping and Change Detection Analysis Using Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing, Northern Ethiopia. Air, Soil and Water Research, 11, p 1178622117751603. Azevedo, J. A., Chapman, L., & Muller, C. L. (2016). Quantifying the daytime and night-time urban heat island in Birmingham, UK: a comparison of satellite derived land surface temperature and high resolution air temperature observations. Remote Sensing, 8(2), p 153. Blaschke, T., Hay, G. J., Kelly, M., Lang, S., Hofmann, P., Addink, E., . . . van Coillie, F. (2014). Geographic object-based image analysis–towards a new paradigm. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 87, pp. 180-191. Bukata, R. P., Jerome, J. H., Kondratyev, A. S., & Pozdnyakov, D. V. (2018). Optical properties and remote sensing of inland and coastal waters: CRC press. Camps-Valls, G., Tuia, D., Bruzzone, L., & Benediktsson, J. A. (2014). Advances in hyperspectral image classification: Earth monitoring with statistical learning methods. IEEE signal processing magazine, 31(1), pp. 45-54. Chen, J., Chen, J., Liao, A., Cao, X., Chen, L., Chen, X., . . . Lu, M. (2015). Global land cover mapping at 30 m resolution: A POK-based operational approach. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 103, pp. 7-27. Chen, M., Mao, S., & Liu, Y. (2014). Big data: A survey. Mobile networks and applications, 19(2), pp. 171-209. Cheng, G., Han, J., Guo, L., Liu, Z., Bu, S., & Ren, J. (2015). Effective and efficient midlevel visual elements-oriented land-use classification using VHR remote sensing images. IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing, 53(8), pp. 4238-4249. Cheng, G., Han, J., Zhou, P., & Guo, L. (2014). Multi-class geospatial object detection and geographic image classification based on collection of part detectors. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 98, pp. 119-132. Coale, A. J., & Hoover, E. M. (2015). Population growth and economic development: Princeton University Press. Congalton, R. G., & Green, K. (2008). Assessing the accuracy of remotely sensed data: principles and practices: CRC press. Corner, R. J., Dewan, A. M., & Chakma, S. (2014). Monitoring and prediction of land-use and land-cover (LULC) change Dhaka megacity (pp. 75-97): Springer. Coutts, A. M., Harris, R. J., Phan, T., Livesley, S. J., Williams, N. S., & Tapper, N. J. (2016). Thermal infrared remote sensing of urban heat: Hotspots, vegetation, and an assessment of techniques for use in urban planning. Remote Sensing of Environment, 186, pp. 637-651. Debnath, A., Debnath, J., Ahmed, I., & Pan, N. D. (2017). Change detection in Land use/cover of a hilly area by Remote Sensing and GIS technique: A study on Tropical forest hill range, Baramura, Tripura, Northeast India. International journal of geomatics and geosciences, 7(3), pp. 293-309. Desheng, L., & Xia, F. (2010). Assessing object-based classification: advantages and limitations. Remote Sensing Letters, 1(4), pp. 187-194. Dewan, A. M., & Yamaguchi, Y. (2009). Land use and land cover change in Greater Dhaka, Bangladesh: Using remote sensing to promote sustainable urbanization. Applied Geography, 29(3), pp. 390-401. Dronova, I., Gong, P., Wang, L., & Zhong, L. (2015). Mapping dynamic cover types in a large seasonally flooded wetland using extended principal component analysis and object-based classification. Remote Sensing of Environment, 158, pp. 193-206. Duro, D. C., Franklin, S. E., & Dubé, M. G. (2012). A comparison of pixel-based and object-based image analysis with selected machine learning algorithms for the classification of agricultural landscapes using SPOT-5 HRG imagery. Remote Sensing of Environment, 118, pp. 259-272. Elmhagen, B., Destouni, G., Angerbjörn, A., Borgström, S., Boyd, E., Cousins, S., . . . Hambäck, P. (2015). Interacting effects of change in climate, human population, land use, and water use on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Ecology and Society, 20(1) Farhani, S., & Ozturk, I. (2015). Causal relationship between CO 2 emissions, real GDP, energy consumption, financial development, trade openness, and urbanization in Tunisia. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 22(20), pp. 15663-15676. Feng, L., Chen, B., Hayat, T., Alsaedi, A., & Ahmad, B. (2017). The driving force of water footprint under the rapid urbanization process: a structural decomposition analysis for Zhangye city in China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 163, pp. S322-S328. Fensham, R., & Fairfax, R. (2002). Aerial photography for assessing vegetation change: a review of applications and the relevance of findings for Australian vegetation history. Australian Journal of Botany, 50(4), pp. 415-429. Ferreira, N., Lage, M., Doraiswamy, H., Vo, H., Wilson, L., Werner, H., . . . Silva, C. (2015). Urbane: A 3d framework to support data driven decision making in urban development. Visual Analytics Science and Technology (VAST), 2015 IEEE Conference on. Garschagen, M., & Romero-Lankao, P. (2015). Exploring the relationships between urbanization trends and climate change vulnerability. Climatic Change, 133(1), pp. 37-52. Gokturk, S. B., Sumengen, B., Vu, D., Dalal, N., Yang, D., Lin, X., . . . Torresani, L. (2015). System and method for search portions of objects in images and features thereof: Google Patents. Government, N. S. (2007). Niger state (The Power State). Retrieved from http://nigerstate.blogspot.com.ng/ Green, K., Kempka, D., & Lackey, L. (1994). Using remote sensing to detect and monitor land-cover and land-use change. Photogrammetric engineering and remote sensing, 60(3), pp. 331-337. Gu, W., Lv, Z., & Hao, M. (2017). Change detection method for remote sensing images based on an improved Markov random field. Multimedia Tools and Applications, 76(17), pp. 17719-17734. Guo, Y., & Shen, Y. (2015). Quantifying water and energy budgets and the impacts of climatic and human factors in the Haihe River Basin, China: 2. Trends and implications to water resources. Journal of Hydrology, 527, pp. 251-261. Hadi, F., Thapa, R. B., Helmi, M., Hazarika, M. K., Madawalagama, S., Deshapriya, L. N., & Center, G. (2016). Urban growth and land use/land cover modeling in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia: Colombo-Srilanka, ACRS2016. Hagolle, O., Huc, M., Villa Pascual, D., & Dedieu, G. (2015). A multi-temporal and multi-spectral method to estimate aerosol optical thickness over land, for the atmospheric correction of FormoSat-2, LandSat, VENμS and Sentinel-2 images. Remote Sensing, 7(3), pp. 2668-2691. Hegazy, I. R., & Kaloop, M. R. (2015). Monitoring urban growth and land use change detection with GIS and remote sensing techniques in Daqahlia governorate Egypt. International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment, 4(1), pp. 117-124. Henderson, J. V., Storeygard, A., & Deichmann, U. (2017). Has climate change driven urbanization in Africa? Journal of development economics, 124, pp. 60-82. Hu, L., & Brunsell, N. A. (2015). A new perspective to assess the urban heat island through remotely sensed atmospheric profiles. Remote Sensing of Environment, 158, pp. 393-406. Hughes, S. J., Cabral, J. A., Bastos, R., Cortes, R., Vicente, J., Eitelberg, D., . . . Santos, M. (2016). A stochastic dynamic model to assess land use change scenarios on the ecological status of fluvial water bodies under the Water Framework Directive. Science of the Total Environment, 565, pp. 427-439. Hussain, M., Chen, D., Cheng, A., Wei, H., & Stanley, D. (2013). Change detection from remotely sensed images: From pixel-based to object-based approaches. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 80, pp. 91-106. Hyyppä, J., Hyyppä, H., Inkinen, M., Engdahl, M., Linko, S., & Zhu, Y.-H. (2000). Accuracy comparison of various remote sensing data sources in the retrieval of forest stand attributes. Forest Ecology and Management, 128(1-2), pp. 109-120. Jiang, L., Wu, F., Liu, Y., & Deng, X. (2014). Modeling the impacts of urbanization and industrial transformation on water resources in China: an integrated hydro-economic CGE analysis. Sustainability, 6(11), pp. 7586-7600. Jin, S., Yang, L., Zhu, Z., & Homer, C. (2017). A land cover change detection and classification protocol for updating Alaska NLCD 2001 to 2011. Remote Sensing of Environment, 195, pp. 44-55. Joshi, N., Baumann, M., Ehammer, A., Fensholt, R., Grogan, K., Hostert, P., . . . Mitchard, E. T. (2016). A review of the application of optical and radar remote sensing data fusion to land use mapping and monitoring. Remote Sensing, 8(1), p 70. Kaliraj, S., Chandrasekar, N., & Magesh, N. (2015). Evaluation of multiple environmental factors for site-specific groundwater recharge structures in the Vaigai River upper basin, Tamil Nadu, India, using GIS-based weighted overlay analysis. Environmental earth sciences, 74(5), pp. 4355-4380. Koop, S. H., & van Leeuwen, C. J. (2015). Assessment of the sustainability of water resources management: A critical review of the City Blueprint approach. Water Resources Management, 29(15), pp. 5649-5670. Kumar, P., Masago, Y., Mishra, B. K., & Fukushi, K. (2018). Evaluating future stress due to combined effect of climate change and rapid urbanization for Pasig-Marikina River, Manila. Groundwater for Sustainable Development, 6, pp. 227-234. Lang, S. (2008). Object-based image analysis for remote sensing applications: modeling reality–dealing with complexity Object-based image analysis (pp. 3-27): Springer. Li, M., Zang, S., Zhang, B., Li, S., & Wu, C. (2014). A review of remote sensing image classification techniques: The role of spatio-contextual information. European Journal of Remote Sensing, 47(1), pp. 389-411. Liddle, B. (2014). Impact of population, age structure, and urbanization on carbon emissions/energy consumption: evidence from macro-level, cross-country analyses. Population and Environment, 35(3), pp. 286-304. Lillesand, T., Kiefer, R. W., & Chipman, J. (2014). Remote sensing and image interpretation: John Wiley & Sons. Liu, Y., Wang, Y., Peng, J., Du, Y., Liu, X., Li, S., & Zhang, D. (2015). Correlations between urbanization and vegetation degradation across the world’s metropolises using DMSP/OLS nighttime light data. Remote Sensing, 7(2), pp. 2067-2088. López, E., Bocco, G., Mendoza, M., & Duhau, E. (2001). Predicting land-cover and land-use change in the urban fringe: a case in Morelia city, Mexico. Landscape and urban planning, 55(4), pp. 271-285. Luo, M., & Lau, N.-C. (2017). Heat waves in southern China: Synoptic behavior, long-term change, and urbanization effects. Journal of Climate, 30(2), pp. 703-720. Mahboob, M. A., Atif, I., & Iqbal, J. (2015). Remote sensing and GIS applications for assessment of urban sprawl in Karachi, Pakistan. Science, Technology and Development, 34(3), pp. 179-188. Mallinis, G., Koutsias, N., Tsakiri-Strati, M., & Karteris, M. (2008). Object-based classification using Quickbird imagery for delineating forest vegetation polygons in a Mediterranean test site. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 63(2), pp. 237-250. Mas, J.-F., Velázquez, A., Díaz-Gallegos, J. R., Mayorga-Saucedo, R., Alcántara, C., Bocco, G., . . . Pérez-Vega, A. (2004). Assessing land use/cover changes: a nationwide multidate spatial database for Mexico. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 5(4), pp. 249-261. Mathew, A., Chaudhary, R., Gupta, N., Khandelwal, S., & Kaul, N. (2015). Study of Urban Heat Island Effect on Ahmedabad City and Its Relationship with Urbanization and Vegetation Parameters. International Journal of Computer & Mathematical Science, 4, pp. 2347-2357. Megahed, Y., Cabral, P., Silva, J., & Caetano, M. (2015). Land cover mapping analysis and urban growth modelling using remote sensing techniques in greater Cairo region—Egypt. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 4(3), pp. 1750-1769. Metternicht, G. (2001). Assessing temporal and spatial changes of salinity using fuzzy logic, remote sensing and GIS. Foundations of an expert system. Ecological modelling, 144(2-3), pp. 163-179. Miller, R. B., & Small, C. (2003). Cities from space: potential applications of remote sensing in urban environmental research and policy. Environmental Science & Policy, 6(2), pp. 129-137. Mirzaei, P. A. (2015). Recent challenges in modeling of urban heat island. Sustainable Cities and Society, 19, pp. 200-206. Mohammed, I., Aboh, H., & Emenike, E. (2007). A regional geoelectric investigation for groundwater exploration in Minna area, north west Nigeria. Science World Journal, 2(4) Morenikeji, G., Umaru, E., Liman, S., & Ajagbe, M. (2015). Application of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System in Monitoring the Dynamics of Landuse in Minna, Nigeria. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 5(6), pp. 320-337. Mukherjee, A. B., Krishna, A. P., & Patel, N. (2018). Application of Remote Sensing Technology, GIS and AHP-TOPSIS Model to Quantify Urban Landscape Vulnerability to Land Use Transformation Information and Communication Technology for Sustainable Development (pp. 31-40): Springer. Myint, S. W., Gober, P., Brazel, A., Grossman-Clarke, S., & Weng, Q. (2011). Per-pixel vs. object-based classification of urban land cover extraction using high spatial resolution imagery. Remote Sensing of Environment, 115(5), pp. 1145-1161. Nemmour, H., & Chibani, Y. (2006). Multiple support vector machines for land cover change detection: An application for mapping urban extensions. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 61(2), pp. 125-133. Niu, X., & Ban, Y. (2013). Multi-temporal RADARSAT-2 polarimetric SAR data for urban land-cover classification using an object-based support vector machine and a rule-based approach. International journal of remote sensing, 34(1), pp. 1-26. Nogueira, K., Penatti, O. A., & dos Santos, J. A. (2017). Towards better exploiting convolutional neural networks for remote sensing scene classification. Pattern Recognition, 61, pp. 539-556. Oguz, H., & Zengin, M. (2011). Analyzing land use/land cover change using remote sensing data and landscape structure metrics: a case study of Erzurum, Turkey. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, 20(12), pp. 3258-3269. Pohl, C., & Van Genderen, J. L. (1998). Review article multisensor image fusion in remote sensing: concepts, methods and applications. International journal of remote sensing, 19(5), pp. 823-854. Price, O., & Bradstock, R. (2014). Countervailing effects of urbanization and vegetation extent on fire frequency on the Wildland Urban Interface: Disentangling fuel and ignition effects. Landscape and urban planning, 130, pp. 81-88. Prosdocimi, I., Kjeldsen, T., & Miller, J. (2015). Detection and attribution of urbanization effect on flood extremes using nonstationary flood‐frequency models. Water resources research, 51(6), pp. 4244-4262. Rawat, J., & Kumar, M. (2015). Monitoring land use/cover change using remote sensing and GIS techniques: A case study of Hawalbagh block, district Almora, Uttarakhand, India. The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Science, 18(1), pp. 77-84. Rokni, K., Ahmad, A., Solaimani, K., & Hazini, S. (2015). A new approach for surface water change detection: Integration of pixel level image fusion and image classification techniques. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 34, pp. 226-234. Sakieh, Y., Amiri, B. J., Danekar, A., Feghhi, J., & Dezhkam, S. (2015). Simulating urban expansion and scenario prediction using a cellular automata urban growth model, SLEUTH, through a case study of Karaj City, Iran. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 30(4), pp. 591-611. Santra, A. (2016). Land Surface Temperature Estimation and Urban Heat Island Detection: A Remote Sensing Perspective. Remote Sensing Techniques and GIS Applications in Earth and Environmental Studies, p 16. Shrivastava, L., & Nag, S. (2017). MONITORING OF LAND USE/LAND COVER CHANGE USING GIS AND REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES: A CASE STUDY OF SAGAR RIVER WATERSHED, TRIBUTARY OF WAINGANGA RIVER OF MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA. Shuaibu, M., & Sulaiman, I. (2012). Application of remote sensing and GIS in land cover change detection in Mubi, Adamawa State, Nigeria. J Technol Educ Res, 5, pp. 43-55. Song, B., Li, J., Dalla Mura, M., Li, P., Plaza, A., Bioucas-Dias, J. M., . . . Chanussot, J. (2014). Remotely sensed image classification using sparse representations of morphological attribute profiles. IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing, 52(8), pp. 5122-5136. Song, X.-P., Sexton, J. O., Huang, C., Channan, S., & Townshend, J. R. (2016). Characterizing the magnitude, timing and duration of urban growth from time series of Landsat-based estimates of impervious cover. Remote Sensing of Environment, 175, pp. 1-13. Tayyebi, A., Shafizadeh-Moghadam, H., & Tayyebi, A. H. (2018). Analyzing long-term spatio-temporal patterns of land surface temperature in response to rapid urbanization in the mega-city of Tehran. Land Use Policy, 71, pp. 459-469. Teodoro, A. C., Gutierres, F., Gomes, P., & Rocha, J. (2018). Remote Sensing Data and Image Classification Algorithms in the Identification of Beach Patterns Beach Management Tools-Concepts, Methodologies and Case Studies (pp. 579-587): Springer. Toth, C., & Jóźków, G. (2016). Remote sensing platforms and sensors: A survey. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 115, pp. 22-36. Tuholske, C., Tane, Z., López-Carr, D., Roberts, D., & Cassels, S. (2017). Thirty years of land use/cover change in the Caribbean: Assessing the relationship between urbanization and mangrove loss in Roatán, Honduras. Applied Geography, 88, pp. 84-93. Tuia, D., Flamary, R., & Courty, N. (2015). Multiclass feature learning for hyperspectral image classification: Sparse and hierarchical solutions. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 105, pp. 272-285. Tzotsos, A., & Argialas, D. (2008). Support vector machine classification for object-based image analysis Object-Based Image Analysis (pp. 663-677): Springer. Wang, L., Sousa, W., & Gong, P. (2004). Integration of object-based and pixel-based classification for mapping mangroves with IKONOS imagery. International journal of remote sensing, 25(24), pp. 5655-5668. Wang, Q., Zeng, Y.-e., & Wu, B.-w. (2016). Exploring the relationship between urbanization, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions in different provinces of China. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 54, pp. 1563-1579. Wang, S., Ma, H., & Zhao, Y. (2014). Exploring the relationship between urbanization and the eco-environment—A case study of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. Ecological Indicators, 45, pp. 171-183. Weitkamp, C. (2006). Lidar: range-resolved optical remote sensing of the atmosphere: Springer Science & Business. Wellmann, T., Haase, D., Knapp, S., Salbach, C., Selsam, P., & Lausch, A. (2018). Urban land use intensity assessment: The potential of spatio-temporal spectral traits with remote sensing. Ecological Indicators, 85, pp. 190-203. Whiteside, T. G., Boggs, G. S., & Maier, S. W. (2011). Comparing object-based and pixel-based classifications for mapping savannas. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 13(6), pp. 884-893. Willhauck, G., Schneider, T., De Kok, R., & Ammer, U. (2000). Comparison of object oriented classification techniques and standard image analysis for the use of change detection between SPOT multispectral satellite images and aerial photos. Proceedings of XIX ISPRS congress. Winker, D. M., Vaughan, M. A., Omar, A., Hu, Y., Powell, K. A., Liu, Z., . . . Young, S. A. (2009). Overview of the CALIPSO mission and CALIOP data processing algorithms. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 26(11), pp. 2310-2323. Yengoh, G. T., Dent, D., Olsson, L., Tengberg, A. E., & Tucker III, C. J. (2015). Use of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to Assess Land Degradation at Multiple Scales: Current Status, Future Trends, and Practical Considerations: Springer. Yu, Q., Gong, P., Clinton, N., Biging, G., Kelly, M., & Schirokauer, D. (2006). Object-based detailed vegetation classification with airborne high spatial resolution remote sensing imagery. Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, 72(7), pp. 799-811. Zhou, D., Zhao, S., Zhang, L., & Liu, S. (2016). Remotely sensed assessment of urbanization effects on vegetation phenology in China's 32 major cities. Remote Sensing of Environment, 176, pp. 272-281. Zhu, Z., Fu, Y., Woodcock, C. E., Olofsson, P., Vogelmann, J. E., Holden, C., . . . Yu, Y. (2016). Including land cover change in analysis of greenness trends using all available Landsat 5, 7, and 8 images: A case study from Guangzhou, China (2000–2014). Remote Sensing of Environment, 185, pp. 243-257.

The significance of health information management practice to the effectiveness of a healthcare delivery system cannot be overemphasised. A well-structured and coordinated health information management system has been known to generate the information needed for decision-making at all levels of healthcare delivery. However, the state of health information management in Nigeria, as is the case in most African countries, is a cause for concern. Observation and past studies have highlighted challenges facing the practice of health information management in Africa to be centred around the quality of professional training, inadequately qualified practitioners, disgruntled practitioners, government’s indifference towards the practice, lack of policies and inadequate technological infrastructure among others. This article examines some of the challenges facing health information management practice in Nigeria and makes recommendations that may uplift the profession.

Summary This paper presents case studies focused on the interpretation and integration of seismic reservoir monitoring from several fields in conventional offshore and deepwater Niger Delta. The fields are characterized by different geological settings and development-maturity stages. We show different applications varying from qualitative to quantitative use of time-lapse (4D) seismic information. In the first case study, which is in shallow water, the field has specific reservoir-development challenges, simple geology, and is in phased development. On this field, 4D seismic, which was acquired several years ago, is characterized by poor seismic repeatability. Nevertheless, we show that because of improvements from seismic reprocessing, 4D seismic makes qualitative contributions to the ongoing field development. In the second case study, the field is characterized by complex geological settings. The 4D seismic is affected by overburden with strong lateral variations in velocity and steeply dipping structure (up to 40°). Prestack-depth-imaging (PSDM) 4D seismic is used in a more-qualitative manner to monitor gas injection, validate the geologic/reservoir models, optimize infill injector placement, and consequently, enhance field-development economics. The third case study presents a deep offshore field characterized by a complex depositional system for some reservoirs. In this example, good 4D-seismic repeatability (sum of source- and receiver-placement differences between surveys, dS+dR) is achieved, leading to an increased quantitative use of 4D monitoring for the assessment of sand/sand communication, mapping of oil/water (OWC) front, pressure evolution, and dynamic calibration of petro-elastic model (PEM), and also as a seismic-based production-logging tool. In addition, 4D seismic is used to update seismic interpretation, provide a better understanding of internal architecture of the reservoirs units, and, thereby, yield a more-robust reservoir model. The 4D seismic in this field is a key tool for field-development optimization and reservoir management. The last case study illustrates the need for seismic-feasibility studies to detect 4D responses related to production. In addition to assessing the impact of the field environment on the 4D- seismic signal, these studies also help in choosing the optimum seismic-survey type, design, and acquisition parameters. These studies would possibly lead to the adoption of new technologies such as broad-band streamer or nodes acquisition in the near future.

The study of information seeking behavior has over the years attracted the attention of information professionals, resulting in numerous studies conducted with a view to understanding why people seek information, how they seek it, and the problems they encounter. While the information seeking behavior of several professional groups has been studied, an important and influential group of professionals, Muslim clerics (Ulama; sing.--Alim) has been totally neglected. Thus, the main objective of this study was to investigate the information seeking behavior of the Ulama in a developing country. The study investigated such questions as how do the Ulama in Nigeria seek information to perform their preaching and counseling roles? What search strategies do they deploy? Is there a relationship between demographic factors and information seeking patterns? The study used the survey research method. The target population was made up of 973 Ulama dispersed within twenty-seven Local Government Areas of Borno State in Nigeria. A proportional stratified random sampling technique was used to arrive at the sample size of 281. The study used a questionnaire to collect data which was subjected to both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. The study found out that the Ulama consult different sources and resources for different roles. For purposes of preaching, the Ulama mostly consult their personal collections to use resources such as the Qur’an, Hadith, and commentaries by other scholars. However, when performing a counseling role, they consult secular resources and informal channels of information such as council of Ulama, colleagues, or friends and relatives. The study also found out that the Ulama deployed different search strategies to identify and locate information when using public and institutional libraries, information and communication technology facilities, or informal channels. The study has also established significant relationships between demographic factors and search strategies adopted. Finally, the study identified the similarities and differences between the information seeking behaviors of the Christian clergy and the Ulama.

This study explores the everyday life information seeking (ELIS) behavior of Catholic clergy in Northern Nigeria and describes their information use environment (IUE). It employed a mixed-method case study using survey and episodic interview techniques of data collection. The ELIS of Savolainen, the IUE of Taylor and the small world of Chatman were theoretical frameworks that guided this study. Findings showed that the IUE of these Catholic clergy is shaped by four elements: (1) geographical location and culture, (2) the celibate clergy, (3) their information needs, and (4) the information sources used to resolve these needs. Three types of information needs were identified: essential needs, circumstantial needs and intermittent needs. There was a high interrelatedness between the effects of culture and celibacy on the information seeking of these clergy. They are not likely to cross boundaries of their world to seek particularly essential information about their ministry or private lives. The findings of this study align with Chatman’s proposition that members who live in the round will not cross the boundaries of their world to seek information. The study found problems with access and availability of information, which included lack of familiarity with electronic/online library databases among the clergy, and the lack of archives and documentation of records and historical materials. It recommended the development of an archiving and documentation plan that digitizes paper documents for electronic management, including policies on data curation for the Catholic religious institutions in Nigeria.

The economics of information is a relatively new and important field of economics. This dissertation analyzes the role of information in three case studies within three different branches of economics: health economics, environmental economics, and finance and banking. First I analyze parental nutritional label usage and its effect of children's dietary outcomes (i.e. Health Eating Index and Body Mass Index). I show that parental usage of nutritional labels is associated with a better quality of their children's diet as well as an overall improvement in their health as measured by their Body Mass Index. Secondly, I study the behavioral effect of length of residency on water demand in the arid cities of Reno and Sparks in Nevada. In this case, I observe that social interaction among households affects their water usage. In particular, newcomers' watering behaviors are influenced by the prevailing social norms among neighbors that have lived in the arid area for a longer period of time. Finally, I compare the performance of local versus larger national and regional lending institutions in the years leading to the 2007 mortgage crisis. I find that local or community lenders have a significantly lower foreclosure rate during these years. Local lenders presumably base their origination decisions on an interpersonal relationship with their customers. This provides them with information that is not contained within the standard risk metrics generally used in loan applications. I discuss the policy implications of these results for each case study.
Ph. D.

The behavior and patterns of recovery and processing of digital information by users is a recurring theme in the literature. The study of these behaviors are carried out through observation techniques and analysis of processes, actions and decisions undertaken by users in different situations. This paper presents the data resulting from the study of patterns of recovery and management of reference information of three consecutive courses of a specialized subject. The findings obtained showed a clear difference between patterns of information retrieval and obtained prior to the end of the training process, but there has been a significant change in the ultimate goal of users or appreciable changes in their prospects for application in other environments.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 182-213).
The study explores the relevance of information literacy in the context of legal education specifically as it affects issues on the conduct of the legal research skills of undergraduate students as well as the need for its integration into the curriculum of legal education. A review of the literature shows that little research has been undertaken in the field of legal information literacy in contrast to many other academic areas; indications from the literature reveal that there is a skills deficiency among undergraduate law students in many countries which suggest that many are ill prepared for the workplace. This situation also applies to law undergraduates in higher education institutions in Africa particularly Nigeria. The peculiar structure of legal information resources and the distinctive ways in which legal information is both evaluated and used suggest that legal information resources possess special characteristics that would need to be examined carefully in order to design information literacy programmes suitable for the profession. The scope of the study is limited to a comparative analysis of the information literacy skills of undergraduate law students of the University of Cape Town, South Africa and University of Jos, Nigeria; data was collected from both institutions from which comparisons were drawn. Findings from the study have revealed the difficulties experienced by students in the process of legal research and emphasised the importance of recognising the unique information structure of legal resources in developing an appropriate pedagogical model for integrating information literacy to the curricula of legal education particularly in higher education institutions. The study presents a uniquely African perspective on the challenges of integrating information literacy within the curriculum of legal education by providing insights into the needs and challenges for graduate requirement and productivity in higher education institutions in Africa.

HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination (S&D), lack of social support, poverty, and gender inequalities have been identified as factors in the increased prevalence rate of HIV transmission in Enugu, Nigeria, especially among women ages 15 to 49 years. Despite the funding of reduction programs, HIV/AIDS-related S&D remain a major driving force in the increased rate of new HIV cases in Enugu. This study addressed a perceived need for behavioral change intervention approaches that span all societal factors to reduce the HIV infection rate in Enugu Nigeria. The study was guided by Goffman’s (1963) social S&D theory. The sample was composed of 132 women living with HIV/AIDS WLWHA ages 21 to 54 years, purposefully sampled from the 4 HIV and AIDS comprehensive initiatives care centers in Enugu, Nigeria. Fifteen WLWHA were interviewed and 114 participated in an online survey. The descriptive statistics and a multiple linear regression analysis and comparison revealed a convergent significant relationship between the S&D determinants (social, political, psychological, environmental, and cultural) and HIV/AIDS-related S&D towards WLWHA in Enugu F (4,109) = 45.09, p <.001). It also revealed that the cultural determinant of S&D was a significant predictor of HIV/AIDS-related S&D towards WLWHA in Enugu (? = 0.81, p < 0.001). The implications for positive social change include providing public health professionals evidence-based data to inform policy change, plan and to implement programs that will change societal attitudes and mobilize broad-based community actions to eradicate HIV/AIDS–related S&D toward WLWHA in Enugu, Nigeria, and in Sub-Saharan African Countries.

Examining human interaction networks contributes to an understanding of factors that improve and constrain collaboration. This study examined multiple network levels of information exchanges within a public service model designed to strengthen community partnerships by connecting city services to the neighborhoods. The research setting was the Neighbourhood Integrated Service Teams (NIST) program in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. A literature review related information dimensions to the municipal structure, including social network theory, social network analysis, social capital, transactive memory theory, public goods theory, and the information environment of the public administration setting. The research method involved multiple instruments and included surveys of two bounded populations. First, the membership of the NIST program received a survey asking for identification of up to 20 people they contact for NIST-related work. Second, a network component of the NIST program, 23 community centre coordinators in the Parks and Recreation Department, completed a survey designed to identify their information exchanges relating to regular work responsibilities and the infusion of NIST issues. Additionally, 25 semi-structured interviews with the coordinators and other program members, collection of organization documents, field observation, and feedback sessions provided valuable insight into the complexity of the model. This research contributes to the application of social network theory and analysis in information environments and provides insight for public administrators into the operation of the model and reasons for the program's network effectiveness.

The goal of this dissertation is to demonstrate that data from a remotely located building can be utilized for energy modeling of a similar type of building and to demonstrate how to use this remote data without physically moving the data from one server to another using Virtual Information Fabric Infrastructure (VIFI). In order to achieve this goal, firstly an EnergyPlus model was created for Greek Life Center, a campus building located at University of North Texas campus at Denton in Texas, USA. Three thermal comfort models of Fanger model, Pierce two-node model and KSU two-node model were compared in order to find which one of these three models is most accurate to predict occupant thermal comfort. This study shows that Fanger's model is most accurate in predicting thermal comfort. Secondly, an experimental data pertaining to lighting usage and occupancy in a single-occupancy office from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has been implemented in order to perform energy analysis of Greek Life Center assuming that occupants in this building's offices behave similarly as occupants in CMU. Thirdly, different data types, data formats and data sources were identified which are required in order to develop a city-scale urban building energy model (CS-UBEM). Two workflows were created, one for an individual scale building energy model and another one for CS-UBEM. A new innovative infrastructure called as Virtual Information Fabric Infrastructure (VIFI) has been introduced in this dissertation. The workflows proposed in this study will demonstrate in the future work that by using VIFI infrastructure to develop building energy models there is a potential of using data for remote servers without actually moving the data. It has been successfully demonstrated in this dissertation that data located at remote location can be used credibly to predict energy consumption of a newly built building. When the remote experimental data of both lighting and occupancy are implemented, 4.57% energy savings was achieved in the Greek Life Center energy model.

Users' acceptance of a new information technology (IT) is considered to be a key determinant factor of its success. Also, studying users' adoption and use of new IT plays an important role in determining users' needs and reducing business risk, especially in industry segments with rapid changes in IT such as Smartphone technology. Such rapid evolution is influencing consumers' behaviors, their daily lifestyle, the manner of conducting their activities and their ways of consuming and using information. Smartphone technology holds a promising future with an expected global market that could reach US $258 billion by the end of year 2015 [1]. Besides the mobile industry, Smartphone technology introduces a wide range of opportunities and challenges for many related industries that participate directly or indirectly in producing and providing Smartphone services/products to the end users. Moreover, the Smartphone technology is relatively new technology with plenty of room for improvement. Better understanding of users' intentions and their behaviors regarding the adoption and use of the Smartphone technology plays a critical role in determining its success and benefiting all stakeholders. Significant efforts have been made to study and explain users' adoption and use of Smartphone technology. However, most of the empirical research focused on only a limited number of Smartphone aspects or on a specific profession such as doctors and nurses which may neglect other important factors. In emerging regions such as Jordan and China, cultural and social influence showed significant relationships with users' adoption and use of the Smartphone and its related technologies. Saudi Arabia is a developing country that has different cultural and social contexts that could influence users' intention to adopt and use the Smartphone technology. The key factors that influence general users' intention to adopt and use Smartphone technology in Saudi Arabia have not yet been studied and explored in a comprehensive manner. Therefore, the main purpose of this dissertation is to empirically study and explore the key factors that influence general users' adoption and use of the Smartphone in a comprehensive manner in Saudi Arabia. This dissertation starts with a literature review of existing research related to the adoption and use of Smartphone technology. Taxonomy is developed that includes factors that were identified as important in previous research and related to the adoption and use of the Smartphone technology. By using the developed taxonomy and reviewing literature related to the IT adoption theories, a preliminary theoretical research model is developed based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). A number of qualitative methods, namely brainstorming, focus group and individual interviews, have been conducted to evaluate, select and validate the existing factors, as well as introduce new factors, and to identify only the most related factors to be included in the preliminary research model. A survey questionnaire has been developed and validated to survey general users of the Smartphone in Saudi Arabia. A web-based survey has been designed and sent through email to 5,000 randomly selected smartphones users in Saudi Arabia. Data has been statistically analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results indicate that performance expectancy factor, effort expectancy factor, brand influence factor, perceived enjoyment factor and design factor have a positive and significant relationship with users' intention to adopt and use smartphones in Saudi Arabia. Also, the results indicate that the social influence factor has a significant and positive relationship with use behavior or actual use of smartphones in Saudi Arabia. The results of this dissertation provide more insights to practitioners in the smartphones domain and information that contributes to the body of knowledge regarding information technology adoption and its related research, especially in Saudi Arabia.

This thesis contributes to the ongoing global discourse in ICT4D on ICT and its effect on socio-economic development in both theory and practice. The thesis comprises five studies presented logically from chapters 5 to 9. The thesis employs Mixed Methods research methodology within the Critical Realist epistemological perspective in Information Systems Research. Studies 1-4 employ different quantitative research and analytical methods while study 5 employs a qualitative research and analytical method. Study 1 proposes and operationalizes a predictive analytics framework in Learning Analytics by using a case study of the Computer Science Department of the University of Jos, Nigeria. Multiple Linear Regression was used with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) analysis tool. Statistical Hypothesis testing was then used to validate the model with a 5% level of significance. Results show how predictive learning analytics can be successfully operationalized and used for predicting students’ academic performances. In Study 2 the relative efficiency of ICT infrastructure utilization with respect to the educational component of the Human Development Index (HDI) is investigated. A Novel conceptual model is proposed and the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology is used to measure the relative efficiency of the components of ICT infrastructure (Inputs) and the components of education (Outputs). Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Regression Analysis is used to determine the effect of ICT infrastructure on Educational Attainment/Adult Literacy Rates. Results show a strong positive effect of ICT infrastructure on educational attainment and adult literacy rates, a strong correlation between this infrastructure and literacy rates as well as provide a theoretical support for the argument of increasing ICT infrastructure to provide an increase in human development especially within the educational context. In Study 3 the relative efficiency and productivity of ICT Infrastructure Utilization in Education are examined. The research employs the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Malmquist Index (MI), well established non-parametric data analysis methodologies, applied to archival data on International countries divided into Arab States, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa and World regions. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Regression analysis is applied to determine the effect of ICT infrastructure on Adult Literacy Rates. Findings show a relatively efficient utilization and steady increase in productivity for the regions but with only Europe and the Arab States currently operating in a state of positive growth in productivity. A strong positive effect of ICT infrastructure on Adult Literacy Rates is also observed. Study 4 investigates the efficiency and productivity of ICT utilization in public value creation with respect to Adult Literacy Rates. The research employs Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Malmquist Index (MI), well established non-parametric data analysis methodologies, applied to archival data on International countries divided into Arab States, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa and World regions. Findings show a relatively efficient utilization of ICT in public value creation but an average decline in productivity levels. Finally, in Study 5 a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) on the UNDP Human Development Research Reports from 2010-2016 is carried out to determine whether or not any public value is created or derived from the policy directions being put forward and their subsequent implementations. The CDA is operationalized by Habermas’ Theory of Communicative Action (TCA). Findings show that Public Value is indeed being created and at the core of the policy directions being called for in these reports.
School of Computing
Ph.D. (Information Systems)

AbstractCritical or extreme atmospheric conditions which could result in flood disasters are important output for numerical weather forecast. This research applied thermodynamic variables to investigate the environment of two flood scenarios in West Africa as captured by the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) satellite. Results from the two case studies of flood events, in (i) Burkina Faso and (ii) Nigeria savannah, investigated in this research work, indicated that the September 1st 2009 flood, which was as a result of a single volumetric rainfall event of 408,070.60 ((mm/h)*km2) with 65% convective region in Burkina Faso, was initiated by interactions between extremely large lower tropospheric wind shear and cold pool dynamics. The case of the Nigeria savannah floods between July and September, 2012, was triggered by both continuous rainfall and release of water from the lagdo dam in Cameroon, which affected most of the communities in the river Benue axis. The continuous rainfalls were found to be as a result of extremely high convergence of moisture in the river Benue axis at different locations and periods. One of such rainfall events, as captured by TRMM satellite during September 29, 2012 in the Nigeria rainforest zone, indicated that the volumetric rainfall is 351,310.9 ((mm/h)*km2) with only 34% convective portion. From these results, it can be deduced that a combination of thermodynamic environmental variables, volume rainfall, and other satellite-derived convective parameters could provide important information for flood forecasting.

This chapter explores media influence on behaviour change and its implication for HIV prevention programmes in Nigeria. Using the agenda setting, and the uses and gratifications theories, it analyzes how the media set agenda for public opinion and the gratification that audience receive from media information vis-a-vis behaviour change initiatives in reducing HIV epidemic in Nigeria. The chapter through a descriptive and literature review approach assesses effective communication framework for behaviour change and some of the factors contributing to HIV prevalence in Nigeria. The chapter sums up case studies of interventions that have documented the effectiveness of the media in HIV prevention initiatives. The chapter concludes on the positive influence of media intervention in sexual behaviour change programmes but notes that behaviour change still lies with individual decisions. Therefore it recommends other forms of communication like interpersonal communication, community mobilization and advocacy to support media strategies for effective HIV prevention initiatives in Nigeria.

This chapter explores media influence on behaviour change and its implication for HIV prevention programmes in Nigeria. Using the agenda setting, and the uses and gratifications theories, it analyzes how the media set agenda for public opinion and the gratification that audience receive from media information vis-a-vis behaviour change initiatives in reducing HIV epidemic in Nigeria. The chapter through a descriptive and literature review approach assesses effective communication framework for behaviour change and some of the factors contributing to HIV prevalence in Nigeria. The chapter sums up case studies of interventions that have documented the effectiveness of the media in HIV prevention initiatives. The chapter concludes on the positive influence of media intervention in sexual behaviour change programmes but notes that behaviour change still lies with individual decisions. Therefore it recommends other forms of communication like interpersonal communication, community mobilization and advocacy to support media strategies for effective HIV prevention initiatives in Nigeria.

This chapter explores media influence on behaviour change and its implication for HIV prevention programmes in Nigeria. Using the agenda setting, and the uses and gratifications theories, it analyzes how the media set agenda for public opinion and the gratification that audience receive from media information vis-a-vis behaviour change initiatives in reducing HIV epidemic in Nigeria. The chapter through a descriptive and literature review approach assesses effective communication framework for behaviour change and some of the factors contributing to HIV prevalence in Nigeria. The chapter sums up case studies of interventions that have documented the effectiveness of the media in HIV prevention initiatives. The chapter concludes on the positive influence of media intervention in sexual behaviour change programmes but notes that behaviour change still lies with individual decisions. Therefore it recommends other forms of communication like interpersonal communication, community mobilization and advocacy to support media strategies for effective HIV prevention initiatives in Nigeria.

Chapter 14 covers treatment of a patient with anorexia nervosa, and the use of individual and family cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in the treatment plan. It focuses on a case example of a patient with anorexia nervosa to illustrate both evidence-based assessment and treatment. It includes demographic and referral information, assessment strategy, clinical interview information, assessment data, evidence-based case formulation, treatment and the need for family therapy, treatment outcomes, key principles and core knowledge used to approach the case, typical behavior patterns, epidemiological considerations, evidence for the intervention model, alternative options, case non-specifics, strategies to deal with therapy complications, ethical considerations, common mistakes to avoid in treatment, relapse prevention, and case conclusions.

This chapter examines cybercrimes, cyberattacks such as denial-of-service attacks, and law enforcement in the information society. It looks at advance fee fraud, internationally known as ‘419 Fraud’ with reference to Nigeria; as well as the ‘Russian Scam’ that targets the users of online dating sites. It also examines other criminal activities common on the internet, such as privacy attacks, including phishing which illegally appropriates personal data; harassment; cyberstalking; and grooming, and also considers identity theft and identity fraud, as well as cyberterrorism. The chapter presents case studies dealing with cybercrimes, and, finally, it discusses the efforts of the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime to harmonize international cybercrime laws.

Persisting absence of human rights, widening inequality, and social justice in healthcare delivery systems within and between countries present significant challenges to the focus and practice of contemporary public health. This chapter compares how cases of human rights, equity, and social justice are integrated in America's and Nigeria's healthcare policies. Qualitative research and case study design were adopted. Data were collected from secondary sources, such as reviewed literature, textbooks, journal articles, government reports, and internet. Content and critical case studies analysis methods were utilized to analyze, explain, and compare America's and Nigeria's health policies. Findings reveal absence of human rights, equity, and social justice among sub-groups in healthcare service delivery in America and Nigeria. The chapter concludes by suggesting that human rights, equity, and social justice should be integrated into health policies of America and Nigeria in order to make access to healthcare service delivery a right for citizens.

The chapter provides a snapshot on the use of social networking in academic libraries through a systematic review of the available literature and an examination of the libraries' presence on the most popular social networking sites. The chapter initially reviews 819 articles of empirical research, viewpoints, and case studies, based on keyword(s) search “Web 2.0 + Academic Libraries” since 2006 found in the Library Literature and Information Full Text Database. Out of full text research papers, articles with empirical studies, 328 (40% of 819), are shortlisted; all articles are from journals having impact factors (as per ISI Thomson Reuters rating 2011-12), 0.8 and above. The articles are collected from four major management and library science publishers: Ebscohost, Science Direct, Taylor and Francis, Emerald Insight (including EarlyCite articles, Backfiles content). The potential limitation of the study is that it does not attempt to trace out trends using any regression techniques. The extension of this study could be statistically testing the figures observed in this chapter and laying down a grounded theory approach for future research in Web 2.0 applications in libraries. The important finding is that the popularity of the various social networking sites can change quickly on the basis of e-World of Month (e-WoM).

Abstract Pressure transient analysis has been used to evaluate performance of a vertical well located within two intersecting sealing faults. The nature and types of boundary affect productivity in bounded reservoirs. Well performance is strongly affected by well location with respect to the boundary, be it single, paired and parallel or paired and inclined. The goal of this research was to study pressure behavior as well as performance of a vertical well located within two intersecting sealing faults inclined at various angles θ and at unequal distances to faults. Unlike similar works previously carried out, this work can be used to study or predict pressure distribution of a well in a wedge system located at unequal distances to faults. Using the concept of images, the study proposed new models for estimating distances between image well(s) and active well. These models were applied in the solution to the dimensionless diffusivity equation to characterize pressure transient behavior of a well located at unequal distances to the inclined faults. These pressures and pressure derivatives were computed from the total pressure drop expression summing all the image wells by the principle of superposition. The MATLAB, Python and Excel software were deployed to compute all the dimensionless pressures for the different well designs. The results obtained show that 1) the proposed models give accurate estimation of active well distances to image wells; 2) the models show that the distance between the active and image wells d0,i increases for the range of values of angles 0°&lt; θ0,i ≤ 180° and decreases for the range 180° &lt; θ0,i &lt; 360°; 3) the relationship between unequal well distances and productivity has a maximum point; 4) beyond this point, the well ceases to be productive and; 5) this maximum point is at equal distances of the well from both faults, in this case, 15 ft. Larger magnitudes of dimensionless pressure derivatives would indicate higher oil production for any well design and inclination of the boundaries. Worthy of future works are similar studies on 1) horizontal wells and 2) mixed boundaries, that is, one sealing fault and one constant pressure boundary.

Abstract First E&P commenced her development drilling campaign in the ALA field with a set of four batch wells (ALA west Phase 1A). Casing design and well architecture for the four wells were determined using standard design software, as the field had significant appraisal activities. However, actual drilling of the top-hole section on the four wells were very challenging such that, only in one of the four wells was the surface casing successfully run to depth and cemented as planned. Issues encountered included but not limited to: Trouble drilling through very reactive gumbo clay. Trouble pulling out of hole drilling BHA. Trouble running surface casing through long section of reactive clay causing stuck pipe (Casing got stuck while running in hole). Although, a leading contribution to getting stuck was differential sticking which can be attributed to not being able to run the casing with centralizers installed (bow spring centralizers) because they got hung up at the conductor shoe which was a buckled at the shoe due to piling effects. As a result, this study was carried out to investigate the possibility of mitigating the identified challenges, while optimizing the drilling of the top holes to improve casing and cementing operations. A starting point was to estimate the theoretical minimum casing setting depth. Using a Pressure Balance method, calculations were made to derive a mathematical model for the kick tolerance. The kick tolerance requirements were then derived in line with company policy and pore/fracture pressure information from offset wells and studies data (MDT & LOT) to arrive at the minimum casing setting depth. A second mathematical model based on limited gas kick model load case was also derived from pressure balance calculations, to estimate casing internal pressure profile when a gas bubble reaches surface during well control circulation using drillers method. A realistic criterion for estimating burst load, consistent with the definition of kick tolerance, was then proposed, to optimize the casing design. The study estimated cost savings of up to $1 million/well could be realized. The approach confirms huge cost savings can be realized by optimizing casing setting depths, and that illustrates the impact of safety factors. The depth proposals from this study were like the depths planned for the new drilling campaign of phase 1A+ wells, the result of actual drilling of the phase 1A+ wells (ALA-5 & ALA-6) confirmed the following, Surface holes in ALA field can be drilled to shallower depths. This may have shortened the time to run the casing to depth given historical challenges. The actual depths of the surface casings are like the depth proposed by this study. Problems of drilling with water-based mud can be mitigated if drilling intervals are short. A price comparison of top-hole actual drilling and running casing of ALA-3 a phase 1 well and ALA-5 & 6 phase 1A+ wells showed significant cost saving estimated above $1 million. This is like the cost saving estimated from the initial study. The surface hole drilled total depth and casing shoe depth on the phase 1A+ wells confirmed the pre-drill kick tolerance estimated in the study for these depths in the phase 1A+ wells.

ABSTRACT This paper sought to use information from outcrop sections to characterize the source and reservoir rocks in a basin in order to give indication(s) for hydrocarbon generation potential in a basin in minimizing uncertainty and risk that are allied with exploration and field development of oil and gas, using subsurface data from well logs, well sections, seismic and core. The methods of study includes detailed geological, stratigraphical, geochemical, structural,, petro-graphical, and sedimentological studies of rock units from outcrop sections within two basins; Anambra Basin and Abakaliki Basin were used as case studies. Thirty eight samples of shale were collected from these Basins; geochemical analysis (rockeval) was performed on the samples to determine the total organic content (TOC) and to assess the oil generating window. The results were analyzed using Rock wares, Origin, and Surfer software in order to properly characterize the potential source rock(s) and reservoir rock(s) in the basins, and factor(s) that can favour hydrocarbon traps. The results of the geological, stratigraphical, sedimentological, geochemical, and structural, were used to developed a new model for hydrocarbon generation in the Basins. The result of the geochemical analysis of shale samples from the Anambra Basin shows that the TOC values are ≥ 1wt%, Tmax ≥ 431°C, Vitrinite reflectance values are ≥ 0.6%, and S1+S2 values are &gt; 2.5mg/g for Mamu Formation while shale samples from other formations within Anambra Basin fall out of these ranges. The shale unit in the Mamu Formation is the major source rock for oil generation in the Anambra Basin while others have potential for gas generation with very little oil generation. The shale samples from Abakaliki Basin shows that S1+S2 values range from&lt; 1 – 20mg/g, TOC values range from 0.31-4.55wt%, vitrinite reflectance ranges from 0.41-1.24% and Tmax ranges from423°C – 466°C. This result also shows that there is no source rock for oil generation in Abakaliki Basin; it is either gas or graphite. This observation indicates that all the source rocks within Abakaliki Basin have exceeded petroleum generating stage due to high geothermal heat resulting from deep depth or the shale units have not attained catagenesis stage as a result of S1+S2 values lesser than 2.5mg/g despite TOC values of ≥ 0.5wt% and vitrinite reflectance values of ≥ 0.6%. The novelty of this study is that the study has been able to show that here there is much more oil than the previous authors claimed, and the distribution of this oil and gas in the basins is controlled by two major factors; the pattern of distribution of the materials of the source rock prior to subsidence and during the subsidence period in the basin, and the pattern and the rate of tectonic activities, and heat flow in the basin. If these factors are known, it would help to reduce the uncertainties associated with exploration for oil and gas in the two basins.

Rotor-stator rub interactions play an important role in the operation of high performance turbomachinery such as steam turbines, compressors, motors, and generators with small clearances between the rotating and stationary components. It is difficult to diagnose the problem because the vibration characteristics are widely varied and often the same as those resulting from other common causes. Also, rubs can cause secondary effects which can be misdiagnosed as the primary cause of the vibration excursion. The paper investigates one of the rub phenomena — the bearing lubricant (oil) coking in the close clearance regions while the other operational parameters are unchanged. The amplitude of vibration typically increases suddenly and then decreases after a few minutes. An FFT analysis of the vibration spectrum result indicates that most of the vibration energy is distributed to synchronous components or super-synchronous components. Two industrial case studies are presented and the possible factors are reviewed. Simulation results indicate that the model can describe the behavior of the steam turbine under oil coking rotor-stator rub conditions well and help locate the axial position of the oil coking rub. The analysis results of the paper are very useful for transient vibration fault diagnosis.

Vehicle/Track dynamic simulation programs are now used routinely in the rail industry in areas such as vehicle and track design, derailment investigation, and prediction of vehicle/track behavior under a variety of conditions. In these investigations the accuracy and validity of the simulation highly depends on information input into the program pertaining to both the vehicle and the track. Track geometry cars provide a variety of track measurements which are used to characterize the track (e.g. gage, cross level, profile, curvature, etc.) but these measurements do not include track stiffness information. For lack of better data these simulations generally assume constant track stiffness and this can lead to significant inaccuracy. The University of Nebraska (UNL), under sponsorship from the Federal Railroad Administration, has developed a method to estimate vertical track deflection and stiffness from a rail car traveling at revenue speed. The system has been tested on thousands of miles of track. It is believed that these vertical track stiffness estimates, along with the standard track geometry data can now be used to improve vehicle/track simulation results. In this paper, sites from recent testing of the University of Nebraska system were chosen to be studied with the vehicle dynamics software VAMPIRE®. These case studies demonstrate scenarios where the variation of track stiffness may significantly affect vehicle dynamics performance in different aspects. Results suggest that wheel unloading may be increased by up to 20% by the inclusion of vertical stiffness data in the simulations. Car body vibration and dynamic wheel loads also tend to be affected by the stiffness variation. The proposed approach has limitations because stiffness estimates are made without direct measurements of wheel loads which leads to possible errors in the estimate. Also, the inadequacy of the Winkler model used in the process of stiffness estimation may also cause some inaccuracies. These limitations are further explored in this paper.

Abstract Turbomachineries are generally high-energy systems operating at supercritical speeds. Often, nonlinear effects and latent instabilities are encountered during its operation which significantly influence the synchronous and asynchronous response of the rotor. The cause may be fluid film bearing, seal rubs, shaft joints and couplings, varied acceleration rates. Accordingly one may have a varied response behavior viz. Sub and super-harmonic oscillations, jump phenomenon, limit cycles, etc. The development phase of an aero gas turbine engine faces such challenges and these problems have to be addressed to achieve a flight-worthy engine. The present paper discusses two case studies encountered during the development phase of an aero-engine in detail. First, is a case study of self-excited vibration caused due to oil inadvertently trapped in the internal cavity of hollow rotor and second, is the case demonstrating jump phenomena in case of a shaft with diaphragm couplings. The results acquired are well corroborated with the feedback and benchmarks. Wherever necessary, theoretical modeling has been resorted to validate the findings and get a better insight into the problem.

Multi-agent systems (MAS) have been considered a potential solution for developing adaptive systems. The design of MAS however is difficult because the global effect emerges from local actions and interactions that can be hard to specify and control. In order to achieve high level resilience and robustness of MAS and retain the capability of specifying desired global effects, we propose a cellular self-organizing (CSO) system framework and a biologically inspired behavior based design approach (BDA) and a field based regulative control mechanism (FBR). The BDA approach links global functional requirements with the local behavior design of a CSO system. FBR is a real-time, dynamical, distributed mechanism that regulates the emergence process for CSOs to self-organize and self-reconfigure in complex operation environments. BDA and FBR together extend the system adaptability without imposing global control over local agents. This paper describes the models of CSO, BDA and FBR and demonstrates their effectiveness by presenting simulation based case studies in which CSO agents explore an unknown environment and move an object to designated locations.

Many false statements in connection with COVID-19 have fueled a number of rumors and conspiracy theories in the world. Politicians tend to use complicated technical systems and information technologies in order to influence people’s consciousness, feelings and social behavior. Under the guise of taking care of people’s wellbeing they pursue their own objectives. The political leaders have challenged the world with their claims and political statements which hypocritically announced their striving to serve for the sake of the nations, but in fact demonstrating their strong will to benefit from the situation. However, their actions are not treated by people as aggression and don’t lead to open confrontation and aggravation of military and political relations. They paradoxically manage to balance between the truth and falsity, demonstrating ambivalence of what they state in their speeches and appeals to the nations. The basic methods of political discourse ambivalence analysis, used in the article, are: (a) fact-checking method, (b) scientific analysis of the evidence, (c) peer-reviewed studies and the others. There has been also used a method of logical comparison of three options of political discourse: Political Statement → Fact → Consequence. The analysis of mass media articles, devoted to Covid-19, has helped the author to systematize the elements of political discourse processing (the politicians’ statements for the good of the people) and political cognition (the actual meaning of those actions, which can potentially lead to confrontation between nations). The author is trying to find out the actual reasons of the growing gap between the governments and ordinary people, between nations in the world.

Since April 2016, The European Union and the Oxfam Pro-Resilience Action Project in Kebbi and Adamawa States, Nigeria, have supported poor smallholder rural farmers to improve their agricultural productivity. The project has a specific focus on increasing crop yields per hectare for better land usage, as well as ensuring farmers possess the skills they need to maintain good agricultural practices, such as inputs utilization and climate mitigation strategies, as well as an information-sharing system on weather and market prices. The project uses a Farmer Field School model that continues to serve as a viable platform for rural farmers to access hands-on skills and basic modern farming knowledge and techniques. The case studies presented here demonstrate a significant increase in farmers’ productivity, income and resilience. This approach should be emulated by governments and private sector players to achieve impact at scale in Nigeria’s agricultural sector, which is the country’s top non-oil revenue stream.