Search

This study examined the performance of the ARIMA, ARIMAX and the Single Exponential Smoothing (SES) model for the estimation of diabetes cases in Anambra State with the following specific objectives: to fit the model to the data, to determine the best fit model for estimating diabetes mellitus cases and forecast for expected cases for period of five years. The secondary data used for the study is sourced from records of Anambra state Ministry of Health. The Akaike information criterion is adopted for assessing the performance of the models. The R-software is employed for the analysis of data. The results obtained showed that the data satisfied normality and stationarity requirements. The finding of the study showed that ARIMA model has least value of AIC of 1177.92, following the ARIMAX model with value of AIC=1542.25 and SEM recorded highest value of 1595.67. The findings further revealed that the ARIMA has the least values across the measures of accuracy. More so, five years predictions of the cases of diabetes mellitus were obtained using the models under study. From the results of the findings, ARIMA model proved to be best alternative for estimating reported cases of diabetes mellitus in Anambra state. Based on the findings, we recommend there is need for medical practitioners /health planners to create awareness and inform patients about the possible related risk factors of death through early diagnosis and intervention.

Transitioning from demolition to deconstruction practices for end-of-life performances is gaining increasing attention following the need for the construction industry to minimise construction and demolition waste. Building information modelling (BIM) presents an opportunity for sustainable deconstruction. However, the notion of BIM for deconstruction (BIMfD) is still in its infancy in the United Kingdom. Although a few studies on BIMfD are evident, a focus on identifying the underlying factors necessary for successful implementation of BIMfD is lacking. The purpose of this study was to identify and analyse the underlying factors necessary for BIMfD implementation in the UK construction industry. It employed a four-stage research design. The reviewed literature explored extant views on BIM implementation factors to identify an initial list of possible factors influencing BIMfD implementation. Subsequently, a mix of questionnaire, focus group discussions and structured interviews were employed at various stages to refine and contextualise 15 factors necessary for BIMfD implementation in the UK construction industry. The contextual interrelationships among the factors were evaluated using interpretive structured modelling (ISM). This evaluation culminated in a BIMfD implementation factor model. The findings identified BIMfD experts, responsiveness of business models to innovative practices and industry’s acceptance to embrace change as the principal factors influencing BIMfD implementation in the UK. The implications of the findings attest that BIMfD experts and advisors must champion the adoption and implementation of BIMfD in the UK and business models need to become more responsive to accommodate BIMfD innovative practices. A BIMfD framework was conceptualised. Even though the BIMfD framework was designed from the UK perspective, the global construction industry can leverage the outcomes of this study. This paper, therefore, brings to the fore, a hierarchical BIMfD

Transitioning from demolition to deconstruction practices for end-of-life performances is gaining increasing attention following the need for the construction industry to minimise construction and demolition waste. Building information modelling (BIM) presents an opportunity for sustainable deconstruction. However, the notion of BIM for deconstruction (BIMfD) is still in its infancy in the United Kingdom. Although a few studies on BIMfD are evident, a focus on identifying the underlying factors necessary for successful implementation of BIMfD is lacking. The purpose of this study was to identify and analyse the underlying factors necessary for BIMfD implementation in the UK construction industry. It employed a four-stage research design. The reviewed literature explored extant views on BIM implementation factors to identify an initial list of possible factors influencing BIMfD implementation. Subsequently, a mix of questionnaire, focus group discussions and structured interviews were employed at various stages to refine and contextualise 15 factors necessary for BIMfD implementation in the UK construction industry. The contextual interrelationships among the factors were evaluated using interpretive structured modelling (ISM). This evaluation culminated in a BIMfD implementation factor model. The findings identified BIMfD experts, responsiveness of business models to innovative practices and industry’s acceptance to embrace change as the principal factors influencing BIMfD implementation in the UK. The implications of the findings attest that BIMfD experts and advisors must champion the adoption and implementation of BIMfD in the UK and business models need to become more responsive to accommodate BIMfD innovative practices. A BIMfD framework was conceptualised. Even though the BIMfD framework was designed from the UK perspective, the global construction industry can leverage the outcomes of this study. This paper, therefore, brings to the fore, a hierarchical BIMfD

Hepatitis is a dreaded disease that has taken the lives of so many people over the recent past years. The research survey shows that hepatitis viral disease has five major variants referred to as Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E. Scholars over the years have tried to find an alternative diagnostic means for hepatitis disease using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques in order to save lives. This study extensively reviewed 37 papers on AI based techniques for diagnosing core hepatitis viral disease. Results showed that Hepatitis B (30%) and C (3%) were the only types of hepatitis the AI-based techniques were used to diagnose and properly classified out of the five major types, while (67%) of the paper reviewed diagnosed hepatitis disease based on the different AI based approach but were not classified into any of the five major types. Results from the study also revealed that 18 out of the 37 papers reviewed used hybrid approach, while the remaining 19 used single AI based approach. This shows no significance in terms of technique usage in modeling intelligence into application. This study reveals furthermore a serious gap in knowledge in terms of single hepatitis type prediction or diagnosis in all the papers considered, and recommends that the future road map should be in the aspect of integrating the major hepatitis variants into a single predictive model using effective intelligent machine learning techniques in order to reduce cost of diagnosis and quick treatment of patients.

This paper described the major challenges associated with existing methods of voting; hence a prototype online voting system was developed and proposed for credible election in Edo state with a mind set to trash out the various problems identified with the existing system. In order to determine if the prototype online voting system developed is of standard performance a fuzzy clustering means (FCM) was designed to evaluate and ascertain its performance based on certain criteria gathered using questionnaire designed. The FCM model was simulated and tested for evaluation taking into consideration stakeholders of election that were drawn from twelve (12) local government areas, out of the Eighteen (18) local government areas of Edo state. Opinions of stakeholders of the election concerning the wished-for model were arbitrarily sampled and analyzed for the use of assessment in particular when compared to the present system of selection. In addition, other factors that can promise an open and just election were also discussed and place into consideration throughout the implementation of the developed prototype online voting system. The result from the evaluation revealed that the seven (7) local government areas which formed about (58.33%) of the beyond least standard cluster and the five (5) local government areas, which also formed about (41.66%) of the regular standard cluster of the entire population of (12) local government areas were both above the average acceptable benchmark for elections, which is a key indicator that the developed prototype online voting software meets more than the standard for a credible election process and it is therefore proficient as a verdict announcer for a transparent electoral process when fully implemented and deployed for usage.

This paper described the major challenges associated with existing methods of voting; hence a prototype online voting system was developed and proposed for credible election in Edo state with a mind set to trash out the various problems identified with the existing system. In order to determine if the prototype online voting system developed is of standard performance a fuzzy clustering means (FCM) was designed to evaluate and ascertain its performance based on certain criteria gathered using questionnaire designed. The FCM model was simulated and tested for evaluation taking into consideration stakeholders of election that were drawn from twelve (12) local government areas, out of the Eighteen (18) local government areas of Edo state. Opinions of stakeholders of the election concerning the wished-for model were arbitrarily sampled and analyzed for the use of assessment in particular when compared to the present system of selection. In addition, other factors that can promise an open and just election were also discussed and place into consideration throughout the implementation of the developed prototype online voting system. The result from the evaluation revealed that the seven (7) local government areas which formed about (58.33%) of the beyond least standard cluster and the five (5) local government areas, which also formed about (41.66%) of the regular standard cluster of the entire population of (12) local government areas were both above the average acceptable benchmark for elections, which is a key indicator that the developed prototype online voting software meets more than the standard for a credible election process and it is therefore proficient as a verdict announcer for a transparent electoral process when fully implemented and deployed for usage.

The study determined the strategies for improving the teaching of cost accounting in Colleges of Education in South East Nigeria. Five research questions guided the study, while five null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population for this study was 123 comprising of 53 accounting lecturers from 3 federal universities and 70 accounting lecturers from state universities. The instrument for data collection was a structured 100-item questionnaire. The instrument was face-validated by 3 experts from the Department of Business Education, University of Nigeria Nsukka. Cronbach Alpha reliability technique was used to determine the internal consistency of the instrument and an overall reliability index of 0.83 was obtained. The researcher with the help of five research assistants facilitated the process of data collection for the study. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for answering the research questions while t-test analysis were used for testing the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study found that the teaching of cost accounting in the Colleges of Education in South East Nigeria can be improved using good instructional planning, careful selection of instructional resources among others. Hypotheses tested revealed that there was no significant difference in the mean responses of the accounting lecturers. It was recommended among others that the government through the ministry of education should organize regular workshops, seminars and on-the-job trainings on capacity building for accounting lecturers to equip them with modern accounting knowledge, skills and technique.