http://irepo.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/75 Mon, 04 May 2026 21:42:43 GMT 2026-05-04T21:42:43Z http://irepo.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/28275 Title: ADEQUACY AND UTILIZATION OF SAFETY FACILITIES IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION SITES IN FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY ABUJA AND NIGER STATE, NIGERIA Authors: UMAR, Garba Abstract: The study was designed to determine the Adequacy and utilization of safety facilities in building construction sites in Federal Capital Territory Abuja (FCT) and Niger State, Nigeria. Six research questions and four null hypotheses guided the study. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The study was conducted in FCT Abuja and Niger State, Nigeria. The sampled population for the study was 225 respondents comprising of 20 Contractors, 88 Builders, and 117 Tradesmen. 196 items researcher designed structured questionnaire, titled building construction site safety facilities, developed from the literature reviewed for the study, was used to collect data from the respondents. The instrument was face validated by three experts. The reliability of the instrument was determined to be 0.88 using Cronbach alpha method. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the four research questions; while ANOVA was used to test null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings on the adequacy of safety facilities produced a grand mean (x̅ = 2.66) which revealed that safety facilities such as protective clothing and fire extinguishers were adequate. Findings on the utilization of safety facilities had a grand mean of (x̅= 2.44) which showed that facilities such as safety basket for cranes and safety helmet were not being adequately utilized in the building construction sites. Findings on the safety practices adopted in building construction sites had a grand mean of (x̅ = 2.68) which revealed that safety practices such as wearing safety boot while working and proper positioning of scaffolding before work are not being adopted in building construction sites. Findings on the challenges affecting the utilization of safety facilities produced a grand mean of (x̅ = 3.42) which revealed that improper supervision and lack of safety training hamper the effective utilization of safety facilities in building construction sites. Furthermore, the grand standard deviation for various sections of the research questions were found to be 0.73, 0.71, 0.73 and 0.60, which were all less than 1.96. This means that the respondents were close to one another in their responses. It was therefore recommended among others that contractors, builders and tradesmen required appropriate training/induction regularly on using the safety facilities in building construction site based on their peculiarities. There should be appropriate information concerning the applications, dissemination and diffusion on using personal protective equipment (PPE) at work, such as the use of safety helmet while working above 3m, ammonia detecting device, safety boot and fire extinguishers in order to prevent accident from site. Working environment should always be cleared and kept free from all objects that can cause harm or injury to the workers in building construction sites. Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT http://irepo.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/28275 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z http://irepo.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/28271 Title: PREDICTION OF SPECTRUM OCCUPANCY USING MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS: A CASE STUDY OF MINNA Authors: OYEWO, Temitayo Ayodeji Abstract: There is an alarming growth rate in spectrum usage, where some of the allocated spectra are fully engaged while others are sparsely utilized. The cognitive radio allows the primary users to use the available spectrum holes alongside the secondary users. The challenge of using cognitive radio technology is in the interference, which is a factor that causes a delay in the handoff time. This research developed a system that makes the cognitive radio operation more effective with little or no interference. Dataset were collected by scanning the spectrum between the frequency range of 80 MHz and 1 GHz using the Agilent N9342C Spectrum Analyzer (SA), which was connected to a personal computer and an antennae with a range of 47 MHZ to 1 GHz attached to the SA. The spectrum sensing exercise was carried out at Morris Fertilizer in Minna, Niger state, between 7:00 am-10:00 am (three hours). The method used in the sensing of the spectrum is Energy Detection. The dataset collected from the exercise was used to train and test different Machine Learning (ML) algorithms at a ratio of 7:3. The ML algorithms were used to predict the availability of the spectrum holes, that is, the frequency within the spectrum occupied or not occupied. The logistic Regression, Random Forest, Decision Tree, XGBoost and the K-Nearest Neighbour has training accuracy result of 94.84%, 99.93%, 99.93%, 99.86% and 98.19%, respectively and test accuracy result of 90.43%, 99.52%, 99.52%, 99.52%, and 97.61%, respectively. The test accuracy, precision, recall and F1-score are 90.43%, 90.40%, 93.39% and 91.43%, respectively was obtained with the application of logistic regression. Random forest results of accuracy, precision, recall and F1- score are 99.52%, 99.98%, 99.17% and 99.57%, respectively. For the Decision Tree, the test accuracy, precision, recall and f1- score are 99.52%, 99.99%, 99.17%, and 99.58%, respectively. The test accuracy, precision, recall and F1- score are 99.52%, 100.00%, 99.17% and 99.58%, respectively was obtained with the application of the XGBoost. Also, the test accuracy, precision, recall and f1-score are 97.61%, 100.00%, 95.87% and 97.89% respectively was obtained with the application of the KNN. From the result obtained, the XGBoost has the highest level of prediction accuracy. These results demonstrated the effectiveness of XGBoost when compared to other popular ML algorithms for spectrum occupancy prediction Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT http://irepo.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/28271 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z http://irepo.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/28266 Title: EVALUATION OF CRYPTOSPORIDIUM OOCYSTS ON SOME VEGETABLES SOLD IN SELECTED MARKETS WITHIN MINNA METROPOLIS, NIGER STATE, NIGERIA Authors: SALAWU, Murtala Eneji Abstract: Cryptosporidium is one of the most significant parasites responsible for short-lived gastroenteritis in humans. This infection can cause a veritable risk to public health, economy and physical and cognitive development primarily among the minors in developing worlds. Fresh vegetables are important part of a healthy diet for human and can serve as means of transmission of parasites that inhabit the intestine. In this study, Modified Zeihl-Neelsen staining technique was used to assess the occurrence of Cryptosporidium oocyst on fresh vegetables sold in selected Markets within Minna metropolis, Niger State. A total of 600 samples were randomly selected from three different Markets (Kure, Gwari and Bosso) in Minna. A total of 200 samples were collected from each Market. Four different vegetables that were selected for the study are; Cabbage, Carrot, Lettuce and Tomato. For each vegetable type, 150 samples were collected. Five (0.83%) out of 600 samples assessed were positive for Cryptosporidium oocyst. Lettuce and Cabbage had 2 (1.33%) contamination rate each, Carrot had 1 (0.67%) and Tomato had no contamination. Vegetablesfrom Gwari Market had the highest contamination of oocyst with 3 (1.5%) followed by Kure Market with 2 (1%) and Bosso Market without oocyst contamination. The month of August recorded the highest oocyst contamination of 3 (2.5%) followed by the months ofJune and July with 1 (0.83%) and no contamination rate was recorded in the months of November and December respectively. Chi square analysis (P˂0.05) showed significance difference between occurrence of oocyst and vegetable types. Sedimentation method was used to recover other parasites of medical importance from the vegetable samples. One hundred and thirty-four(22.33%)samples were positive for other parasites. The highest was Entamoeba histolytica positive for 35 (5.83%) samples and the lowest was Trichiuris trichiura positive for 6 (1.00%) samples. The presence of these parasite on the vegetable samples is of major public health concern. Proper washing of fruits and vegetables with clean water before consumption is highly recommended Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT http://irepo.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/28266 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z http://irepo.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/28263 Title: EFFECT OF SELECTED ORGANIC ACIDS ON THE PROPERTIES OF Borassus aethiopum STARCH-BASED FILMS FOR FRUITS AND VEGETABLE STORAGE Authors: MUHAMMAD, Ahmad Yafu Abstract: The increasing use of synthetic polymers to preserve foods is of more concern to the society. Edible coatings serve as the best alternative to reduce the post-harvest losses by delaying the ripening of fruits and vegetables and increasing the shelf life without affecting the quality. The study investigates the effects of formic, acetic, lactic, butyric, pentanoic and citric acids on Borassus aethiopum starch-based films for fruits and vegetable storage. Starch was extracted from Borassus aethiopum shoot using wet extraction method. Starch-based films were produce by casting method with the incorporation of six organic acids (Formic, acetic, lactic, butyric, pentanoic and citric acids) having five concentrations (0.2 %, 0.4 %, 0.6 %, 0.8 % and 1 %) each. Biodegradability test of starch-based films was carried out using soil burial test and antimicrobial activities of the starch-based films were carried out using agar diffusion method. Shelf-life determination of tomato, banana and spinach was carried out using dipping method. The result showed that Borassus aethiopum had (64.24%) starch content and the six organic acids incorporated had better film forming property. Borassus aethiopum starch-based films incorporated with organic acids had improved biodegradability and water absorption capacity. The antimicrobial inhibitory activities of the starch-based films incorporated with citric and lactic acids at 1 % concentration showed that citric acid films had highest inhibitory activity (1.85 ± 0.05) followed by lactic acid (3.97 ± 0.07) at p ≤ 0.05 when compared with the control sample (9.57 ± 0.08) for E. coli). For klebsiella pneumonia inhibition, citric acid and lactic acid showed significant (p ≤ 0.05) inhibitory effect at 1% concentration (1.31 ± 0.06 and 4.60 ± 0.03) respectively when compared with the control (8.66 ± 0.06). There was significant p ≤ 0.05 improvement in the tensile strength and elongation at break of both citric acid and lactic acid films when compared with the control sample. The shelf-life of stored coated tomato, banana and spinach with citric and lactic acids at 1 % concentration was found to be extended up to 30 days for tomatoes, 10 days for banana and 4 days for spinach. The coated samples were firmer, fresh looking and less decayed when compared with the uncoated samples (control) at the end of the storage. It can be concluded from the results obtained that Borassus aethiopum starch could be a good source of starch for film production and citric and lactic acids could be incorporated into it to increase the shelf life of fruits and vegetable Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT http://irepo.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/28263 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z