School Corporal Punishment In Ghana And Nigeria As A Method Of Discipline: A Psychological Examination Of Policy And Practice

The paper examined the concepts of discipline, indiscipline and effective discipline.  The use of the cane in behaviour modification was rampant in traditional African society.  Teachers use the cane a lot in order to maintain discipline in schools and control antisocial behaviour of pupils and students.  The paper further x-rayed the concept of corporal punishment, identified its three main divisions and the fourteen different forms of corporal punishment.  It explained why teachers in Ghanaian and Nigerian public and private schools administer corporal punishment.  The paper employed an analytical approach to x-ray the danger that corporal punishment poses to pupils and students in the schools of Ghana and Nigeria. International concern for the danger that the administration of corporal punishment poses to the right and well-being of pupils and students has long been established.  In 2001, the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment was launched.  The campaign is about preventing all forms of violence against children in schools, including corporal punishment.  The paper presented the position of professional associations in Western Europe and Africa. Finally, arising from the above, the paper generated implications for teachers and school administrators, proposed general guidelines that the school authorities may apply in responding to incidents of misbehaviour, examined mental hygiene perspective to discipline and offered alternative therapeutic strategies that can be used in Ghanaian and Nigerian primary and secondary schools. Keywords: Discipline, Indiscipline, Effective Discipline, Corporal Punishment, Ghana, Nigeria

Control of a coupled tank system using PI controller with advanced control methods

The liquid level control in tanks and flow control between cascaded or coupled tanks are the basic control problems exist in process industries nowadays. Liquids are to be pumped, stored or mixed in tanks for various types of chemical processes and all these require essential control and regulation of flow and liquid level. In this paper, different types of tuning methods are proposed for Proportional-Integral (PI) controller and are further improved with integration of Advanced Process Control (APC) method such as feedforward and gain scheduling to essentially control the liquid level in Tank 2 of a coupled tank system. The MATLAB/Simulink tools are used to design PI controller using pole-placement, Ciancone, Cohen Coon and modified Ziegler-Nichols tuning method with Cohen Coon tuning method found to have a better performance. Advanced process control such as feedforward-plus-PI, Gain Scheduling (GS) based PI, Internal Model Control (IMC) based PI, feedforward-plus-GS-based PI and feedforward-plus-IMC-based PI controllers are further tested as improvement version to further compare the significance of the advanced process control outcomes hence GS-PI, improved GI-base PI-plus FF found to have better performance. The GS method is built over five operating points to approximate the system’s nonlinearity and is eventually combined with feedforward control to yield a much better performance

Analysis of sildenafil citrate in herbal aphrodisiac preparations marketed in Sokoto metropolis and its public health implications

Aphrodisiacs are among the most widely marketed and consumed herbal products in North-Western Nigeria. There are speculations that these products are being adulterated with orthodox medicines in order to boost their effects and sales. The objective of current research was to analyse the presence of adulterated sildenafil citrate in some herbal aphrodisiacs commonly sold and consumed in Sokoto metropolis. Ten different liquid herbal aphrodisiac preparations marketed in Sokoto metropolis were collected from different areas of the city. Each of the preparation was analysed for adulteration with sildenafil citrate using thin layer chromatography and UV spectroscopy. Five of the preparations were found to contain sildenafil citrate in the range of 34 – 291 mg per daily dose. The findings from this study indicate that some of the herbal aphrodisiac preparations marketed in Sokoto metropolis are being adulterated with substantial amount of undeclared sildenafil citrate, a practice that poses serious public health hazard to its consumers. Consequences of which ranges from nausea, dyspepsia, pain, dizziness, abnormal vision, and headache and potentially heart attack especially among adults with underlying chronic diseases such as hypertension among others

Evaluation of 1.5mm Lead Shield for Radiological Protection and Comparison of Calculated and Measured Results of Equivalent Dose

Evaluation of radiation protective devices in radiology departments is one of the practices that ensure radiation protection and staff and patients safety in hospitals. A research work to evaluate 1.5mm lead shield used for radiological protection was carried out in Radiological Unit of Sharda  Hospital, of Sharda University, India, using 300mA fixed x-ray machine room. The evaluation was done in the x-ray energy (kVp) range between 52- 81 and by using calculative procedure and by direct measurement of the radiation dose rates. The two results were compared. The resultsshows that, in the absence of the shield, only 11.82% of the radiation exposure was attenuated by the air space before reaching the  radiographer’s stand, while in the presence of the shield, 96.50% was attenuated, whereas, for the measured result only 10.17% was attenuated in the absence of the shield and 89.83% was attenuated in the presence of the shield before reaching the radiographer’s stand. The unit of radiation exposure was converted to that of equivalent dose and that of effective dose in order to assess the radiographer’s safety level behind the shield. It was found that, the equivalent/effective dose is as low as to be accepted according to the policy of ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable), and within the NCRP recommended limit. This guaranteed the effectiveness of the lead shield of 1.5mm thickness in the x-ray energy range used in this study.Keywords: Lead shield, radiological protection, effectiveness of 1.5mm leadshield, presence of shield, absence of shield, radiographer’s safety.

Revisiting public transport service delivery: exploring rail commuters’ attitudes towards fare collection and verification systems

Making Public Transport services more attractive and effective requires attractive and effective ticketing. This requires a clear understanding of user attitudes, needs and expectations. This study explored commuters’ attitudes to fare collection and verification and the underlying factors, their acceptance of the policy of “No-ticket-purchase on-board” and their preferences for fare verification options. Commuters rated their agreement with 17 ticketing related statements in a cross-sectional questionnaire survey conducted along the corridor with the largest proportion of cross-county commuting in Sweden, Stockholm – Uppsala. Four sets of hypotheses were then tested. The average scores were normally distributed and hence analysed using a two-way ANOVA. A One-way chi-square test was conducted to determine the commuters’ preference for fare verification approach. A t-test was used to analyse the perceived quality of ticketing and the commuters’ reaction to the policy of “No-ticket-purchase on-board PT vehicle”. Whilst the results showed that the commuters were relatively uniform in their attitudes, income, commuting route, ticket type and ticket purchase channel affected their attitudes. They were neutral to the policy of “No-ticket-purchase on-board”. Their attitude to fare collection was more positive than that of fare verification and they showed a preference for automatic fare verification. The study highlights a number of policy implications and recommends further research on the feasibility of passive fare verification and on commuters’ preferred options for fare verification

Disturbance Observer-Based Super-Twisting SMC for Variable Speed Wind Energy Conversion System Under Parametric Uncertainties

© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Effective control of the generator’s shaft speed will ensure maximum power is captured from the wind turbines. However, the parameters of the wind energy conversion system (WECS)-based generators, including stator resistance and inductance, could change over time due to power loss, winding degradation, or core saturation. These parametric uncertainties affect the performance of the designed controllers. Although the sliding mode controllers (SMCs) are robust to matched uncertainties, the unmatched parametric uncertainties were not effectively compensated for by the SMC. This study investigated the performance of the SMC and super-twisting SMC (ST-SMC) under unmatched uncertainties using variable wind speed. Initially, the controllers were designed with the nominal parameters of the WECS-based permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG). Then, the values of the stator resistance and inductance were changed without changing the control design to test the robustness of the controllers to unmatched uncertainties. Finally, the uncertainties were estimated by the disturbance observer and incorporated into the controllers as a compensation mechanism. The controllers were designed using the synthetic wind profile and validated with the real-wind data. The transient and overall response of the controllers were analyzed using mean-absolute error (MAE) and root-mean-square error (RMSE) of the shaft speed tracking. The results demonstrated that the uncertainty compensation-based SMC/ST-SMC approach provides satisfactory shaft speed tracking performance even under parametric uncertainties.Peer reviewe

Weed Control Efficiency of Management Practices of Lowland Paddy Production in Sudan Savanna Ecology

Two concurrent experiments were conducted during the wet season of 2012 and 2013 at research farms of the Irrigation Research Stations of Institute for Agricultural Research (I.A.R), Ahmadu Bello University, Talata Mafara (12o 34’ N; 06o 04’E) and Kadawa (11o39`N; 08o02’E ) in the Sudan Savanna ecological zone of Nigeria to assess the efficiency of rice production practices in controlling weeds in rice. The treatment consisted of four (4) weed management practice (Oxadiazon at 1.0 kg a.i ha-1 [pre-emergence], orizo-plus [propanil 360 g/l + 2,4-D 200 g/l] at 2.8 kg a.i ha-1 [post emergence at 3 WAS], manual weeding [at 3 and 6 WAS] and weedy check [control]); three (3) each of seeding method (Drilling, Dibbling and Broadcast) and seed rate (40 kg ha-1; 70 kg ha-1; 100 kg ha-1). The experiment was laid in a split plot design replicated three times. Weed management practice was assigned to the main plots while the combination of seeding method and seed rate to the subplots. The result indicated that weedy check was consistent in recording the highest weed growth in terms of weed dry weight and weed cover score. Manual weeding at 3 and 6 WAS was significantly more efficient in controlling the weeds followed by oxadiazon at 1.0 kg a.i ha-1 then orizoplus at 2.8 kg a.i ha-1. Broadcast method of seeding recorded significantly lower values for weed control efficiency and weed growth when compared with drilling and dibbling seeding methods at both locations and years of study. A higher than 40 kg ha-1seed  rate increased weed suppression by decreasing weed dry weight indicating better weed suppression. Keywords: Weed control efficiency, weed dry weight, lowland padd

Determination of Some Heavy Metals in Soil Samples Obtained From Rimi Local Government in Katsina State, Nigeria

Abstract: The concentration of lead, chromium, iron, zinc, potassium, magnesium and sodium in soil samples obtained from Rimi local government in Katsina state was analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy Technique. The Highest Mean concentration of   the metals for each sample were as follows:  Lead (8.3 ± 0.000 mg/g), Chromium (3.125±4.4.42 mg/g), Iron (14.2±0.000 mg/g), Zinc (4.2 ± 0.000 mg/g), Potassium (218.7 ± 44.19 mg/g), Magnesium (68.75 ± 8.84 mg/g)  and Sodium (1446.45 ± 25.24 mg/g), The results were discussed in terms of effects of the concentration of these metals on the agricultural soil understudy and the concentration obtained was below the ECDG (2004), WHO (2008), Kabata-Pendias (1995), SEPA (2000) and  DPR (1991) Permissible limits of heavy metals in Agricultural land. Although it was concluded that the soil is suitable for agricultural purposes, Remediation of heavy metal contaminated soils is necessary to reduce the associated risks, make the land resource available for agricultural production, enhance food security and scale down land tenure problems arising from changes in the land use pattern. Keyword: Agricultural Soil Pollution, Trace and Heavy Metals, Environmental Pollution

Perceived needs of health tutors in rural and urban health training institutions in Ghana:Implications for health sector staff internal migration control

BackgroundThe population of Ghana is increasingly becoming urbanized with about 70% of the estimated 27 million people living in urban and peri-urban areas. Nonetheless, eight out of the ten regions in Ghana remain predominantly rural where only 32% of the national health sector workforce works. Moreover, the rural-urban disparities in the density of health tutors (staff responsible for pre-service training of health professionals) are enormous. This paper explores perceived needs of health tutors in rural and urban health training institutions in Ghana.MethodsThis is a descriptive qualitative study conducted in the Greater Accra and Northern regions of Ghana. The Study used the deductive thematic and sub-thematic analysis approaches. Five health training institutions were randomly sampled, and 72 tutors engaged in separate focus group discussions with an average size of 14 participants per group in each training institution.ResultsPerceived rural-urban disparities among health tutors were found in the payment of extra duty allowances; school infrastructure including libraries and internet connectivity; staff accommodation; and opportunities for scholarships and higher education. Health tutors in rural areas generally expressed more frustration with these work conditions than those in urban areas.ConclusionsThere is the need to initiate and sustain work incentives that promote motivation of rural health tutors to control ongoing rural-urban migration of qualified staff. It is recommended the following incentives be prioritized to promote retention of qualified health tutors in rural health training schools: payment of research, book and rural allowances; early promotion of rural staff; prioritizing rural tutors for scholarships, and introduction of national best health tutor awards

Perceived needs of health tutors in rural and urban health training institutions in Ghana:Implications for health sector staff internal migration control

BackgroundThe population of Ghana is increasingly becoming urbanized with about 70% of the estimated 27 million people living in urban and peri-urban areas. Nonetheless, eight out of the ten regions in Ghana remain predominantly rural where only 32% of the national health sector workforce works. Moreover, the rural-urban disparities in the density of health tutors (staff responsible for pre-service training of health professionals) are enormous. This paper explores perceived needs of health tutors in rural and urban health training institutions in Ghana.MethodsThis is a descriptive qualitative study conducted in the Greater Accra and Northern regions of Ghana. The Study used the deductive thematic and sub-thematic analysis approaches. Five health training institutions were randomly sampled, and 72 tutors engaged in separate focus group discussions with an average size of 14 participants per group in each training institution.ResultsPerceived rural-urban disparities among health tutors were found in the payment of extra duty allowances; school infrastructure including libraries and internet connectivity; staff accommodation; and opportunities for scholarships and higher education. Health tutors in rural areas generally expressed more frustration with these work conditions than those in urban areas.ConclusionsThere is the need to initiate and sustain work incentives that promote motivation of rural health tutors to control ongoing rural-urban migration of qualified staff. It is recommended the following incentives be prioritized to promote retention of qualified health tutors in rural health training schools: payment of research, book and rural allowances; early promotion of rural staff; prioritizing rural tutors for scholarships, and introduction of national best health tutor awards