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An automatic vehicle accident detection and rescue system
Get PDFAbstract: Human loss by road accidents has been a devastating issue, which possess negative implications on the socio-economic development of the societies. Most developing countries are recording higher volumes of fatalities whenever a road accident occurs due to the lack of a proper and quick system that reports accidents to the emergency services for an immediate rescue. Moreover, the chances of survival of any casualty of an accident is mostly dependent on how quick the emergency medical services arrive at the scene and quickly reaches the nearest hospital with the victims for treatment. However, these emergency vehicles are sometimes delayed by heavy traffic en route to and from the accident scene. This paper introduces a robust automatic vehicle accident detection and alert system, which uses an accelerometer to detect the tilting and the crashing of the vehicle, sends the Global Positioning System (GPS) location of the accident scene to intended security, medical and family contacts. The proposed design achieved a turnaround response, which is faster than conventional rescue system without these features. Hence, saving more lives as possible through technology
Managing strategy-culture dichotomies in South African municipalities : A payment culture perspective
Get PDFAbstract: Local municipalities in South Africa have been struggling to enhance a payment culture for municipal services. Despite their endeavours to do so, consumer debts still intensify to an unbearable extent. This study investigated how to manage strategy-culture dichotomies to enhance a payment culture for municipal services. Secondary data were gathered from several sources, such as journal articles, books, blogs, magazines, and local municipal reports. A systematic literature review was done to examine the effective measures needed to manage the strategy-culture dichotomies in effect to change and handle peoples’ culture and psychology in the payment for municipal services. The meaning of culture and its impact on the implementation of the organisational strategy were identified. Concerning the intensifying consumer debt accruals, the study upholds that strategic leaders should understand the cultural imperatives of the people before making and implementing strategies. The study further recommends that municipal employees identify characteristics of present culture and specify actions to implement a strategy. More so, strategic leaders should always scrutinise their workforce, analyse their systems, improve their communication options, and collaborate with stakeholders. This study asserts that the intensifying consumer debts amidst varying cultural imperatives could be stemmed by reconciling strategy-culture dichotomies
The role of UV and blue light in photo-eradication of microorganisms
Get PDFAbstract: Photo-eradication of microorganisms with UV and blue light has been around since the 1870s. Research to further the development and deployment of germicidal UV and violet-blue light has been on the rise since COVID-19 pandemic. This paper traces the evolution of UV and violet-blue light, presents suggested ways to exploit two leading germicidal light technologies—far UV and pulsed blue light (PBL)—in the ongoing quest to effectively stem the spread of pandemic diseases. An effective way to overcome or minimize the spread of disease is to inactivate and reduce the number of viral particles both in the environment and in accessible parts of patients. This can be achieved by irradiating spaces, infected air, and the general environment with PBL or far UV, and by similarly disinfecting supplies, tools, and equipment. Irradiating the oronasal cavity of infected patients with PBL could clear the virus and kill oral opportunistic bacteria that worsen coronavirus infections. The advantages and disadvantages of the two-leading photo-disinfection light technologies are discussed
The challenges in the high carbon ferromanganese industry and Prospects
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Knowledge Production on Fourth Industrial Revolution in the ECOWAS Region in Africa : A Scientometric Analysis
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Disruptive technologies and finance professionals engagement : post Covid-19 survival signal
Get PDFAbstract: The reality of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) has been forced on the less tech-savvy by the disruptive virus popularly known as covid-19. In this context, the responsiveness of finance professionals to job-related disruptive technology prior Covid-19 is a key indicator to their survival in the 4IR era. The study investigated the extent to which the Nigerian finance professionals engaged in online transactions prior the global pandemic. It also examined the level of ownership of digital currency both by individual finance professionals and by the organizations they work for. Quantitative data were purposively sourced from a sample of 250 accounting professionals which were selected from a population of 1300 using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were employed to analyse data. In spite of the high level of engagement with online transaction, results revealed a low level of ownership of digital currency among professionals and zero level of ownership by organisations. The study signaled a low level of responsiveness to digital currency transactions, which has a high potential of displacing the service of finance professionals in the near future. The study concluded that the apathy exhibited by the finance professional prior covid-19 could deprive them the possible dividend of digital currency as a disruptive technology in the industry
Transforming access to clean energy technologies in the Global South : learning from lighting Africa in Kenya
Get PDFAbstract: As SDG7-related interventions seek to transform access to clean energy, this paper presents an analysis of both a previous transformative intervention (Lighting Africa) and a theoretical approach to understanding how such transformations can be achieved in the Global South (sociotechnical innovation system, STIS, building). The paper makes four contributions. First, it tests the extent to which the STIS-building concept is useful in understanding and conceptualising how Lighting Africa transformed the market for solar lanterns in Kenya from an estimated market size of 29,000 lamps in 2009 to one where 680,000 Lighting Africa certified lamps were sold in Kenya by the end of the Programme in 2013. Second, it presents the most in-depth analysis of Lighting Africa that we are aware of to date. Third, it presents a conceptual framework that illustrates the Lighting Africa approach, providing a framework for future policy interventions aiming to transform access to clean energy technologies in the Global South. Fourth, it reflects on weaknesses in the STIS approach. In particular, these include a need to better attend to: the gendered implications of interventions (and social justice more broadly); implications of different scales of technologies; value accumulation and the extent to which interventions benefit indigenous actors and local economies; and the political and economic implications of any intervention and its distribution of benefits
Finance, oil rent and premature deindustrialisation in Nigeria
Get PDFAbstract : The literature on deindustrialisation often neglects the role of finance in the decline in manufacturing, despite the increasing shift towards financial speculation relative to real investments. This paper tries to bridge this gap in the literature by examining the role of finance in Nigeria’s premature deindustriali- sation, particularly banks’ drive for short-term profits and their choice to lend to the oil and gas sector over manufacturing. We show that deindustrialisation in Nigeria can be traced back to the effect of the neoliberal policies of the 1980s and the take-offof financial liberalisation, corresponding to the decline in manufacturing value added. In the same period, employment share in manufacturing declined, how- ever, at a distinctly lower rate than manufacturing value added. Therefore, higher productivity of labour is considered a less prominent factor for premature deindustrialisation in Nigeria, not least due to the low level of technological upgrading. We argue that the disproportionate flow of bank credit to the oil and gas and services sectors relative to manufacturing is further incentivised by the government’s failed sub- sidy to the oil industry, which guarantees rent extraction for private interests. Using the Autoregressive Distributed lag (ARDL) estimation for the period 1981-2018, we find evidence that suggests a significant negative impact of domestic credit by banks on manufacturing value added in Nigeria. The dispropor- tionate flow of domestic bank credit to the oil and gas and services sectors in Nigeria also indicates a significant negative impact on the country’s manufacturing. On the other hand, net domestic credit by financial institutions, which includes financial flows by domestic development banks, has a significant positive impact on manufacturing
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