Epoka University

Flood risk assessment in ungauged watersheds remains a challenge due to limited flow data. This study investigates peak discharge and flood risk in the ungauged Wupa River Basin, Nigeria, using Manning's equation, the Kinematic Wave Parameter (KWP) model, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service-Curve Number (NRCS-CN) method. The thorough analysis provides valuable insights into peak discharge dynamics, underscoring the significance of accurate hydrological modeling and watershed characterization. Results indicate that Manning's equation and KWP produce similar peak discharge estimates (e.g., 155.71 m3/s and 155.98 m3/s for September 2022), whereas the NRCS-CN method yields significantly higher values (376.80 m3/s for the same month) due to its sensitivity to soil and land use characteristics. The study also addresses the potential inadequacy of the NRCS-CN method for forested areas in West Africa. These findings provide critical insights for flood management and infrastructure planning in ungauged basins across West Africa.

Anthropologic climatic shifts combined with the high levels of urbanization urge the global concerns for climate resilience urban development. In consequence to amplified thermal stress in urban areas, several researches underscore the positive effects of VGS addressing human well-beings and highlight potential benefit for ecological maintenance and reduction of greenhouse gas emission. This study evaluates the impact of green façade courtyard morphologies on thermal comfort in four existing urban frameworks within the Mediterranean climates. The research investigated aiming to achieve optimal comfort levels into open spaces, ensuring adaptation to climate change effects. Adopting a qualitative assessment through simulations, this research utilizes Grasshopper and Ladybug Tools to compare existing urban conditions and refined residential blocks. Ongoing findings provide guidelines for urban planners focusing on mitigation strategies of extreme heat aiming to achieve optimal comfort for urban citizens. By evaluating ecological solutions, this research attempts to con-tribute to the increasing demand for climate resilience designs while maintaining sustainability.

This paper investigated the influence of the deterioration of water quality in processed potable water distributed to the public from the Lower Usuma Dam Water Treatment Plant (LUD-WTP) in Abuja, Nigeria. Laboratory results revealed that the physiochemical parameters of the water samples were within the guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ). However, analysis of the bacteriological content of the water samples collected from locations serviced by the LUD-WTP revealed the presence of E. coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, and Klebsiella. Through water age simulation, the water distribution system in Abuja is supply-driven rather than demand-driven, which leads to an intermittent supply of water in certain areas. To prevent this issue, recommended chlorine booster locations be implemented at community tanks to re-chlorinate the water before distribution to consumers, and future designs should consider potential urban expansion.

Seismic performance evaluation of existing buildings is essential for defining effective mitigation strategies in earthquake-prone regions. This study investigates the seismic performance of low-rise unreinforced masonry (URM) residential buildings located in several cities in the Albanian territory. Material properties were obtained from experimental tests conducted on representative samples and subsequently adopted in the development of analytical models. Three-dimensional finite element models were generated based on the collected geometric data and experimentally determined material characteristics. Nonlinear static (pushover) analyses were carried out to assess the seismic capacity and identify the potential failure mechanisms of the buildings. The numerical results showed significant variation in performance depending on the building typology, with some cases reaching the near-collapse limit state under design-level earthquakes. The capacity curves and performance points obtained from the models demonstrate the pronounced influence of construction techniques, boundary conditions, and material properties on the seismic response. The results indicated that URM residential buildings exhibit distinctive seismic performance characteristics influenced by their construction techniques and material properties. Based on the findings, recommendations for retrofit strategies are proposed to enhance the seismic resilience of such structures.

Hopfield neural networks (HNN) are fully connected networks of binary neurons that can store patterns in an energy landscape. Collective properties of large systems are only weakly sensitive to details, and this property can be used to test the robustness of HNN to noise. In this work, their robustness to various types of noise in classification tasks is evaluated. While HNNs have demonstrated remarkable pattern recognition capabilities through their associative memory properties, their vulnerability to noise-induced parasitic memories remains a significant challenge, particularly in high-dimensional classification problems. We propose a comprehensive framework for evaluating HNN resilience by examining the interplay between noise tolerance and the formation of parasitic attractor states that can compromise classification accuracy. The experiments are conducted on MNIST dataset classifying numbers, on cats and dogs dataset, and on brightfield images of unstained cells classifying them based on health state. An attention-based memory module that allows dynamic associative retrieval and a Hopfield classifier are used to integrate learned memory slots with deep visual features. Accuracies greater than 95