Equal Channel Angular Extrusion Characteristics on Mechanical Behavior of Aluminum Alloy

Materials strengthened by conventional methods such as strain hardening, solute additions, precipitation and grain size refinement are often adopted in industrial processes. But there is limitation to the amount of deformation that these conventional methods can impact to a material. This study focused on the review of major mechanical properties of aluminum alloys in the presence of an ultrafine grain size into polycrystalline materials by subjecting the metal to an intense plastic straining through simple shear without any corresponding change in the cross-sectional dimensions of the sample. The effect of the heavy strain rate on the microstructure of aluminum alloys was in refinement of the coarse grains into ultrafine grain size by introducing a high density of dislocations and subsequently re-arranging the dislocations to form an array of grain boundaries. Hence, this investigation is aimed at gathering contributions on the influence of equal channel angular extrusion toward improving the mechanical properties of the aluminum alloys through intense plastic strain

The multimodal edge of human aerobotic interaction

This paper presents the idea of a multimodal human aerobotic interaction. An overview of the aerobotic system and its application is given. The joystick-based controller interface and its limitations is discussed. Two techniques are suggested as emerging alternatives to the joystick-based controller interface used in human aerobotic interaction. The first technique is a multimodal combination of speech, gaze, gesture, and other non-verbal cues already used in regular human-humaninteraction. The second is telepathic interaction via brain computer interfaces. The potential limitations of these alternatives is highlighted, and the considerations for further works are presented

Equal Channel Angular Extrusion Characteristics on Mechanical Behavior of Aluminum Alloy

Materials strengthened by conventional methods such as strain hardening, solute additions, precipitation and grain size refinement are often adopted in industrial processes. But there is limitation to the amount of deformation that these conventional methods can impact to a material. This study focused on the review of major mechanical properties of aluminum alloys in the presence of an ultrafine grain size into polycrystalline materials by subjecting the metal to an intense plastic straining through simple shear without any corresponding change in the cross-sectional dimensions of the sample. The effect of the heavy strain rate on the microstructure of aluminum alloys was in refinement of the coarse grains into ultrafine grain size by introducing a high density of dislocations and subsequently re-arranging the dislocations to form an array of grain boundaries. Hence, this investigation is aimed at gathering contributions on the influence of equal channel angular extrusion toward improving the mechanical properties of the aluminum alloys through intense plastic strain

Replacement value of cassava vinasse meal for maize on growth performance, haematological parameters and organoleptic properties of Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica)

Article Details: Received: 2018-10-01 | Accepted: 2018-10-22 | Available online: 2019-01-31https://doi.org/10.15414/afz.2019.22.01.7-12Two hundred and twenty eight (228) one day old quails were used to assess the suitability of cassava vinasse meal (CVM) as a replacement for maize at varying inclusion levels of 0.0%, 5.0%, 10.0% and 15.0%. The birds were fed an adequate starter diet for the first week before being randomly alloted into 4 dietary group of 3 replicate of 19 birds each. The feeding trial lasted for six weeks. The crude protein, crude fibre, ether extract, ash, moisture, nitrogen free extract and metabolizable energy of the dehydrated cassava vinasse were 19.26%, 7.96%, 3.72%, 9.33%, 5.68% and 12.17 MJ kg-1 ME respectively. The results showed that final weight, average daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio were significantly (P <0.05) influenced as inclusion level of cassava vinasse meal increases. Significant differences were observed on the haematological parameters such as haematocrit and mean corpuscular volume (P <0.05). The analyzed panelist response on organoleptic parameters showed that tenderness, juiciness and texture were significantly different (P <0.05) with birds fed 10.0% CVM having the least values. In conclusion, 10.0% CVM (21% replacement for maize) in the diet of quails had no deleterious effect on the feed conversion ratio, haematological parameters and meat acceptability. Moreover, further research could be geared towards the use of exogenous enzymes and the performance of other poultry species including broiler chicken.Keywords: blood, cassava, quail, sensory properties, vinasseReferencesABU, O. A. et al. (2015) Carcass characteristics and meat quality of Broilers fed cassava peel and leaf meals as Replacement for maize and Soya bean meal. Journal of Agriculture and Veterinary Science (IOSR-JAVS), vol. 8, pp. 2319– 2327. doi: https://doi.org/10.9790/2380-08324146AGUGU, G. O and OKEKE, G. C. (2005) The effect of replacing maize with cassava root meal in the diets of pullet chicks. In: Proceeding of 30th Annual conference of the Nigerian Society for Animal Production, Nsukka,vol. 30, pp. 235–237.AHMED O. et al. (2013) Physicochemical, Chemical and Microbiological Characteristics of Vinasse, A By-product from Ethanol Industry. American Journal of Biochemistry, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 80–83. doi: https://doi.org/10.5923/j.ajb.20130303.03AINA, O. O. and AJIBADE, T. (2014) Age-related changes in haematologic parameters of cage-raised Japanese quails (Cortunix japonica). In Journal of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 104–108. doi: https://doi.org/10.5897/JVMAH2013.0271AJIBOLA F.O. et al. (2012) Enzymatic Production of Ethanol from Cassava Starch Using Two Strains of  Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Nigerian Food Journal, vol. 30, no. 2,  pp. 114–121. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0189-7241(15)30044-8AKINFALA, E. O. et al. (2002) Evaluation of the nutritive value of whole cassava plant as a replacement for maize in the starter diets for broiler chicken. Livestock Research for Rural Development, vol. 14, pp. 1–6.AKINWUMI, A. O. et al (2013) Evaluation of carcass, organ and organoleptic properties of spent layers of different poultry types. Bots. J. Agric. Appl. Sci., vol. 9, no.1, pp. 3–7.AOAC (2000) Official Methods of Analysis. Association of official Analytical Chemist Inc. 15th ed. Washington DC, USA. 2000.CHINEKE, C.A. et al. (2006) Haematological parameters in rabbit breeds and crosses in humid tropics. Pakistan Journal of Biological Science, vol. 9, no. 11, pp. 2102–2106. doi: https://doi.org/10.3923/pjbs.2006.2101.2106DACIE, J.V. et al. (1995) Laboratory methods used in the investigation of paroxyamal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PHN). In Dacie J.V., Lewis S.M. (eds.), Practical haematology, 8th ed., London: Churchill Livingstone, pp. 287–296.DUNCAN, D. B. (1955) Multiple range and multiple F-tests. Biometrics, vol. 11, pp. 1–42.  EDACHE, J.A. et al. (2005) Replacement Value of Guinea Corn for Maize in Practical diet Fed to Quails Chicks. Animal Research International, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 29–31.ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA) (2017) Guidelines for wineries and distilleries. Retrieved 2018-09-20 from http://www.epa.sa.gov.auFARRELL, A. E. et al. (2006) Ethanol can contribute to energy and environmental goals. Science, vol. 311, no. 5760, pp. 506– 508. doi: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1121416GULUWA, L.Y. et al. (2014) Performance and Carcass Evaluation of Quails Fed Graded Levels of Water Soaked Sweet Orange Peel Meal. Advances in Life Science and Technology, vol. 20, pp. 1–6.HAHN-HÄGERDAL, B. et al. (2007) Towards industrial pentose-fermenting yeast strains. Applied Microb. Biotechnol., vol. 74, no. 5, pp. 937–953. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-006-0827-2HIDALGO, K. (2009) Vinasse in feed: Good for animal and environment. Feed Tech, vol. 13, no. 5, pp. 18–20.HUI, Y. and SHURI, L. (2013) Emergy analysis of cassava vinasse treatment. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, vol. 91, no. 6, pp. 503–507. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j. psep.2013.01.003IWUJI, T.C. and HERBERT U. (2012) Haematological and serum biochemical characteristics of rabbit bucks fed diets containing garcimiola kola seed meal. In Proceedings of 37th Annual Conference Nigeria Society Animal Production, Nigeria, pp. 87–89.KERR, R. A. (2007) The looming oil crisis could arrive soon uncomfortably.  Science,  vol. 316, no. 5823, pp. 351–351. doi: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.316.5823.351LAWRIE, R. A. (1998) Lawrie’s Meat Science. 6th edition. Oxford: Pergamon Press.MABEE, W. E. (2007). Policy options to support biofuel production. In O.  Lisbeth  (ed.). Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology. Berlin: Springer Heidelberg, pp. 329–357. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/10_2007_059MARIANOL, A. P. et al. (2006) Use of Vinasse, an Ethanol Distillery Waste, as An amendment to Bioremedation of Diesel oil contaminated Soils. In Interamerican Confederation of Chemical Engineering (IACCHE).OJEDIRAN T. K. and EMIOLA, I. A. (2018) Effect of processing and level of inclusion of processed-fermented Jatropha curcas (L.) kernel meals on the performance of starter broiler chicks. Trop. Agric. (Trinidad), vol. 95, no. 1, pp. 55–66.OJEDIRAN, T. K. et al. (2015) Residual Antinutrients in Differently Processed Jatropha curcas Kernel Meals: Effect on Blood Parameters and Gut Microbes of Broiler Chicks. International Journal of Applied Research and Technology, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 29–38.OKANO, K. et al. (2010) Biotechnological production of enantiomeric pure lactic acid from renewable resources: Recent achievements, perspectives, and limits. Microbiol. 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Review of prostate cancer research in Nigeria

Prostate cancer (CaP) disparities in the black man calls for concerted research efforts. This review explores the trend and focus of CaP research activities in Nigeria, one of the ancestral nations for black men. It seeks to locate the place of the Nigerian research environment in the global progress on CaP disparities. Literature was reviewed mainly through a Pubmed search with the terms “prostate cancer”and “Nigeria”, as well as from internet and hard copies of journal pages

Immunological insights into COVID-19 in Southern Nigeria

Introduction: One of the unexpected outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic was the relatively low levels of morbidity and mortality in Africa compared to the rest of the world. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, accounted for less than 0.01% of the global COVID-19 fatalities. The factors responsible for Nigeria's relatively low loss of life due to COVID-19 are unknown. Also, the correlates of protective immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and the impact of pre-existing immunity on the outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa are yet to be elucidated. Here, we evaluated the natural and vaccine-induced immune responses from vaccinated, non-vaccinated and convalescent individuals in Southern Nigeria throughout the three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. We also examined the pre-existing immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 from samples collected prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We used spike RBD and N- IgG antibody ELISA to measure binding antibody responses, SARS-CoV-2 pseudotype assay protocol expressing the spike protein of different variants (D614G, Delta, Beta, Omicron BA1) to measure neutralizing antibody responses and nucleoprotein (N) and spike (S1, S2) direct ex vivo interferon gamma (IFNγ) T cell ELISpot to measure T cell responses. Result: Our study demonstrated a similar magnitude of both binding (N-IgG (74% and 62%), S-RBD IgG (70% and 53%) and neutralizing (D614G (49% and 29%), Delta (56% and 47%), Beta (48% and 24%), Omicron BA1 (41% and 21%)) antibody responses from symptomatic and asymptomatic survivors in Nigeria. A similar magnitude was also seen among vaccinated participants. Interestingly, we revealed the presence of preexisting binding antibodies (N-IgG (60%) and S-RBD IgG (44%)) but no neutralizing antibodies from samples collected prior to the pandemic. Discussion: These findings revealed that both vaccinated, non-vaccinated and convalescent individuals in Southern Nigeria make similar magnitude of both binding and cross-reactive neutralizing antibody responses. It supported the presence of preexisting binding antibody responses among some Nigerians prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lastly, hybrid immunity and heterologous vaccine boosting induced the strongest binding and broadly neutralizing antibody responses compared to vaccine or infection-acquired immunity alone

Design and construction of a wireless remotely controlled video capturing vehicle

Abstract: The Video Capturing Vehicle (VCV) is a wireless remotely controlled video capturing device with ground mobility and a simulated flight control. This project focused on designing and building the video capturing vehicle&apos;s motherboard and its remote control device. The video capturing vehicle&apos;s motherboard consists of a microcontroller (PIC16F84A)to decode, interpret, and execute control signals; motors (dc and stepper) and a mechanical system, for movement and direction control; an IP camera, for capturing the video feeds; and a FM receiver module, for data and control signal reception. The remote control system consists of a computer system (with the Microsoft Windows operating system installed and a built-in WLAN adapter) and the built USB interfaced control device. Computer program software was developed for the computer system to capture video feed and send control signals to the USB control device. The control device uses the PIC18F2550 microcontroller to encode received control signals and modulates a FM transmitter module, which sends the VCV control signals via radio-link. The video capturing vehicle can be used for several purposes like surveillance (for security reasons), viewing of human inaccessible area, experimentation (monitoring a health hazardous experiment remotely), among others

Multimodal speech and visual gesture control interface technique for small unmanned multirotor aircraft

This research conducted an investigation into the use of novel human computer interaction(HCI) interfaces in the control of small multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs). The main objective was to propose, design, and develop an alternative control interface for the small multirotor UAV, which could perform better than the standard RC joystick (RCJ) controller, and to evaluate the performance of the proposed interface. The multimodal speech and visual gesture (mSVG)interface were proposed, designed, and developed. This was then coupled to a Rotor S ROS Gazebo UAV simulator. An experiment study was designed to determine how practical the use of the proposed multimodal speech and visual gesture interface was in the control of small multirotor UAVs by determining the limits of speech and gesture at different ambient noise levels and under different background-lighting conditions, respectively. And to determine how the mSVG interface compares to the RC joystick controller for a simple navigational control task - in terms of performance (time of completion and accuracy of navigational control) and from a human factor’s perspective (user satisfaction and cognitive workload). 37 participants were recruited. From the results of the experiments conducted, the mSVG interface was found to be an effective alternative to the RCJ interface when operated within a constrained application environment. From the result of the noise level experiment, it was observed that speech recognition accuracy/success rate falls as noise levels rise, with75 dB noise level being the practical aerial robot (aerobot) application limit. From the results of the gesture lighting experiment, gestures were successfully recognised from 10 Lux and above on distinct solid backgrounds, but the effect of varying both the lighting conditions and the environment background on the quality of gesture recognition, was insignificant (&lt; 0.5%), implying that the technology used, type of gesture captured, and the image processing technique used were more important. From the result of the performance and cognitive workload comparison between the RCJ and mSVG interfaces, the mSVG interface was found to perform better at higher nCA application levels than the RCJ interface. The mSVG interface was 1 minute faster and 25% more accurate than the RCJ interface; and the RCJ interface was found to be 1.4 times more cognitively demanding than the mSVG interface. The main limitation of this research was the limited lighting level range of 10 Lux - 1400 Lux used during the gesture lighting experiment, which constrains the application limit to lowlighting indoor environments. Suggested further works from this research included the development of a more robust gesture and speech algorithm and the coupling of the improved mSVG interface on to a practical UAV.</p

The performance and cognitive workload analysis of a multimodal speech and visual gesture (mSVG) UAV control interface

This paper conducts a comparison of the performance and cognitive workload between three UAV control interfaces on an nCA (navigation control autonomy) Tier 1-III flight navigation task. The first interface is the standard RC Joystick (RCJ) controller, the second interface is the multimodal speech and visual gesture (mSVG) interface, and the third interface is the modified version of the RCJ interface with altitude, attitude, and position (AAP) assist. The modified RCJ interface was achieved with the aid of the Keyboard (KBD). A model of the mSVG interface previously designed and tested was used in this comparison. An experiment study was designed to measure the completion time and navigation accuracy of participants using each of the three interfaces, on a developed path_v02 test flight path. Thirty-seven (37) participants volunteered. The NASA task load index (TLX) survey questionnaire was administered at the end of each interface experiment to access the participants experience and to estimate the interface cognitive workload. A commercial software, the RealFlight Drone Simulator (RFDS) was used to estimate the RCJ skill level of the participants. From the results of the experiment, it was shown that the flying hours, the number of months flying, and the RFDS Level 4 challenge performance was a good estimator for participants RCJ flying skill level. A two-way result was obtained in the comparison of the RCJ and mSVG interfaces. It was concluded that, although the mSVG was better than the standard RCJ interface, the AAP-assisted RCJ was found to be as effective as (in some cases better than) the mSVG interface. It was also shown, from the speech gesture ratio result, that theparticipants had a preference for gesture over speech when using the mSVG interface. Some further works such as an outdoor field test and a performance comparison at higher nCA levels were suggested