Preparation and Evaluation of Electrical Properties of Plastic Composites Developed from Recycled Polystyrene and Local Clay

In this study, the development of polymer composites was achieved from local clay material and waste polystyrene by cold pressing method, the preparation, electrical, and physical behaviours of clay-polystyrene composites are described. Polystyrene based resin (PBR) was produced from waste polystyrene by solvolysis in petroleum solvent and mixed with the 100μm clay particles at 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% clay contents. Composite panels were prepared and tested for Physical and electrical properties. Metallurgical microscope was used for the microstructural studies. It was found that with the increase in clay content in PBR from 0 to 40%, there was a rise in density of the composite by about 11% with a simultaneous decrease in the void fraction or porosity from 5.3 % to 1.5%. It was also observed that the polymer composite with the filler loading of 40 wt% has the highest conductivity value of 1.88E-07 S/cm. The comparison of micrographs at 40x and 100x indicated a good dispersion and distribution of clay particles in the polystyrene matrix. The polymer composites produced can be adapted for applications where electrostatic dissipative materials are required.KEYWORDS: Electrical property, iron fillings, plastic composite, recycled polystyrene, clay particles

The influence of delay factors on Pahang Malaysian construction industry: A PLS-SEM approach

Previous research has shown that delay is a common problem in construction industry. Weather condition and regulation changes, though being minor factors, are also known as external factors contributing to the delay of project construction. This study involved 118 respondents from the construction industry in Kuantan, Pahang. In order to obtain the data, copies of questionnaire were distributed widely among people in Pahang construction industry. The data were analysed by using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling version 3. A significant positive relationship between weather conditions and building projects in Pahang construction industry was identified. This study also found a negative relationship between regulation changes and building projects in Pahang construction industry. As expected, weather conditions were found to be one of the factors contributing to delay in the process of projects’ construction in Malaysia. However, weather conditions and the regulation changes did not significantly affect the construction projects in Malaysia. Out of the factors which contributed to delay in building projects, weather conditions, though a minor factor, played to an extent a part in contributing to extension of the time of the projects in Malaysia. Nevertheless, regulation changes was not considered a vital factor leading to delay in building projects in Malaysia

Identification of genomic regions associated with differences in fleece type in Huacaya and Suri alpacas (Vicugna pacos).

The difference in fleece type is the distinguishing trait between the two types of alpacas (Vicugna pacos), Huacaya and Suri. The Suri fleece type has been found to be inherited dominantly over the Huacaya type, resulting in offspring with the Suri phenotype. The aim of our study was to map genomic regions associated with the two different fleece types. In this study, 91 alpacas (54 Huacayas and 37 Suris) from Germany and Switzerland were genotyped using the 76k alpaca SNP array. Only 59k chromosome-localised markers map to the alpaca reference assembly VicPac3.1, and after quality control 49 866 SNPs, were retained for population structure assessment and to conduct a genome-wide association study. Both principal component and neighbour-joining tree analysis showed that the two fleece-type cohorts overlapped rather than forming two distinct clusters. Genome-wide significantly associated markers were observed in the scaffold region of chromosome 16 (NW_021964192.1), which contains a cluster of keratin genes. A haplotype predominantly found in Suri alpacas has been identified which supports dominant inheritance. Variant filtering of nine whole-genome sequenced alpacas from both fleece types in the critical interval of 0.4 Mb did not reveal perfect segregation of either fleece type for specific variants. To our knowledge, this is the first study to use the recently developed species-specific SNP array to identify genomic regions associated with differences in fleece type in alpacas. There are still some limitations, such as the preliminary status of the reference assembly and the incomplete annotation of the alpaca genome

Comparative Analysis of Machine Learning Techniques for the Prediction of Employee Performance

Human Resources’ purpose is to assign the best people to the right job at the right time, train and qualify them, and provide evaluation methods to track their performance and safeguard employees’ perspective skills. These data are crucial for decision-makers, but collecting the best and most useful information from such large amounts of data is tough. Human Resource employees no longer need to manually handle vast amounts of data with the advent of data mining. Data mining’s primary goal is to uncover information hidden in data patterns and trends in order to produce results that are close to ideal. This study aims at comparing the performance of three techniques in the prediction of performance. The dataset undergoes preprocessing steps that include data cleaning, and data compression using Principal Component Analysis. After preprocessing, training and classification were done using Artificial Neural Network, Random Forest, and Decision tree algorithm. The result showed that Artificial Neural networks performed the best in the prediction of employee performance

Development and Characterization of a Composite Anthill chicken Eggshell Catalyst for Biodiesel Production from Waste Frying Oil

The primary aim of this research is to synthesis composite anthill-chicken eggshell catalyst, which is characterized and employed for the synthesis of biodiesel from waste frying oil. The as-synthesized catalyst was characterized using various characterization techniques, such as Xray fluorescence (XRF), Fourier transform infrared radiation (FTIR), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Basicity. The influence of different reaction parameters on the catalytic reaction, reaction time, catalyst loading and reaction temperature in the range of 50–75°C were studied at fixed methanol/oil ratio of 6:1. The experimental data obtained showed that at reaction time of 2 h, catalyst loading of 5 wt% and reaction temperature of 60°C, the biodiesel yield was 70%. The synthesized catalyst was found to convert low-grade oil into biodiesel via a single-step transesterification process, and its activity has the potential for improvement

Mixed chemical-induced oxidative stress in occupational exposure in Nigerians

Exposure to single chemicals and associated disorders in occupational environments has received significant attention. Understanding these events holds great promise for risk identification, assessment and chemical induced disease prevention. Fifty (50) fasting male workers, age range 18-50 years exposed to chemical mixtures in a works department, mean duration 17.7±10.1 years and 30 controls matched for age, diet, sex and other demographic characteristics except exposure to chemicals were selected. Body mass index (BMI), antioxidant status and other biochemical indices including plasma proteins (total protein) and subsets, albumin and total globulins were determined in plasma. The BMI was similar between chemical workers (exposed) and controls (p>0.05). Uric acid level was significantly higher in the exposed than in the controls (p<0.01) probably in part up regulation to combat oxidative stress. Uric acid was also significantly positively correlated with BMI (r=0.46, p<0.01), probably to match the body chemical burden. Ascorbate was in contrast significantly lower in chemical workers than in controls (p<0.001), reduced by 91% level in controls. Border line inverse correlations between ascorbate, BMI and duration of exposure were evident. Copper (Cu) level, though slightly raised in chemical workers than in controls was not significant (p>0.05). Plasma proteins were significantly lower in chemical workers than in controls (p<0.001). Total globulins was significantly reduced in chemical workers (p<0.01). Other variables did not differ significantly. These data are consistent with the existence of oxidative stress in these chemical workers

Translation, cultural adaptation, and psychometric testing of the Yoruba version of Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire in patients with low-back pain

Purpose: To translate, culturally adapt, and validate the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire into Yoruba language. Materials and Methods: Translation and cultural adaptation of the Yoruba version of the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire was carried out following the Guillemin criteria. One hundred and thirty-one individuals with chronic low-back pain participated in the psychometric evaluation of the Yoruba language translation. Cronbach’s alpha (α), principal component analysis, intra-class correlation, Bland–Altman analysis, Spearman rank correlation coefficient, and minimal detectable difference were used for the analysis. Alpha level was set at p < 0.05. Results and Conclusion: The mean age of the respondents was 53.6 ± 11.6 years. The internal consistency of the Yoruba language version of the Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire yielded a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.9. Principal component analysis yielded a three-factor structure including the “work”, “beliefs related to work”, and “physical activity” which accounted for 61.6% of variance in the Yoruba translation. Test–retest reliability of the Yoruba translation yielded an Intra class correlation coefficient 0.97 (0.95–0.98). The Yoruba Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire was poorly correlated with the Visual Analog Scale (r = 0.01) and Roland–Morris Disability Questionnaire (r = 0.3). The minimal detectable difference of the Yoruba translation was 7.0. The Yoruba Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire demonstrated excellent psychometric properties similar to existing versions and is appropriate for clinical use among Yoruba-speaking patients.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION The Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire is a culturally sensitive psychosocial outcome measure, necessitating its existence, and adaptation into different languages. The instrument was translated and culturally adapted into the Yoruba language following the Guillemin criteria. The Yoruba translation demonstrated excellent internal consistency, test–retest reliability and weak correlations with the Visual analog scale and Roland–Morris Disability Scale. The Yoruba version of the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire can be used to assess fear-avoidance beliefs among Yoruba speaking patients with low-back pain

GASEOUS EMISSIONS CHARACTERIZATION FROM POTASSIUM NITRATE-BASED ROCKET COMPOSITE PROPELLANT COMBUSTION

This paper reports the gaseous compositions produced from the combustion of a laboratory-synthesized potassium nitrate (KNO3)-based rocket composite propellant. The exhaust emissions produced from the combustion of 10 different propellant formulations were analyzed using an E8500 portable industrial emission analyzer. The concentrations, emission factor, and emission rates of the gaseous pollutants were computed. The measured concentrations were then compared with the stationary source limit by the Federal Ministry of Environment standard (Nigeria) to establish their impact on air quality. The obtained concentrations were as follows: hydrocarbon (HC) ranged from 56 to 290 mg/m3, with an the average concentration of 145.72 ± 20.12 mg/m3; carbon monoxide (CO) ranged from 234 to 2030 mg/m3, with an average concentration of 1177.3 ± 154.2 mg/m3; nitrogen oxides ranged from 19.8 to 53.7 mg/m3, with an average concentration of 33.9 ± 4.18 mg/m3; sulfur dioxide ranged from 8.2 to 156.8 mg/m3, with an average concentration of 25.4 ± 14.67 mg/m3; and hydrogen sulfide ranged from 1 to 6 mg/m3, with an average concentration of 2.44 ± 0.50 mg/m3. The results indicate that HC and CO emissions from the combustion of KNO3-based composite propellant represent a great threat and concern in relation to air quality. Thus, the proper management and control of rocket launches using KNO3-based composite propellants needs to be immediately addressed; otherwise, such emissions could have negative effects on the atmospheric environment of rocket routers

Methods for Characterizing Fine Particulate Matter Using Satellite Remote-Sensing Data and Ground Observations: Potential Use for Environmental Public Health Surveillance

This study describes and demonstrates different techniques for surfacing daily environmental / hazards data of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) for the purpose of integrating respiratory health and environmental data for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC s) pilot study of Health and Environment Linked for Information Exchange (HELIX)-Atlanta. It described a methodology for estimating ground-level continuous PM2.5 concentrations using B-Spline and inverse distance weighting (IDW) surfacing techniques and leveraging National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) data to complement The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ground observation data. The study used measurements of ambient PM2.5 from the EPA database for the year 2003 as well as PM2.5 estimates derived from NASA s satellite data. Hazard data have been processed to derive the surrogate exposure PM2.5 estimates. The paper has shown that merging MODIS remote sensing data with surface observations of PM2.5 not only provides a more complete daily representation of PM2.5 than either data set alone would allow, but it also reduces the errors in the PM2.5 estimated surfaces. The results of this paper have shown that the daily IDW PM2.5 surfaces had smaller errors, with respect to observations, than those of the B-Spline surfaces in the year studied. However the IDW mean annual composite surface had more numerical artifacts, which could be due to the interpolating nature of the IDW that assumes that the maxima and minima can occur only at the observation points. Finally, the methods discussed in this paper improve temporal and spatial resolutions and establish a foundation for environmental public health linkage and association studies for which determining the concentrations of an environmental hazard such as PM2.5 with good accuracy levels is critical

Knowledge and Technical Competence Level of Extension Agent on Climate-Smart Techniques for Rice Production in North-Central, Nigeria

The study examined extension agents' knowledge and technical competency level regarding Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices (CSAP) used by rice farmers in Nigeria. The study specifically examined the technical competence level, knowledge of the extension agents, and factors that influence their competency level on CSAPs. The 88 respondents for the study were chosen using a multi-stage sampling procedure. Data were collected from respondents using a structured questionnaire, and descriptive and inferential statistics (probit regression model) were used for analysis The results show that the majority of the extension agents had high-level knowledge on crop (53.4%) and soil smart mechanism (56.8%), but low-level knowledge on water (52.3%) and weather smart mechanism (54.5%). This also hampered their job performance, as more than half (51.1%) of extension agents had low competence level in CSAPs. Factors that significantly influence the competency of extension agents were years of experience (p>0.089), educational level (p>0.002), and knowledge (p>0.000). The study therefore recommends that specific training related to the areas discovered from the research should be incorporated into the extension agents’ curriculum activities. Extension agents should also be given opportunities to improve their knowledge and competency by attending seminars and workshops in research institutions. Keywords: Competence, Knowledge, Climate smart agricultural practices, Extension agent