The Potentials of Groundnut Shell Ash as Concrete Admixture

Rosana G. Moreira, Editor-in-Chief; Texas A&M UniversityThis is a paper from International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR, Commission Internationale du Genie Rural) E-Journal Volume 8 (2006): The Potentials of Groundnut Shell Ash as Concrete Admixture. Manuscript BC 05 012. Vol. VIII. February, 200

Effect of different poultry wastes on physical, chemical and biological properties of soil

The effect of poultry waste application on physicochemical and biological properties of sandy clay loam soil was investigated on a 7m X 7m plot of land. Plot was divided into four portions and 7.5kg each of broiler, cockerel and layers waste was applied to plot A, B, and C in slurry form while plot D was used as control(no application) for eight weeks with two weeks interval. After the fourth application, samples were taken from the plot for laboratory analysis. The results showed that all the wastes have effect on the soil properties with the cockerel waste having the highest effect on the electrical conductivity of the soil. It was between 121.0 and126.1mS. Cockerel waste has the highest BOD5, porosity and organic matter content of the soil which were 52.00mg/l,0.67 and 27.50mg/l, respectively. What can be deduced from this is that while application of poultry wastes improves soil properties, it also increases soil salinity and cockerel waste is recommended because it has ability to increase the porosity and organic matter content of soil

Competence-driven engineering education: A case for T-shaped engineers and teachers

The demand for engineering education and graduates is increasing daily because the current service and technological designs are unable to meet the needs of the society and the expected dramatic increase in the future. The emerging skill gap requires a shift in the type of expertise required of young professionals that will be needed to successfully lead organizations in the new economy. Researchers have identified various ‘shapes’ for the engineering professionals to make them relevant to the 21st century challenge, especially in the industry where their expertise is much needed. T-shaped professionals have skills that make them to be more preferred among others. The purpose of this paper is to present the need to upgrade engineering education curriculum to produce more T-shaped graduate engineers required in the changing industrial world. The potential benefits of T-shaped professionals to organizational performance are quite significant; hence, the demand for T-shaped professionals in knowledge-intensive, service-oriented economies is increasing. Unfortunately, the challenges associated with creating more T-shaped professionals are also significant. National regulatory bodies for engineering education in Nigeria are beginning to move towards integrated curriculum to break down discipline silos and produce T-shaped graduate engineers for the fast-changing industrial world. Service Science Management and Engineering (SSME) is an emerging discipline with over 250 programmes in 50 nations seeking to create more T-shaped professionals

Effect of salt solution on the mycelial growth of orange fruit spoilage fungi in passive evaporative cooling structures

A study was carried out on the effect of salt solution on mycelial growth of fruit spoilage fungi in passive evaporative cooling structures.  Three sets of four different types of passive evaporative cooling structures made of two different materials, clay and aluminium were constructed.  One set consists of four separate cooling chambers.  Two cooling chambers were made with aluminium container (cylindrical and square shapes) and the other two were made of clay container (cylindrical and square).  These four containers were separately inserted inside a bigger clay pot inter- spaced with clay soil of 5 cm (to form tin-in-pot, pot-in-pot, tin-in-wall and wall-in wall) with the outside structure wrapped with jute sack.  The other two sets followed the same pattern with interspacing of 7 cm and 10 cm respectively.  The set with 7 cm interspace served as the control in which the interspace soil and the jute sacks were constantly wetted at intervals of 2 to 4 h depending on the rate of evaporation with water at room temperature.  The other two sets (5 cm and 10 cm interspaced soil) were constantly wetted with salt solution (table salt (Nacl)) at the same interval to keep the soil in moist condition.  In addition, the control has no fans and the inner cooling chambers were not lined with polyethylene nylon, while the other two sets have fans and their inner cooling chambers lined with polyethylene nylon.  Freshly harvested oranges were used for the experiment, and the temperature, relatively humid and decayed were monitored daily, while the fungal counts were determined at interval of three days for a period of three weeks.  The oranges kept inside the 7 cm soil interspace recorded higher values of fungi count compared to those stored inside 5 cm soil interspace throughout the storage period. The total fungi count values for the oranges stored inside 7 cm soil interspace were 7.6 ´ 10 CFU g-1, 8.5 ´ 10 CFU g-1,  8.6 ´ 10 CFU g-1, 9.2 ´ 10 CFU g-1, 9.2 ´ 10 CFU g-1, 9.0 ´ 10 CFU g-1, and 8.8 ´ 10 CFU g-1.  The total fungi count values for the oranges stored inside 10 cm soil interspace were 8.2 ´10 CFU g-1, 7.8 ´ 10 CFU g-1, 10.0 ´10 CFU g-1, 9.2 ´ 10 CFU g-1, 9.0 ´10 CFU g-1, 9.2 ´ 10 CFU g-1, and 8.4 ´ 10 CFU g-1, while those inside 5 cm interspace were 7.4 ´ 10 CFU g-1, 7.5 ´ 10 CFU g-1, 8.5 ´ 10 CFU g-1, 9.2 ´ 10 CFU g-1, 8.7 ´ 10 CFU g-1, 8.4 ´ 10 CFU g-1, and 8.6 ´ 10 CFU g-1.  From the results, higher values of fungi counts were recorded on the 5th, 15th and 21st day of storage in oranges stored in 7 cm soil interspace structure, as well as on the 1st, 8th, and18th day of storage in oranges stored in 10 cm soil interspace structure.  However, the three soil interspaces have the same number of fungi count on the 11th day of storage.      Keywords: fungi, sodium chloride, solution, oranges, mycelial, soi

Impact of Audit Quality on Tax compliance in Nigeria

The study examined the impact of audit quality on tax compliance proxy as tax revenue in Nigeria. Specifically, the study investigated the relationship that exists between auditor independence, engagement performance and tax revenue knowing that many times, tax assessment is based on audited financial statement presented by the firms. Survey research design was adopted using primary data sourced from administration structured questionnaire on the respondents selected from among; the staff of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), academia (Accountants) and practicing accountants/auditors within Ondo State. The ordinary least square (OLS) model was used to analyze data so collected. The R2 adjusted predictive power of the study was 0.623 (62.3%) and the F-statistic at the 0.01 and 0.05 level of significance which are 4.79 and 3.07 and is less than 6.047 which was a clear indication that, auditor independence and engagement performance have a significant effect on audit quality with resultant effect on tax compliance (tax revenue) in Nigeria. The study therefore recommends that auditors should embrace independence and strictly adhere to established standards and procedures laid down by the government, professional bodies when reporting to enhance audit quality at all times; it is believed this will foster tax revenue generation to argument dwindling revenues

NUTRITIONAL QUALITY OF MAIZE STORED IN WOODEN GRAIN SILO

Grain storage has as objective, the uninterrupted availability of grain of adequate quantity and quality at all time. The situation in the grain producing areas of Nigeria is currently that of considerable losses during post-harvest grain handling. The study looks into quality changes in maize (Zea mays) stored in wooden silo for three months (June to September). Changes in the nutrient content such as crude protein, crude fibre, lipid, carbohydrate and ash were investigated. Crude protein, crude fibre, lipid and ash reduced by 0.9-1.03%,0.7-0.9%,0.3% and 0.4% respectively while carbohydrate increased by 1.64-1.77% during storage period. This reduction resulted from heat damage of the germ portion of some kernels, respiration, oxygenation of the unsaturated lipids, denaturizing of protein, sedimentation of colloids and rancidity of lipids. From this investigation, it has been found that maize grains can be stored for more than 3 months before deterioration due to mould growth and insect attack in Minna located in the tropic

Evaluation of Wooden Silo during Storage of Maize (Zea mays) in Humid Tropical Climate

Rosana G. Moreira, Editor-in-Chief; Texas A&M UniversityThis is a paper from International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR, Commission Internationale du Genie Rural) E-Journal Volume 8 (2006): Evaluation of Wooden Silo during Storage of Maize (Zea mays) in Humid Tropical Climate. Manuscript BC 05 013. Vol. VIII. February, 2006

Simulation of temperature changes during storage of maize in hexagonal wooden bin due to weather variability

No Abstract. Journal of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology Vol. 2(1) 2002: 26-3

Etude du contact bilateral et homogeneisation : application aux problemes de fondations

CNRS T Bordereau / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueSIGLEFRFranc

Design and Fabrication of a Passive Evaporative Cooling System for Fruits and Vegetables Storage

A multipurpose passive evaporative cooler was designed, constructed and its performance evaluated by determining the adiabatic efficiency. The multi-purpose passive evaporative cooling system consists of three compartments whose outer and inner cooling chambers were made of galvanize steel. The interspace was filled with sandy loam. The cold storage system for fruits and vegetables was based on the water cooling system to cool the storage chamber. Water is supplied from the storage tank to a pipe with a gate valve attached to this pipe. As the valve is opened, water flows through the distribution pipe networks placed over the soil allow in a constant flow of water through into soil. The water leaves the system through the outlets created underneath the housing. This process is continuous; as the water moves out, it carries along the heat present inside the cooling chamber hence lowering the temperature and at the same time increasing the relative humidity in the storage chamber. During the test period with fresh bananas, the average temperatures of 24.5°C and 28.8°C were obtained; for the multi-purpose evaporative cooler and the ambient respectively. Also average relative humidity of 8-8.87% and 69.41% were obtained for the multi-purpose evaporative cooler and the ambient respectively. The cooling efficiency of the evaporative cooler was 55%