Tensile responses of treated Cissus populnea fibers

Improvement and effectiveness of polymers through reinforced materials coupled with environmental nuisance of the Cissus populnea fiber remains an area of concern. Tensile responses of chemically treated C. populnea fibers were investigated. Gravimetric analysis was used to determine the composition of C. populnea fibers. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), acetic anhydride(AC) and ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA), respectively, were used for fiber treatment and optimi zed with variable parameters (concentration and time) using response surface methodology (RSM) with central composite design. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were studied. At optimum treatment conditions, NaOH, AC and EDTA, respectively, increased the tensile strength of C. populnea fiber by 33.49, 274 and 194.52% as well as tensile modulus by 793.43, 20799.43 and 855%. Hence acetic anhydride treatment gave the best tensile properties of C. populnea fibers as cor roborated by SEM with EDS. Thus, the effective use of C. populnea fiber in composite applications can be improved by chemical surface modifications. Keywords: Cissus populnea fiber; RSM; tensile properties; SEM; EDS

S-curve characterisation of contractors' cash flow in Nigerian tertiary institutions TETFUND Projects

It was empirically established that 82% of businesses fail due to poor management of cash flow; and that just over half of businesses prepare cash flow projections and compare them with actual figure. The paper established the characteristics of contractors' cash flow handling TETFUND projects in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions with a view to improving financial control in construction using the S-Curve as a tool. The research was exploratory in which cash flow characteristics of three selected projects were established. Project records comprising of project profiles and cash flows were used to generate data for the study. The characteristics of the S-Curves of two of the projects depicted rapid initial start-up indicating engagement of many activities at the beginning, while the third project depicted slow start-up due to unavailability of results of soil test. Subsequently, all the projects recorded average progressions and toward the end, progress of all the projects became slow. All the projects were largely executed under negative net cash flows with one at loss. It is therefore recommended that S-Curve be employed in financial planning and management in executing TETFUND projects in order to project ahead financial commitments and implications required in executing projects. The major limitation of the research was restricted case studies due to confidentiality on financial data.Keywords: Cash Flows, Infrastructural Projects, S-Curve, Tertiary Institutions,TETFUN

International Trade and Economic Growth in Nigeria

This study examined the impact of international trade on economic growth in Nigeria with the objective of identifying the major factors influencing economic growth through international trade and make policy suggestions This study made use of time series secondary data obtained from Central Bank of Nigeria National Bureau of Statistics and International Financial Statistics for a period between 1981 and 2014 Augmented Dickey-Fuller ADF test together with Phillip-Perron PP test of Unit Root Tests were employed to ascertain the stationarity properties of the variables The Ordinary Least Square OLS technique was used to test for the significant relationship between the level of economic growth proxied by GDP as dependent variable and exchange rate government expenditure interest rate foreign direct investment import and export as independent variables The result revealed that government expenditures interest rate import and export are all positively significant while exchange rate and foreign direct investment are negatively insignificant to the growth process of the Nigerian Economy The econometric results suggest that Nigerian government should give more emphasis to specialization on agriculture so as to diversify her production and export base in order to enable the country benefit all the gains of trade including economic growth The country s trade should not only be on primary and oil exports but also the promotion of non-primary exports and non-oil exports i e manufactured goods Promotion of exports within the context of sub-regional and regional economic integration should be vigorously pursued to expand Nigerian international market and the importation policy of the government should be strictly adhered to in order to control dumping and to encourage the local investor

Alkylating efficiency of sodium azide on pod yield, nut size and nutrition composition of Samnut 10 and Samnut 20 varieties of groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.)

Mutation has been utilised to improve growth and yield of many food crops, but only little effort has been made to ascertain the nutritional advantages in such improved crops. The present study evaluates the alkylating efficiency of sodium azide of different concentrations on pod yield, nut size and nutritional composition of two groundnut varieties. Dry seeds of groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.); Samnut 10 and Samnut 20 varieties obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture, Ilorin, Kwara State of Nigeria were treated with different sodium azide concentrations (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50mM) for 12 hours. Seeds soaked in distilled water for 12 hours were used as control for each variety. The treated seeds and control were sown in planting bags in randomized complete block design with three replicates. Alkylating effects of the treatments were studied on pod parameters and nut size while proximate analysis was carried out on the nuts to determine their nutritional composition. The results showed that sodium azide treatment of 50 mM produced significantly taller plants with more branches and leaves. Analysis of collected data revealed that sodium azide is effective in achieving significantly earlier- maturing plants with higher pod yield, bigger nut size and heavier nuts. All concentrations of Sodium azide applied induced significant higher crude protein and fat with respect to control in samnut 10 while 50 mM yielded highest protein and fat in samnut 20 variety. Generally, nutritional values of the studied groundnut were improved by sodium azide treatments with respect to protein and fat content which are the most important constituents in groundnut utilization as food or raw material for edible oil. The study concluded that the alkylating effect of sodium azide was effective on pod yield, nut size and other nut characteristics of groundnut and could be employed to improve protein, crude fat and other nutrition contents of the nuts for human and animal consumption as well as industrial applications.Key words: Alkylating effect, nutrition composition, sodium-azid

Morphological differentiation of closely resembling ariid species, Arius venosus and A. sumatranus

In Indian waters ariids (Siluriformes/ Ariidae) are represented by 9 genera and 25 valid species. The genus Arius is the most diverse with eight species reported from Indian waters which can be categorised in two broad groups. One having elongated teeth patches with globular teeth comprising of five species- A. jella, A. maculatus, A. gagora, A. malabaricus and A. arius is clubbed under maculatus complex. Other group included species like A. subrostratus, A. sumatranus and A. venosus having smaller teeth patches with villiform teeth (non-maculatus complex) (Dhanze and Jayaram. 1982). The non-maculatus complex does not contribute much to the commercial fishery barring A. subrostratus which forms minor fishery along southwest coast of India. A. subrostratus can be easily differentiated from rest of the con-generic members by smaller barbels and long snout with small mouth

Performance Evaluation of Sand-based Surface flow Constructed wetland in Domestic Wastewater Treatment using Typha Orientalis as Macrophyte

A laboratory-scale free water surface-flow constructed wetland was set up at the Department of Civil Engineering; Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Ogbomoso, Nigeria in May 2013 to demonstrate the performance of sand- based constructed wetland, using Typha Orientalis as a viable low-cost efficient treatment option for domestic wastewater from kitchen. The nutrient removal and performance evaluation of the constructed wetland in treatment of kitchen wastewater against retention period of ten days was investigated. During the 10-day retention period, the sand- based constructed wetland set up with Typha Orientalis had improved the wastewater quality significantly as it had reduced 94.9% of Turbidity, BOD5 by 79.0%, NO-3 by 66.7%, 87.9% of SO-4 , 70.24% of Cl-, Conductivity by 70.8% and Magnesium by 80.62%. The pH value and Dissolve Oxygen increased by 28.3% and 64.01% respectively and the initial offensive odour of the raw water was no more noticeable. The final effluent was found to be suitable for non-drinking purposes like crop irrigation and keeping aquatic animals. However, it was noted that a 7- day detention time was optimal for the treatment of domestic wastewater from kitchen. The treatment system was found to be economical, as the cost of construction only was involved and maintenance cost very minimal. It was environmentally friendly as it was free from offensive odour and insect invasion. The prototype scale is recommended for in-situ use, especially for wastewater from kitchen. Keywords: Constructed wetland, Domestic wastewater, Nutrient removal, Retention period, Typha Orientalis

Effect of Modeling Techniques on the Simulation: Calculating the Stress Concentration Factors in Square Hollow Section T-Joints as a Case Study

The capability of the simulation software motivates the engineers to analyze the stress in complex welded joints where ordinary mathematical expression may lack. However, unfortunately, the simulations were interpreted mechanically without considering the simulation parameters deeply. For this reason, this research aims to study the effect of simulation parameters on the stress concentration factor of square hollow sections structures using ANSYS workbench. In this context, two main meshing techniques (face split vs. slicing) and various behavior of materials (linear vs. nonlinear) having been considered. The outputs of the investigations revealed the superiority of the materials nonlinearity over linear behavior in terms of results acceptability comparing to their corresponding real-life ones. For instance, the supercritical fluid of nonlinear plastic material estimated to be 14 which was closest to the 12 obtained experimentally by Mashiri et al. In addition to that, face split technique outperformed the slicing in terms of result accuracy and solving time. Solving the face split model elapsed 254 s only which is dramatically less than the minimum time (1605 s) of sliced models. This is because any slicing process will lead to the formation of the contact elements at interfaces and uncomfortable meshing which may in turn adversely effect on the simulation efficiency