Antibacterial activity of guava (Psidium guajava l.) extracts on Staphylococcus aureus isolated from patients with urinary tract infections attending a tertiary-care hospital

The uses of herbal treatment are one of the possible ways to treat diseases caused by multi drug resistant bacteria. In this study, the phytochemical and antimicrobial effect of Psidium guajava (l.) leaf and stem extracts were investigated using well diffusion method against Staphylococcus aureus isolates recovered from urine sample of patients with urinary tract infection (UTI) attending Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, Kano. The results revealed that the plant contained some bioactive compounds which includes; Alkaloids, Flavonoids, Anthraquinones, Amino acid, Saponins, Tannins, Reducing sugar, Glycoside and Phenolic compound. The antimicrobial activity of the plant showed that the plant leaf and stem extracts (Ethanolic and Aqueous) had an antibacterial activity against the test isolates with varying mean zones of inhibitions ranging from 10mm to 24mm. However, the organic solvent extract showed more effect compared to the aqueous extract. The present study therefore, suggested that the plant (Psidium guajava L.) can be used as an alternative to chemotherapeutic agents

A state-of-the-art review on experimental investigation and finite element analysis on structural behaviour of fibre reinforced polymer reinforced concrete beams

Fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composite is a useful material. It has been utilised to enhance the structural behaviour of reinforced concrete beams (RCB). It is also crucial to summarise the impact of FRP on various types of RCB properties. This study summarises the FRP usage's impact on the RCB's structural behaviour based on previous research by reviewing and discussing the experimental study and finite element analysis (FEA) results. Based on previous relevant literature reviews, the experimental investigation and FEA showed significant improvements in flexure, stiffness, young modulus, load-deflection, ultimate load capacity, fracture pattern, and failure mode when FRP was used in RCB production. This FRP composite material can be used as the external reinforcement for RCB due to its high strength capability, force, load, and corrosion resistance with adhesive and anchorage properties. Using FRP in RCB can benefit civil engineering by increasing its structural behaviour and performance, especially in construction industry

Inclusion of Waste Paper on Concrete Properties: A Review

The environmental degradation in the vicinity of landfills or mills is caused by waste paper disposable. Each year, the industry's paper waste is increasing gradually. As a result, additional places are required for landfills, which consume energy, deplete natural resources, and increase expenditure and environmental pollution. Pollution can be reduced by adding WP to a concrete mixture in concrete production. This review paper investigates the physical and chemical properties of waste paper. Besides that, the mechanical properties of concrete containing waste paper, such as compressive, flexural, and splitting tensile strengths, are also studied in this review paper. All reviews of the intended studies include experimental tests. From the reviews, all strengths were increased with the inclusion of waste paper, either by addition, substitution, or replacement with fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, or cement. By using waste paper, not only would concrete have advantages and benefits, but also environmentally friendly construction materials could be produced from time to time. It has been noted in most studies that the inclusion of waste paper brings significant benefits. It can be concluded that waste paper potentially has favorable properties for concrete production. The concrete performance will improve in terms of compressive, flexural, and splitting tensile strengths with waste paper inclusion at certain percentages compared to ordinary concrete with no waste paper content

Chemical Compositions, FTIR and Larvicidal Activity of Essential Oils Extracted from Aromatic Plants

Essential oils are substances obtained from plant materials and are complex mixtures whose composition varies. In this study, the chemical composition, and larvicidal activity of extracted essential oils from some aromatic plants were evaluated. Modified steam distillation apparatus was used to extract essential oils from the Citrus limon linn leaf, Vitex trifolia seed and Cananga odorata. Furthermore, the plant materials were tested using FTIR, GC-MS, and larvicidal activity test. Citrus limon linn produced more amount of essential oil (1.4ml), Vitex trifola (0.7ml) and Cananga odorata (0.5ml) after 3hours ofsteam distillation. The result obtained from the infrared spectra indicates the functional groups of the compounds present in Citrus limon linn, Vitex trifolia and Cananga odorata. GC-MS analysis identified, 13, 12 and 24 chemical constituents present in Citrus limon linn , Vitex trifolia and Cananga odorata essential oil respectively. The three main essential oil and their percentage compositions are D-Limonene (22.82%), Citral (25.20 %), and Cis-Verbenol (20.43%) for Citrus limon linn. Leaf essential oil, Sabinene (39.14%), Caryophyllene (26.45%) and 1 R- α Pinene (15.20%) for Vitex trifolia seed essential oil, and Linalool (35.30%), Ascabiol (23.54%), Caryophyllene (20.30%), Copaene (12.76%) and Germacrene D (11.32%). However, the results from the larvicidal activity reveals that essential oil extracted from Citrus limon linn, Vitex trifolia and Cananaga odorata may serve as insecticide and can be used as potent insecticide for the control of mosquitoes

Effects of crumb rubber at different sizes in asphalt mixtures on mechanical properties

High vehicles loads due to increasing the road users are one of the main issues affecting the asphalt pavement surface and its performance by resulting various problems such as fatigue cracking and other deformations due to road overloading caused by vehicles loads. The use of crumb rubber in asphalt pavements has attracted increasingly growing attention and become one of the factors that increase the strength of the pavement. Crumb rubber is used to improve asphalt binder properties and pavement performance since it contributes as an additive material in the structural applications and reducing the environmental problem. The main contribution and purpose of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of adding crumb rubber into the asphalt by using the wet method. There were two different amounts of crumb rubber content used in this study (2.5 % and 3.5 % of the overall asphalt mixture weight) and two different crumb rubber sizes (0.6 mm and 0.3 mm) that were examined in this study. In addition to this study, asphalt grade 60/70 penetration grade. The performance of the modified binder is comparatively evaluated with an unmodified binder to find the best modifier. The evaluation is done through conducting the comparison between results obtained from modified and unmodified asphalt samples using Marshall stability, flow and resilience modulus test. The results from this study shows crumb rubber is an efficient material to be used as an additive to asphalt binder since it contributes in better performance by increasing the strength and stiffness of pavement and can be used for future development

The effect of palm oil fuel clinker powder and cockleshell powder as cement replacement on durability properties of the concrete mortar

The concepts of eco-friendly building are getting more attention today. The standard materials of concrete that used such as cement and aggregate are not totally environmentally friendly. Thus, many materials from natural sources can be an alternative to the realization of the green building concept. As a result, many researchers have devoted their attention towards identifying eco-friendlier substitutions to be used in concrete. This study was conducted to investigate the efficiency of two different types of waste materials which are palm oil clinker (POC) and cockle shell (CS) as partial replacement of cement on durability aspects. The POC and CS materials were ground to achieve a small particle size to fit with the concrete mix as cement replacement. The replacement of cement was at different levels (10% and 20%). Six mix proportions were made with different percentage of palm oil clinker powder POCP and cockle shell powder CSP. The specimens were cured by immersing in water for 7 and 28 days. The tests that were conducted were acid resistance test and water absorption test. Therefore, the experiment result showed that the POC had a negative impact to the concrete in both tests while the CSP proved it is resistance to acid

Optimisation of Recycled High Density Polyethylene Pellet as Aggregate Replacement for Road Pavement

The objective of this study is to investigate the optimum usage recycled high density polyethylene (HDPE) as aggregate replacement in modified asphalt. The modified asphalts were evaluated by engineering properties of asphalt such as stiffness, permanent deformation and fatigue behaviour. The aggregate substitution with recycled HDPE in asphalt ranges from 5% to 25% of asphalt with sieve size from 3.36 mm to 1.18 mm and optimum bitumen content including the hot mix asphalt wearing course 14 in standard specification of road work in Malaysia. The repeated load axial test, indirect tensile stiffness modulus test and indirect tensile fatigue test were used to evaluate the permanent deformation, stiffness and fatigue properties of asphalt, respectively. The density-void analysis indicates that the optimum bitumen content is 5.5% of weight of bitumen content. The obtained results shown that the HDPE modified asphalt could enhance the stiffness of asphalt at 15% and 20% aggregate replacement. This asphalt modification also improves permanent deformation at 1800 cycles. Finally, the HDPE modified asphalt also increase fatigue life of asphalt except 5% aggregate replacement. Therefore, the HDPE modified asphalt found suitable to used for road pavement in term of environmental and economical aspects

Occurrence and distribution of 17 targeted human pharmaceuticals in various aquatic environmental matrices in southeast asia with particular reference to malaysia: a comprehensive review

This review focuses on the occurrence and distribution of 17 targeted human pharmaceutical compounds from the most common therapeutic classes. These include one analgesic (acetaminophen), three non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (acetylsalicylic acid, diclofenac, ibuprofen), two antidiabetic drugs (gliclazide, metformin), three antihistamines (cetirizine, chlorphenamine, ranitidine), four antihypertensives (amlodipine, atenolol, metoprolol, prazosin), one lipid regulator (simvastatin), one anti-convulsant (carbamazepine), one bronchodilator agent (salbutamol) and one stimulant (caffeine) which have been detected globally in various aquatic environmental matrices such as surface water, drinking water, ground water, seawater, influent and effluent of municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), hospital and industrial treatment plants, among others. The most common analytical method used involved solid phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The concentrations of all drugs investigated in all aqueous matrices varied from 0.5 to 85,000 ng/L for the highest concentration in the aqueous matrices in Southeast Asia. This review provides the first compilation on human pharmaceuticals in Southeast Asia in surface water, domestic wastewater (influent and effluent) and drinking water

Graphene nanoplatelets (GnP)-PVA based passive saturable absorber

We demonstrate a passive Q-switched at 1.5 μm region by integrating a graphene nanoplatelets (GnPs) embed in Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA). The GnPs was dispersed with the aid of surfactant and mixed with PVA by solution casting aroach and then dried at ambient temperature to develop a GnPs-PVA film. The integration of the passive Q-switcher is by attaching a small portion of the developed GnPs-PVA film at the end of fiber ferrule in the laser cavity with ring configuration to generate pulse laser. The experimental works show that the proposed GnPs-PVA film based passive Q-switcher operates at input pump power ranges from 39 mW to 148 mW with central wavelength of 1530.76 nm. We observe the tunable repetition rate from 33 kHz to 91.5 kHz with the shortest pulse width of 2.42 μs. The laser produce maximum instantaneous output peak power and pulse energy of 1.2 mW and 5.9 nJ, with the recorded signal to noise ratio of 28 dB

Silver nanoparticles embedded in polyvinyl alcohol based passive saturable absorber

Silver nanoparticles (AgNP), a novel candidate of noble metal nanoparticles, which has great potential for pulsed laser applications due to strong saturation absorption behaviour. This study demonstrated the passively Q-switched laser operating within an Erbium-doped fibre laser cavity using AgNP saturable absorber (SA). The AgNP was synthesized via the chemical reduction method and the average size of nanoparticles was around 52.39 nm. The AgNP was incorporated with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer to form an AgNP-PVA composite SA. The proposed experimental works generated single pulse energy and peak power of about 66.14 nJ and 18.71 mW corresponds to the repetition rate and pulse width of 62.89 kHz and 3.32 µs