Price Transmission, Volatility and Discovery of Gram in Some Selected Markets in Rajathan State, India

Market integration in many agricultural commodities had been extensively studied for the insight it provides into the functioning of such markets, thus giving valuable information about the dynamics of market adjustment, and whether there exist market imperfection, which may justify government intervention. This study empirically investigated price transmission, volatility and discovery of gram across four wholesale gram markets, viz. Jaipur, Kishangarh, Chomu and Malpura in Rajasthan state of India using Johansen's multivariate cointegration approach, VECM, Granger causality tests, GARCH, EGARCH and ARIMA. Monthly wholesale gram price data spanning from January 2011 to December 2015 sourced from AGMARKNET were used. Multivariate cointegration showed that all the selected gram markets were cointegarted in the long-run, meaning long-run price association among these markets. The degree of market integration observed is consistent with the view that Rajasthan state gram markets are quite competitive; thus, provide little justification for extensive and costly government intervention designed to enhance market efficiency through improve competitiveness. Therefore, in order to sustain the present system of market integration, there is need to evolve mechanism that will generate market information and market intelligence which would serve as a platform for guiding farmers in marketing their produce

Effects of Parasitic Infections on Erythrocyte Indices of Camels in Nigeria

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and effect of parasitic infection on erythrocyte indices in trade camels slaughtered in Maiduguri, Nigeria. Two hundred adult one humped camels comprised of 87 (43.5 %) males and 113 (56.5 %) females were examined for helminths and hemoparasites at their slaughter time according to the standard procedures. An overall prevalence of 79 % for single and mixed infections was observed. Examination of faecal samples from camels shows 82 (41 %) were harbouring different nematodes, mostly Strongyle, Strongyloides and Hemonchus species. Buffy coat and thin smear examination of blood samples showed Babesia and Anaplasma species. More females (44.5 %) than males (34.5 %) were positive for various parasitic infections. But the percentage was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Packed cell volume (PCV), mean haemoglobin concentration (MCH), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and red blood cell counts were significantly (P < 0.01) affected in the infected camels compared to the non-infected ones. Parasite infection in camels leads to macrocytic anaemia

Metal trap development and formation mechanisms of clastic-dominated Zn-Pb±Ag mineralization in Paleozoic strata of the Macmillan Pass (Selwyn Basin, Canada)

The growing global demand for metals needed for the green energy transition has led to renewed exploration efforts. Ancient sedimentary basins contain a number of important resources such as zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb), and sometimes germanium (Ge), gallium (Ga), and indium (In). Some of the largest Zn deposits are called clastic-dominant (CD-type) deposits because they are hosted in clastic rocks like mudstones and siltstones. These deposits are thought to have formed when metal-rich fluids from deep in the Earth’s crust were expelled towards the surface along faults. However, many aspects of this overall model are not well understood. For example, the composition of the ancient metal-rich fluids is largely unknown, along with the mechanisms by which metals are deposited to form economic enrichments in certain locations. The Selwyn Basin (Canada) contains a number of important CD-type deposits that formed hundreds of millions of years ago. The rocks hosting these deposits are now incorporated into the Canadian Cordillera, meaning they have been uplifted and deformed. This can make it challenging to interpret the rocks and understand how the deposit formation (mineralization) occurred. As a result, it is crucial to carefully examine samples that preserve some of the key primary features of the host rocks and the deposits. This project evaluates aspects of the CD-type deposit model using various approaches that utilize two sample sets. 1) Barite- and pyrite-rich samples from the Late Devonian Canol Formation in Canada, which contain no Zn, Pb sulfides and formed at the same time as those rocks containing the deposits at other locations, were used to determine how the ancient environment was before the deposits formed. 2) Mineralized rock samples from a newly discovered CD-type deposit (Boundary Zone, Canada) were utilized to evaluate i) how these deposits formed, ii) the physicochemical properties of the metal-rich fluids, and iii) what essential metals are present. To answer some of the abovementioned questions, these two sample groups were used to make petrographic, mineralogical, and geochemical observations across various scales, from hand specimen to microscopic levels. Data obtained through detailed petrographic and isotopic analyses indicate that the barite and pyrite in the Canol Formation formed during early diagenesis and that biological activity was critical for converting sulfate to sulfide. Similar mineral phases are observed in the samples from the Boundary Zone, where sulfide formed during early diagenesis likely reacted with metal-bearing hydrothermal fluids during an initial stage of ore formation. The first stage is dominated by fine-grained sphalerite formed as layers due to the replacement of quartz (and barite) components of the rocks. A second ore stage consists of several sphalerite types forming in cracks within the same rocks after fracturing. Critical metals, including Ge and deleterious components like Hg, occur in high amounts in the sphalerite from both the mineralized stages. Furthermore, experiments conducted on tiny droplets of fluids trapped within sphalerite and quartz indicate that the mineralizing fluids consist of variable salinity and homogenization temperature ranging from low (around 120 °C) during the early ore-forming stages to high (around 260 °C) at a later period. This suggests that the Boundary Zone deposit formed due to mixing of these fluids at some point. Altogether, this thesis provides significant insights into components of the CD-type deposit model. It shows how vital microbial activities were during the formation of rocks that later host these deposits and also highlights prolonged hydrothermal fluid flow that could form multiple mineralization types. These findings are valuable for exploration strategies in the Macmillan Pass district and similar geological settings

Toxic Species And Particulate Emissions From Wood And Pool Fires

Fire fatalities in the UK are attributed to smoke inhalation especially in dwellings. Another serious issue of great concern is the exposure to respirable particles of sizes less than 0.1µ in diameter found in smoke and soot and these have not been given much attention despite the health hazards associated with them. The main aim of this research was to quantitatively look at the toxic emissions (toxic gases and particulates) under different fire conditions for wood based materials relevant to residential fires and in pool fires relevant to industrial scenarios. Different classes of wood (Natural, Processed and Plywoods) used in construction and furnishings were investigated under free ventilation conditions and restricted ventilation conditions using the standard cone calorimeter and the controlled atmosphere cone calorimeter modified to enable raw gas sampling. Pool fires (Diesel, Lubricating oil and olive oil) were also investigated using the freely ventilated standard cone calorimeter. Pine wood crib and diesel pool of different sizes were investigated in a 5m3 fire test compartment at varying ventilation rates. Toxic concentrations were measured through a heated sampling line using a heated FTIR analyser, calibrated for 65 species. An important finding was the overwhelming toxic gases produced by low temperature smouldering fires exceeding the impairment of escape threshold and the lethality threshold by a factor of 60-10 000 on an impairment of escape basis and a factor of 4-100 on lethal basis. The real-time particle size, number and mass distribution from the burning fuels was obtained using the DMS 500 particle size analyser and this showed a bimodal distribution, representing a nucleation mode and an agglomeration/accumulation mode. The particle size distribution on a number basis showed a peak of 20 nm in the nano particle size range and a peak of 200 nm in the agglomeration range for most fires. These nano particles (20 nm) will penetrate the lungs in the event of fire, potentially leading to impairment of escape and eventually death due to the effects that fine particles have on the lungs thereby making them a major toxic hazard in fires. To the knowledge of the author, this is the first time that particulates in this size range (20nm and less) have been quantified from burning materials. The modified cone calorimeter proved to be a good technique for realistic determination of toxic yields and particle size distributions when used with the heated FTIR and the DMS 500 analysers

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN UTILIZATION OF COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES AND BUILDING LIBRARY COLLECTION

This study determined the relationship between utilization of Collection Development Process and Building Library Collections in Federal University Libraries in North-Eastern Nigeria. The study was guided by Six objectives which were to determine the extent of utilization of collection development process and the relationship between utilization of community analysis, collection development policies, selection criteria, acquisition procedure, weeding as well as resource evaluation procedures and building library collection in libraries under study. To achieve these objectives six research questions developed and six null hypotheses were formulated and tested. It was hypothesized that, there is no significant relationship between the utilization of community analysis, selection policy, selection criteria, acquisition procedure, weeding procedure and resource evaluation procedure and Building Library collection in the libraries under study. The study was a correlational study and used correlational research design. The population for the study was made up of fifteen staff of the selected federal university libraries in the North-East Zone, Nigeria, working in the Collection Development Divisions. All the population were used for the study. The research instrument for this study was a self-designed questionnaire that was complemented with a checklist. A 4-point likert type scale questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency counts, percentage scores, and Pearson product Moment Correlation coefficient (PPMC) was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The hypotheses tested revealed that, there was a significant relationship between utilization of community analysis, acquisition procedure and Building library collection in libraries under study. On the basis of the findings, conclusion drawn, recommendations were made for the improvement of utilization of collection development process in building library collections. The study recommends that the university libraries under study should increase partnership with the faculty to explore especially in the determination of materials to acquire; faculty members should be in a position to make valid judgment (selection) on relevance of tests to be included in the collection, hence their increased involvement in material selection will add to the richness of the library collection; a formalized comprehensive collection development policy should be developed and operated in the libraries studied, and the document should be reviewed periodically for up-to-datedness; weeding should be a periodic exercise in the libraries studied, so as to rid the shelves of irrelevant or unusable materials and increase access to usable ones; the libraries studied should create a Collection Department with a mandate to coordinate all collection development activities; of selection, acquisition, stock evaluation and weeding; collection development librarians should be trained and retrained in the process of building library collection in order to have an effective and efficient library collections

Evaluation of Intelligent Wells Performance in a Five-Spot Arrangement

The efficiency of water flooding processes can be improved by installing intelligent wells which are good candidates for control and optimization. Optimal control theory based on adjoint formulations was found to be efficient for reservoir optimization. However, this solution approach is local and may not be suitable for comparing design alternatives. In this work, an approach for determining an optimal starting point for optimal control theory procedure was developed to give near global optima. The performance in terms of net present value (NPV) of two forms of five-spot pattern was compared. The method results to similar performances of the two alternatives because it was formulated to give true optimal solution trajectories. It was found that regular five-spot pattern results to a NPV in excess of $4,900 over inverted design. Respective increase in oil and water productions of 0.23% and 0.22% were recorded for former design against the later.Keywords: intelligent wells; adjoint; optimal control theory; global optimum; water flooding

Pathways to Reduce the Environmental Footprints of Energy Inputs in Sesame Production in Jigawa State, Nigeria

This research investigates the pathways tto reduce the environmental footprints of energy inputs in sesame production in Jigawa State of Nigeria using data elicited from 99 sesame farmers via multi-stage sampling technique. Energy efficiency was studied and degrees of technical efficiency (TE), pure technical efficiency (PTE) and scale efficiency (SE) were determined using data envelopment analysis (DEA). Additionally, wasteful uses of energy by inefficient farms were assessed and energy saving of different sources was computed. Results revealed that only 9.4% DMUs were technically efficient with average TE score of 0.624; based on BCC model 34.4% DMUs were identified to be efficient with mean PTE score of 0.79; while based on scale efficiency only 12.5% DMUs were efficient with mean SE score of 0.804. Furthermore it was observed that approximately 38.17% (1505.58MJha-1) of overall input energies can be saved if performance of inefficient DMUs rose to a high level

Receding horizon control for oil reservoir waterflooding process

Waterflooding is a recovery technique where water is pumped into an oil reservoir for increase in production. Changing reservoir states will require different injection and production settings for optimal operation which can be formulated as a dynamic optimization problem. This could be solved through optimal control techniques which traditionally can only provide an open-loop solution. However, this solution is sensitive to uncertainties which is inevitable to reservoirs. Direct feedback control has been proposed recently for optimal waterflooding operations with the aim to counteract the effects of reservoir uncertainties. In this work, a feedback approach based on the principle of receding horizon control (RHC) was developed for waterflooding process optimization. Application of RHC strategy to counteract the effect of uncertainties has yielded gains that vary from 0.14% to 19.22% over the traditional open-loop approach. The gain increases with introduction of more uncertainties into the configuration. The losses incurred as a result of the effect of feedback is in the range of 0.25%–15.21% in comparison to 0.39%–31.51% for the case of traditional open-loop control approach