Comparative Studies of Burning Rates and Water Boiling Time of Wood Charcoal and Briquettes Produced from Carbonized Martynia annua woody Shells

This study was conducted to compare the combustion properties of briquettes produced from carbonized Martynia annua woody shells and wood charcoal. Two different briquette samples were produced: Sample (A), is made up of carbonized shells powder plus starch as binding agent while Sample (B), consists of carbonized shells plus waste paper as binding agent. The parameters investigated include calorific value, ignition time, burning rate, and specific fuel consumption. Water boiling time and time taking by the Samples to burn to ashes were also determined. Water boiling time of the briquettes Sample A competed favorably with wood charcoal. Sample B has the lowest calorific value (5479.31 ± 4.14cal/g), wood charcoal (6815.12±0.53cal/g) was the highest, followed closely by fuel briquettes Sample A (6811.18 ± 4.33cal/g). The calorific values of Sample A and wood charcoal were not significantly different (P>0.05). The burning rate of the fuel briquettes and wood charcoal ranged from 3.16 ± 0.06 g/min in Sample A to 3.03 ± 0.05 g/min. The time taken by Sample A and wood charcoal to burn to ashes were 95.0 ± 2.5 min. and 99.2 ± 4.2 minutes respectively. Briquettes sample B took 73.5 ± 3.2 min to completely burn to ashes. The values for the water boiling time and specific fuel consumption for Sample A and wood charcoal were also not significantly different (P>0.05). Sample B has the shortest ignition time and highest burning rate compare to Sample A and wood charcoal. The results confirmed that, the fuel briquettes from carbonized Martynia annua woody shells can serve as supplement or alternative energy sources to wood charcoal for domestic cooking and heating.Key words: Biomass, Martynia annua, Woody shells, Carbonization, Briquette

African grapes (Lannea microcarpa) fruits: the nutritional compositions

Studies on nutritional composition of African grapes (Lannea microcarpa) fruits pulp was carried out using standard analytical methods. The result of proximate composition in mg/100g revealed the following: moisture (70.55 ± 2.56), ash (3.48 ± 0.81mg), crude fiber (5.21 ± 1.67), crude protein (8.71 ± 1.98), crude lipid (1.87 ± 0.34) and carbohydrate (80.73 ± 6.81) as well as calorific value (374.59 ± 4.32KJ/100g). The fruits pulp also contain reasonable amount of both macro and micro minerals element needed in diet with potassium concentration of (450 ± 3.87mg/100g), phosphorus (6.14 ± 0.89mg/100g), sodium (15.10 ± 1.70mg/100g), calcium (35.00 ± 1.90mg/100g), magnesium (58.00 ± 3.23mg/100g), iron (38.21 ± 2.67 mg/100g),manganese (3.10 ± 0.45mg/100g) as well as zinc (14.14 ± 2.98mg/100g). The anti-nutrients factors (in mg/100g) indicate the presence of tannins (4.17 ± 0.61), oxalates (12.14 ± 2.32), phytates (40.50 ± 1.54), and saponins (2.16 ± 0.87). However, the calculated anti-nutrients to nutrients molar ratios are generally below the critical level known to inhibit the availability of some important minerals elements which suggest the potential safety of using the fruits pulp as nutrients supplement.Keywords: Lannea microcarpa, fruits, pulp, proximate, minerals, anti-nutrient

The Lapin Immune States Associated with Intravenous Injection of Heat Killed Antigen Extracted from Helicobacter pylori Infection in Hilla City

Helicobacter pylori is  considered to be the most common  human bacteria in the pathogenesis of chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer diseases. gastric inflammation associated with the infiltration of various immune cells into the infected gastric mucosa . The immune and inflammatory response is ineffective, allowing lifelong bacterial persistence, the host immune response is unable to clear the infection and may actually contribute to the pathogenesis. The immunogen that injected to an animal  may have a profound on the outer come of the immune responses. Four successive doses of heat killed H. pylori (HpHK) antigen was intravenous injected  in rabbits at five days a part manner. HpHK antigen stimulate specific mucosal and systemic humoral and cellular immune response determined by raised  in the immunoglobulin titers and concentrations, increased the concentrations of C3 and C4 which are the complement compartments with significant increased in the lymphoid cells that formed the rosette form , significant migration inhibition index , increased the concentrations of cytokines (IL-4 & IL-8)  . HpHk antigen induced positive skin test tuberculin type delayed hypersensitivity, in addition to the histopathological changes at different body organ portions of the animals

Smart shape memory alloy chiral honeycomb.

An auxetic (or negative Poisson's ratio) material expands in all directions when pulled in only one, behaving in an opposite way compared with “classical” materials. A structure not super-imposable with its mirror image is defined as chiral. A chiral structural honeycomb (noncentresymmetric) features auxeticity, i.e., a negative Poisson's ratio behaviour in the plane. Although chirality is common in nature and organic chemistry, it is an unusual characteristic in structural materials and components. We have manufactured truss assemblies based on cells of chiral honeycomb topology using shape memory alloy (SMA) ribbons as core material. The main objective of this work is to obtain a new functional structure combining the chiral honeycomb topology and shape memory alloys as a new concept of smart cellular solid. The chiral SMA honeycomb can be used in new types of deployable antenna reflectors, allowing the compression of the structure in a small volume of space for subsequent deployment. The new honeycomb concept could also be used in packaging applications to store strain energy during an impact loading and as a core for a sandwich structure for damping or for crashworthiness

A novel suture button construct for acute ankle syndesmotic injuries; A prospective clinical and radiological analysis

Background: The importance of the syndesmosis in ankle stability is well recognized. Numerous means of fixation have been described for syndesmotic injuries including the suture button technique. Significant cost limits the use the commercially available options. We, therefore, designed a cheap and readily available alternative construct. We aim to assess the results of using a novel suture-button construct in treatment of syndesmotic ankle injuries. Methods: Fifty-two patients (34 males and 18 females) fulfilled our inclusion/exclusion criteria. Five patients were lost to follow-up. The remaining 47 patients were successfully followed up for a minimum of 24 months. The pre and post-surgery American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society scores (AOFAS) together with reported complications and post-operative radiological analysis were assessed. In this innovative construct, we utilized polyester braided surgical sutures jointly with double mini two- holed plates, a No.2 polygalactin 910 suture, a 4 mm drill bit, together with a 15 cm long suture needle with slotted end. This technique was supported with the use of the image intensifier. Results: The AOFAS score improved significantly from a mean of 32.4 to 94.2 (P < 0.004). Radiologically, the medial clear space (MCS), tibio-fibular clear space (TFCS) (P=0.05) and tibio-fibular overlap (TFO) measurements showed a significant improvement postoperatively (P=0.02). Patients reported good satisfaction rates with a 96% success rate (95% CI: 94.0% to 99.3%). Conclusion: We have observed that this low cost suture button construct is a simple, safe and cost effective treatment option for acute syndesmotic injuries

Stability properties of asphalt mixture incorporating coconut shell

This study aims to evaluate the effect of coconut shell at varying percentages as an aggregatereplacement on the stability properties of the asphalt mixture. The performance of thespecimen was evaluated through stability, stiffness, density and flow tests. Five coconut shellpercentages namely 0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% by weight volumes were used as aggregates replacements in asphaltic concrete. The mixture design incorporating the penetration grade 60/70 bitumen was used for specimen testing. The optimum content of bitumen for asphalt mixtures was 5%. Test results showed that ththe stability, stiffness, density and flow of specimen increased with the increase of coconut shell content to a peak level (10%) and then decreased with further additions of coconut shell. Results also indicated that 10% coconut shell was the optimum replacement as an aggregate in the asphaltic concrete.Keywords: stability; coconut; stiffness; density; flow

A User-Centered Design Approaches for Developing Web Information System for Stroke Care (WISS)

Optimizing resources from internet is important because effective stroke care require caregiver have a fruitful of information at increasing efficiency in acute stroke care. With the result shown that stroke becomes the third leading cause of death in world, there is an urge need for the information provided online is reliable. There is still limited information available online to assist in stroke care as well as the right medium to deliver the information to stroke patient. This paper discusses on User-Centered Design (UCD) approaches for designing the prototype for web information system for Stroke Care. The methodology uses are interviews, focus-group discussion and observation, questionnaires and card-sorting activity. This research covers four groups of users: stroke caregivers, two stroke rehab centers, therapists and doctors who handle the     structure proposed using UCD approach

Enhancement in Some Physical Properties of (PVP: CMC) Blend by the addition of MgO

This research study explores the effects of adding MgO nanoparticles to a polymeric blend composed of 50% PVP and 50% CMC. The blend was prepared using MgO nanoparticles (0.2%, 4%, and 6%) and varying processing conditions. The structural, optical, and electrical properties of the resulting blend were analyzed to determine the impact of the added nanoparticles on the blend's properties. Results showed that the addition of nanoparticles significantly improved the structural, optical, and electrical properties of the polymeric blend. Specifically, the energy gap is 4.224 eV for (PVA: CMC) film and increased to 3.432 eV for (PVA: CMC-6% MgO), the light transmission and reflection properties were enhanced. Additionally, the conductivity of the blend was increased, making it suitable for various applications, including optoelectronics, sensors, and biomedical devices. Overall, this study demonstrates the potential of adding nanoparticles to polymeric blends to improve their properties and highlights the importance of optimizing processing conditions to achieve the desired properties for specific applications

Effect of ZnS and CdS on Some Physical Properties of MgO Films

This article reports on the fabrication and characterization of MgO nanostructured films and the effect of ZnS and CdS on their structural, optical, and electrical properties. The MgO, MgO: ZnS, and MgO: CdS thin films were deposited using a Chemical spray pyrolysis technique onto glass substrates at 673 K. The XRD patterns revealed that the MgO thin films had a preferred (111) orientation with a pure cubic crystalline structure, while the ZnS and CdS layers had a hexagonal structure. The FE-SEM images showed that the MgO films had a nanostructured morphology with an average particle size of ~50 nm. The UV-Vis spectroscopy results showed that the addition of ZnS and CdS layers to the MgO films resulted in a shift in the absorption edge towards the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum, indicating an improvement in their optical properties. These findings suggest that the MgOZnS and MgOCdS films could have potential applications in optoelectronic devices

Anatomical variations of median nerve formation, distribution and possible communication with other nerves in preserved human cadavers

Formation, distribution and possible communication of the median nerve are essential to know in treatment and surgeries of various conditions of injuries e.g. repair or reconstruction of the median nerve post traumatic accident. In the present study, 44 upper limbs were dissected. Root forming the median nerve, the median nerve in relation with the axillary artery and communication of the median nerve with other nerves were noted