Energy Evaluation and Processing Cost Reduction in Agudu Maize Processing Industry

This study evaluated energy consumption by Agudu Farms Limited (AFL) that processes maize and cassava into flour for human consumption. The objectives of study included to determine energy contribution to processing cost, to minimize the processing cost and to propose a new selling price per unit of sale of the product. The study materials included; a multi-meter, stopwatch, electrical appliances’ nameplates and bills, fuel purchased receipts, and production records. Data was collected through detailed energy audits and measurements of present electricity consumption. This data was converted into energy intensities, rates and costs, and analyzed. The monthly energy intensity plotted on bar charts using Microsoft excel and  the results showed that diesel had the highest consumption variation of 3500 kWh/t, electricity 200kWh/t and labor 110 kWh/t. The percentage of energy contribution to processing cost was 33%. In monetary terms, the processing cost per hour of operation showed average value of ₦830. Whereas, the minimum production cost per hour using Tora software showed ₦767. The new product price per ten-kilogram (10kg) unit of sale of maize flour, using break-even analysis, showed ₦2864.  The study observed that diesel contributed more to production cost than electricity and labor and therefore, recommended the setting up of an energy monitoring team to monitor procurement and control utilization of diesel to reduce production cost

Kinetic Analysis on Decomposition of Pentaerythrityl Tetranitrate under Influence of Thiols

Pentaerythrityl tetranitrate (PETN) is an organic nitrate compound used in the therapy asgeneral vasodilator in the treatment of angina pectoris. PETN acts as prodrug for nitric oxideas active component. However, in clinical association, it is known a decreased ability oforganic nitrate to do chemical reduction, which is metabolic tolerance, by upregulation inendogenic thiol system. It has been proved that supplementation of thiol is able to overcometolerance to nitrate, nevertheless there is no comprehensive reports on interaction betweenorganic nitrate and thiol compounds. The goal of this research is to study decompositionreaction kinetic of PETN under influence N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) and thiosalicylic acid(TSA) as thiol compounds, in the physiological condition. PETN as tracing compound weremonitored by chromatographic system, with ratio of thiols used was equal, doubled, fivetimes, and ten times folds. Data were analyzed kinetically by using math equation for reactionorder 1, 2, and composite order 1 (equivalence). The result showed the linearity values onkinetic derivative, where correlation coefficient, r, is higher than 0.9 (r ≥ 0.9) for compositeorder 1. The result will give scientific contribution about tolerance phenomena in organicnitrate, particularly in the role of thiol compound to overcome nitrate tolerance

Examining the cancellation mechanism of neutron EDM in a model with dilaton-dominated susy breaking

We examine the cancellation mechanism between the different contributions to the electric dipole moment of the neutron in a model with dilaton-dominated SUSY breaking. We find these accidental cancellations occur at few points in parameter space. For a wide region of this space we must constrain the phase of $\mu$ to be of order $10^{-1}$ and have the phases of $A$ and $\mu$ strongly correlated in order to have small neutron EDM. Moreover, we consider the indirect CP violation parameter $\epsilon$ in this region where the electric dipole moment is less than the experimental limit and find that we can generate $\epsilon$ of order $10^{-6}$

Monte Carlo integration in Glauber model analysis of reactions of halo nuclei

Reaction and elastic differential cross sections are calculated for light nuclei in the framework of the Glauber theory. The optical phase-shift function is evaluated by Monte Carlo integration. This enables us to use the most accurate wave functions and calculate the phase-shift functions without approximation. Examples of proton nucleus (e.g. p-$^6$He, p-$^6$Li) and nucleus-nucleus (e.g. $^6$He$-^{12}$C) scatterings illustrate the effectiveness of the method. This approach gives us a possibility of a more stringent analysis of the high-energy reactions of halo nuclei.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figure

Assessment of pulmonary valve and right ventricular outflow tract with real-time three-dimensional echocardiography

Aim: Assessment of pulmonary valve (PV) and right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) using real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography (RT3DE). Methods: Two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) and RT3DE were performed in 50 patients with congenital heart disease (mean age 32 ± 9.5 years, 60% female). Measurements were obtained at parasternal views: short axis (PSAX) at aortic valve level and long axis (PLAX) with superior tilting. RT3DE visualization was evaluated by 4-point score (1: not visualized, 2: inadequate, 3: sufficient, and 4: excellent). Diameters of PV annulus (PVAD), and RVOT (RVOTD) were measured by both 2DE and RT3DE, while areas (PVAA) and (RVOTA) by RT3DE only. Results: By RT3DE, PV was visualized sufficiently in 68% and RVOTexcellently in 40%. PVAD and PVAA were measured in 88%. RVOTD and PVAD by 2DE at PLAX were significantly higher than PSAX (P < 0.0001) and lower than that by RT3DE (P < 0.001). Conclusion: RT3DE helps inRVOT and PV assessment adding more details supplemental to 2DE

CPsuperH: a Computational Tool for Higgs Phenomenology in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with Explicit CP Violation

We provide a detailed description of the Fortran code CPsuperH, a newly--developed computational package that calculates the mass spectrum and decay widths of the neutral and charged Higgs bosons in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with explicit CP violation. The program is based on recent renormalization-group-improved diagrammatic calculations that include dominant higher--order logarithmic and threshold corrections, b-quark Yukawa-coupling resummation effects and Higgs-boson pole-mass shifts. The code CPsuperH is self--contained (with all subroutines included), is easy and fast to run, and is organized to allow further theoretical developments to be easily implemented. The fact that the masses and couplings of the charged and neutral Higgs bosons are computed at a similar high-precision level makes it an attractive tool for Tevatron, LHC and LC studies, also in the CP-conserving case.Comment: 46 pages, LaTeX, 4 eps figures; the code may be obtained from http://theory.ph.man.ac.uk/~jslee/CPsuperH.html (version as to appear in Comput. Phys. Commun.

Evaluation of pericardial hydatid cysts by different echocardiographic imaging modalities

Cardiac hydatid disease or echinococcosis is a rare complication of Echinococcus granulosus infection. Traditionally, the diagnosis is made with two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography. This case report shows the complementary function of the different echo modalities (two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and contrast echocardiography) and MRI in the evaluation of pericardial hydatid cyst

Experimental investigation on viscosity of nanofluids prepared from banana fibre - nanoparticles

In this research for the first time, banana-fibre nanoparticles produced for nanofluid application and the viscosity of resultant nanofluids were measured.A Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) were used to analyzethe sizes of the particles produced(200nm). This paper presents new findings on the synthesis of natural fibre to obtain nanoparticles and subsequently produced nanofluids. Nanofluids are prepared by dispersing Banana fibre- nanoparticles in deionized water.An ultrasonic sonicator was used to ensure proper mixtures of different volume fractions (0.3%, 0.6 %, 0.9 % 1.2 % and 1.5%) of Banana fibre nanoparticles into base fluid (DI water). A Vibro Viscometer machine (SV-10) is used to measure the viscosity of the prepared nanofluids more conveniently. For minimum and maximum volume fractions of Banana fibre-nanoparticles (0.3% and 1.5%) in deionized water,the viscosity was found to be 1.08 mPa.s and 1.23mPa.s, which increases slightly with an increase of particle volume fraction and decreases as the temperature increases.The experimental results show a maximum of 22% increasing of viscosity for 1.5% volume fraction of nanofluids as compared with the deionized water (base fluid). From the experimental study on prepared nanofluids conducted, results show that all the values of viscosities at different volume fractions of the prepared nanofluids were found to be substantially higher than the values of the base fluids (deionized water). The experiments were conducted at varying temperature range (20oC through 60oC).Papers presented to the 12th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Costa de Sol, Spain on 11-13 July 2016

MSSM Higgs sector CP violation at photon colliders: Revisited

We present a comprehensive analysis on the MSSM Higgs sector CP violation at photon colliders including the chargino contributions as well as the contributions of other charged particles. The chargino loop contributions can be important for the would-be CP odd Higgs production at photon colliders. Polarization asymmetries are indispensable in determining the CP properties of neutral Higgs bosons.Comment: 24 pages, 40 figure

True mitral annulus diameter is underestimated by two-dimensional echocardiography as evidenced by real-time three-dimensional echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging

Background: Mitral annulus assessment is of great importance for the diagnosis and treatment of mitral valve disease. The present study sought to assess the value of real-time three-dimensional echocardiography for the assessment of true mitral annulus diameter (MAD). Methods: One hundred and fifty patients (mean age 38 ± 18 years) with adequate two-dimensional (2D) echocardiographic image quality underwent assessment of MAD2Dand MAD3D(with real-time three-dimensional echocardiography). In a subgroup of 30 patients true MAD was validated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Results: There was a good interobserver agreement for MAD2D(mean difference = -0.25 ± 2.90 mm, agreement: -3.16, 2.66) and MAD3D(mean difference = 0.29 ± 2.03, agreement = -1.74, 2.32). Measurements of MAD2Dand MAD3Dwere well correlated (R = 0.81, P < 0.0001). However, MAD3Dwas significantly larger than MAD2D(3.7 ± 0.9 vs. 3.3 ± 0.8 cm, P < 0.0001). In the subgroup of 30 patients with MRI validation, MAD3Dand MADMRIwere significantly larger than MAD2D(3.3 ± 0.5 and 3.4 ± 0.5 cm vs. 2.9 ± 0.4 cm, both P < 0.001). There was no significant difference between MADMRIand MAD3D. Conclusion: MAD3Dcan be reliably measured and is superior to MAD2Din the assessment of true mitral annular size