Investigation of livestock for presence of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense in Tafa Local Government Area of Niger State, Nigeria

The study investigated the presence of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense in livestock to ascertain their reservoir role and also screened for other pathogenic trypanosomes of animals in Tafa Local Government Area of Niger state, Nigeria. A total of 460 livestock comprising (cattle, sheep, goats, and dogs) selected at random were bled, examined using the buffy coat and Giemsa stained thin film and packed cell volume estimated. Questionnaire was filled for each animal on demography, awareness and management practices. An overall prevalence of 2.17% with Trypanosoma brucei, T. congolense, T. vivax and a mixed infection of T. brucei and T. congolense observed microscopically awaiting characterization. Interviews revealed high awareness (82.8%) of tsetse and trypanosomiasis described as bush disease and abortion in four cows. The PCV values were within the normal range, however, a significant decrease (P<0.05) was observed in sheep aged 7months to 4years in two communities. Therefore, the study indicated the presence of T. brucei and other trypanosomes suggesting that animal trypanosomiasis is still a problem to animal health and wellbeing in the study area. The study recommends effective integrated chemotherapy and vector control including livestock rearing under intensive management system to boost livestock production and productivity

Optimal design of a hoist structure frame

In an attempt to find the most cost effective design of a multipurpose hoisting device that can be easily mounted on and removed from a regular farm vehicle, cost optimisation including both material and manufacturing expenditure, is performed on the main frame supporting the device. The optimisation is constrained by local and global buckling and fatigue conditions. Implementation of Snyman’s gradient-based LFOPC optimisation algorithm to the continuous optimisation problem, results in the economic determination of an unambiguous continuous solution, which is then utilised as the starting point for a neighbourhood search within the discrete set of profiles available, to attain the discrete optimum. This optimum is further investigated for a different steel grade and for the manufacturing and material cost pertaining to different countries. The effect of variations in the formulation of the objective function for optimisation is also investigated. The results indicate that considerable cost benefits can be obtained by optimisation, that costing in different countries do not necessarily result in the same most cost effective design, and that accurate formulation of the objective function, i.e. realistic mathematical modelling, is of utmost importance in obtaining the intended design optimum

Reliability-based Optimum Design of a Square Box Column Constructed from Cellular Plates

These are the proceedings of the International Conference on Design, Fabrication and Economy of Metal Structures held on 24-26 April 2013 in Miskolc, Hungary which contain 99 papers covering: Structural optimization Thin-walled structures Stability Fatigue Frames Fire Fabrication Welding technology Applications Steel-concrete composite Special problems The authors are from 23 different countries, ensuring that the themes covered are of worldwide interest and importance. The International Institute of Welding (IIW), the International Society of Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization (ISSMO), the TÁMOP 4.2.1.B-10/2/KONV-2010-0001 project entitled “Increasing the quality of higher education through the development of research - development and innovation program at the University of Miskolc supported by the European Union, co-financed by the European Social Fund” and many other sponsors helped organizers to collect these valuable studies, the results of which will provoke discussion, and provide an important reference for civil and mechanical engineers, architects, researchers and structural designers and fabricators, as well as managers in a range of industries including building, transport, shipbuilding, aircraft, chemical and offshore engineering

Large valorisation on sustainability of steel structures

The technical objective of this project is to disseminate the knowledge acquired in the recent years about the environmental impact assessment of steel and composite buildings. During the last decade, a lot of research projects have been funded to develop methodologies, systems and products aiming at improving the thermal efficiency as well as the global environmental footprint of steel buildings. The new standard EN15804 intended for environmental calculation of buildings takes now into account the fact that steel is a recyclable material (Module D). So the objective of this project is to summarise all this acquired knowledge into different documents (Background, Design guide, leaflet, User-friendly Software), to translate all these training and teaching support into the different European languages and finally to disseminate amongst Europe by the organisation of workshops