Smart control of an electric vehicle for ancillary service in DC microgrid

This article presents a two-stage framework for optimal Electric Vehicle (EV) charging/discharging strategy for DC Microgrid (MG) with Distributed Generators (DGs). A multi-objective optimisation task aimed at minimising system losses and EV battery degradation with Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) peak shaving service has been realised. This coordinated EV integration into the DCMG was formulated as a directed weighted single source shortest path problem that was solved using a modified Dijkstra’s algorithm. The weights of the edges were obtained using primal-dual interior point method. The proposed framework has been experimentally verified using simulations with a test DCMG system with practical IEEE European low voltage test feeder load profiles. Results show realisation of peak demand shaving leveraging on EV discharge with minimal on-board battery degradation as well as reduced system losses. It is also shown that the proposed two-stage framework reduces the battery state of charge (SOC) sample space requirements in the analysis, thus, reducing the computational burden

Stakeholders Perception of Factors Determining the Adoptability of Green Building Practices In Construction Projects In Nigeria

Within the Nigerian construction industry there has been a lack of research profiling the adoptability of green building practices in construction projects. The aim of this study is to investigate factors determining the adoptability of green building practices. The objectives of the study are to compare perception of stakeholders on factors determining the adoptability of green building principles in construction projects and also to find out the constraints in implementing green building principles. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information from various respondents who were built environment professionals. Random sampling technique was used to select one hundred and fifty (150) respondents out of which ninety-one (91) responses were used for the data analysis. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results indicated that green building practices adoptable by  building industry professional include, site sustainability, material and resource conservation, energy conservation, maintenance and building operation, occupant health and safety, water conservation, recycling and waste reduction.  Barriers affecting green practices include lack of awareness, expertise and higher cost. The findings have important implications for policy and practice. The study recommends full establishment of Green Building Council of Nigeria (GBCN) that will be responsible for awareness creation, introduction of guidelines, tools and techniques that will drive green building practices for future project. KEYWORDS: Adoptability, Green Building, Nigeria, Perception, Stakeholders

Mosquito Control Strategies In Ishiagu Rural Communities: Implications To Public Health

Mosquito control strategies adopted by the residents of two Ishiagu Communities (Okue and Ihie)were investgated. 53 households in Okue and 54 in Ihie were sampled. Simple structured questionnaires were prepared and administered. Percentages and chi square (X2) test of significance was employed in analysing the data. The result revealed that 429 % of the residents of the two communities used insecticides, 25.2% used mosquito coils, 6.5% used smoke of local herbs and 5.6% were insensitive to mosquito nuisance and careless about mosquito control. Choice of control measures by residents of the two communities were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Occupational related preferences revealed that farmers ranked highest in the use of insecticides and coils (21.5%) each. 131% of teachers use insecticides and 37% use nettings. Statistical analysis of the occupational related choice patterns was significant (P < 005). Keywords: Mosquito, Rural Communities, Control, Implications, Public Health.Animal Research International Vol. 3 (1) 2006 pp. 431-43

Positive and Negative Coping Mechanisms due to High-Stress of COVID-19

Previous research on COVID-19 suggests that college students are experiencing increased symptoms of anxiety and depression (Saladino et al., 2020; Son et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020). Researchers have argued that there is an “urgent need to develop interventions and preventative strategies to address the mental health of college students” (Son et al., 2020, p. 2). Although there is a growing literature on the negative effects of the pandemic on the mental health of college students, there is little research on how students cope with these negative effects. In this study we will be investigating the effectiveness of certain coping mechanisms in response to the high stress caused by COVID-19. We intend to do this by developing a survey and administering it to the Kennesaw State University student body. The survey will initially consist of questions about students\u27 symptoms of anxiety and depression before and during COVID. Next, students will be asked about the effectiveness of coping strategies before and during COVID (e.g., exercise, recreational entertainment, positive affirmations, hobbies). We hypothesize that students will experience more symptoms of anxiety and depression during COVID in comparison to before. We expect an increase in the severity of negative symptoms and a decrease in the effectiveness of most coping mechanisms post-COVID. We expect that even coping mechanisms that can still be utilized in a pandemic, like virtual human interaction, will not be effective post-COVID and may now be stressful for participants. Our study will help researchers better understand the effects of COVID-19 on mental health and can help propose solutions to high stress levels during a global pandemic

Effectiveness and compliance to the use of sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine as a prophylaxis for malaria among pregnant women in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

Background: Malaria during pregnancy escalates the damaging consequence to the mother and neonate. The usage of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria (IPTp) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is recommended for averting the deleterious consequences of malaria in pregnancy. This study evaluated the effectiveness of, and compliance with the use of SP for malaria among pregnant women in Port Harcourt Rivers State, Nigeria. Method: A total of 300 samples of maternal peripheral blood (MPB), 84 neonatal cord blood (NCB) and 84 placental blood (PLB) were collected from consenting mothers. Malaria parasitaemia were analysed using standard parasitological methods, and bio-data of consenting mothers were collected through questionnaires and from ANC records. Results: Out of the samples examined for MPB, 59(19.7%) tested positive to malaria. Those with only primary education (57.1%) and women of age ≤ 20yrs (25%) had higher prevalence. Women who took SP had significantly lower prevalence (17.6%) than those that took other drugs (36.4%) (p &lt; 0.05). Malaria prevalence was highest among women who had 3 months interval between each dose (39.1%), followed by those of 2months (23.7%) and those of 1 month (7.0%) (p &lt; 0.05). The primigravidaes (22.8%) had an insignificantly higher prevalence than secundigravidae (19.4%) and multigravidae (15.9%). Also, 30.5% of women who registered in their third trimester of pregnancy had a significantly higher malaria parasitaemia than those who registered during their first 8.10%, or second trimesters, 19.4%. Of the 84 MPB-NCB-PLB pairedamples examined, 16.7%, 8.3% and 25% respectively were infected with malaria parasitaemia. On frequency of compliance, mothers who took SP once (37.5%) had a significantly higher MPB parasitaemia than those who took it twice (7.84%) and those of thrice (6.25%). Neonatal cord blood parasitaemia prevalence revealed that those that took SP once, that is, 25%, had a higher prevalence than others like those of twice (5.88%) and thrice (0%) respectively. Conclusion: The use and compliance of SP reduced the prevalence of malaria among pregnant women and their new-borns. Keywords: Compliance; Sulphadoxine-Pyrimethamine; Pregnant women; Malaria Parasitaemia

Qualitative Study Of Anopheles Species In Konduga Lake Area Of Borno State, Nigeria

The investigation on Anopheles species in Konduga lake area, Borno State of Nigeria, was carried out to identify various Anopheles species prevalent in the area and to determine their relative population densities. Six Anopheles species were recorded, namely, A. gambiae, A. funestus, A. ziemanni, A. squamosus, A. pharoensis, and A. maculipalpis. The relative population densities o various species were higher during rainy season than during the dry season. The population densities of female Anopheles were higher than those of the males. With the exemption of A. maculipalps, all the other Anopheles species recorded during the study are known transmitters of human malaria. A. gambiae of the A. gambiae complex was dominant in the study area. The periodic occurrence of Anopheles explains periodicity of malaria epidemiology in the study area. The high population of the female Anopheles predisposes inhabitants of the study area to incessant contact with the malaria vectors. Lake Konduga and its environments seem to satisfy the basic requirements of Anopheles mosquitoes growth and survival. Keywords: Tropical lake, Anopheles species, Malaria vectorsAnimal Research International Vol. 4 (2) 2007 pp. 673-67

Influence of bamboo fiber and limestone powder on the properties of self-compacting concrete

This paper examines the effect of combined bamboo fibers and limestone powder used as filler material on the fresh, hardened and microstructural properties of self-compacting concrete (SCC). The bamboo fibers of aspect ratio (l/d) of 50 and a maximum length of 50 mm was varied in steps of 0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75% and 1% in the SCC mix. While 10% of limestone powder was added as a filler in each of the SCC mix. The workability of the mix was assessed by slump flow test and V-funnel test, while the mechanical properties were assessed by considering the compressive and split tensile strength test after 7, 14 and 28 curing age. All concrete mixes were carried out by following the European Federation for Specialist Construction Chemicals and Concrete (EFNARC) standard, while the microstructure of selected samples was assessed using the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Test results indicate that fiber addition influences the fresh properties of SCC. Moreover, it was observed that SCC mix containing with fiber content of 0.75% and 0.5% with the inclusion of 10% limestone powder achieved the highest compressive and split tensile strength values of 28.04 MPa and 3.26 MPa, respectively. The result showe

Prescribing practices for pediatric out-patients: A case study of two teaching hospitals in Nigeria

Purpose: The objective of this study was to evaluate drug utilization pattern in the pediatric departments of two tertiary health facilities in Nigeria using WHO core prescribing indicators.Methods: Using a cross-sectional retrospective study approach, prescriptions  randomly selected for a period of 6 months from the pediatric out-patient departments of two tertiary hospitals: Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH), Awka and Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi in South- Eastern Nigeria were assessed. Prescribing indicators as listed by WHO were calculated and analyzed using SPSS version 20.Results: A total of 750 prescriptions (450 from NAUTH and 300 from COOUTH) containing 2,739 drugs were assessed. The mean number of drugs prescribed per encounter (mean ± SD) at NAUTH was 3.5 ± 0.9 and 3.8 ± 1.1 in COOUTH. The percentage of antibiotics prescribed per encounter in COOUTH and NAUTH were 72.3 and 77.1 %, respectively, whereas drugs prescribed by generic names were 61.7 and 64.2 %, respectively. Injections prescribed per encounter were above acceptable range, and percentages of drugs prescribed from essential medicine lists in the two hospitals were &gt; 85 %.Conclusion: This study identified irrational use of antibiotics, polypharmacy,  non-adherence to generic prescribing and high use of injections in both hospitals. The need for improvement in prescription patterns is underscored.Keywords: Prescription pattern, Pediatric outpatients, WHO indicators, Irrational use, Antibiotics, Polypharmac

Effect of Garcinia Kola (Heckel) on Pharmacokinetic Parameters of Rifampicin

Most herbal products are used with prescription drugs and have been found to affect the pharmacokinetics of these prescription drugs. The effect of concurrent administration of Garcinia kola on the pharmacokinetic parameters and penetration profile of rifampicin into the lung tissues were investigated using animal model. Albino rats in group A received rifampicin 10 mg/kg alone orally; Group B and C received 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg of Garcinia kola extract respectively for 10 days and on day 11, rifampicin 10 mg/kg was given. Blood samples were withdrawn from each group at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 12 and 24 h time intervals respectively. Blood samples were also withdrawn from the lungs in each group after 24 h and assayed to determine the concentration of rifampicin in the lungs. Both 100 and 200 mg/kg of Garcinia kola showed reduction in the maximum concentration (Cmax), area under concentration (AUC), clearance time (ClT), and time for plasma concentration to decrease by half (t1/2) of rifampicin. Garcinia kola significantly (P = 0.01) decreased concentration of rifampicin in the lungs by 32% and 39 % respectively. Our results show that the co-administration of Garcinia kola and rifampicin impairs the bioavailability of rifampicin and its penetration into the lungs

Modified mix design development specification batched by volume from specified mix design by weight towards improved concrete production

Concrete production process is usually designed to meet certain fresh properties, target strength and durability requirement. This process is referred to as the mix design, which guides the quantity and proportions of the various constituent materials to produce the concrete. Concrete mix designs are usually done in accordance to specified standard procedures in codes developed by recognized institutions like the Building Research Establishments (BRE) [ 1 ]. Other acceptable mix design methods includes the three (3) equation and double coating methods in [ 2,3 ]. Standardized prescribed mix designs are generally accepted designs that meet strength requirements in normal strength concrete class as specified in [ 4,5 ]. Standardized Prescribed Concrete mixes have been designed and the characteristic strengths specified in the British standards [ 4,5 ] and the specified concrete mix design is recommended to be batched by weight. •Predominantly, mix designs are batched by volume within the study area and most developing countries which results to the production of less durable concrete than when batched by weight. This practice is due to the higher cost of acquiring the batching plants [ 6 ] employed in concrete production by medium to small scale construction firms. •This study developed a method of deriving a mix design to be batched by volume from the specified mix designed by weight using a design chat developed from [ 4,5 ]. Concrete can then be produced with the derived mixed design and batched by volume as though it was batched by weight from the specified mix design. This method eliminates the strength disparity by both batching methods and production of more durable concrete in most developing countries