Microwave pyrolysis of oil palm fibres

Malaysia and Indonesia are generating millions of ton of oil palm fibres (OPF) from their oil palm mills as biomass solid wastes which needs proper waste utilization application. The main purpose of the present research was to pyrolyse the OPF biomass into bio-oil using microwave irradiation technique. A domestic microwave of 1000 W and 2.45 GHz frequency was modified to accommodate fluidized bed system. It was found that OPF showed poor microwave absorbing characteristics. Therefore, an appropriate microwave-absorbing material such as biomass char was added to initiate the pyrolysis process. Temperature profiles and bio-oil yield was investigated by varying the ratio of OPF to microwave absorber. It was found that the yield of bio-oil depended on the ratio of OPF to microwave absorber. Particular attention on the temperature profiles was also taken into account during microwave heating of OPF. It can be concluded that microwave technique can save significant time and energy through its rapid and volumetric heating characteristic

Cor e esgrafito. Saber ver para proteger.

Um dos resultados que mais se destacou durante a pesquisa por nós desenvolvida sobre os esgrafitos no Alentejo foi o facto de que a maioria dos esgrafitos inventariados terem sido sujeitos a tantas acções de pintura que, hoje, já não é perceptível o seu aspecto, os seus cromatismos e/ou as suas texturas originais. Sendo o esgrafito uma técnica decorativa com reboco à vista, há valores da matéria que não podem ser descurados, tais como a textura ou a cor das argamassas, pois são intrínsecos à natureza deste revestimento mural. Mesmo quando a actual cultura da conservação e restauro assume como condição sine qua non a conservação da matéria enquanto testemunho cultural, verifica-se frequentemente que, no caso do esgrafito, a intervenção é feita utilizando critérios da construção civil e não de conservação. Infelizmente, continua-se a constatar um desconhecimento sobre como intervir nos esgrafitos, resultando em intervenções ditas de “conservação” ou “recuperação” inadequadas, como, por exemplo, a aplicação de camadas de pintura sobre estas decorações, causando perda dos testemunhos e valores dos edifícios históricos. Este artigo pretende sensibilizar todos os intervenientes e o público em geral para o valor e para a situação de risco deste património, enfatizando a necessidade de salvaguardar a sua autenticidade material. Numa primeira fase do artigo, descreve-se o conceito e a técnica de execução do esgrafito, e apresenta-se o panorama dos esgrafitos no Alentejo, ilustrando com casos em que a cor, a textura e a superfície dos esgrafito não foi alterada. Posteriormente, procura-se sensibilizar o público expondo alguns dos inúmeros casos onde a técnica do esgrafito foi subvertida. Por fim sistematiza-se um conjunto de recomendações que poderão ajudar na qualificação das intervenções sobre os esgrafitos

Access to Higher Education in Tanzania: Experiences from Students Who Are Not Beneficiaries of Higher Education Loans

The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of students who do not benefit from higher education loans in their education. Although the government declared free education for primary and ordinary secondary education, yet the majority of the students who complete secondary education find it difficult to access higher education. The government through her scheme of loans has supported some students through Higher Education Students’ Loans Board (HESLB). This Board has the objective of assisting needy and eligible Tanzania students to access loans and grants for higher education. Because of tough eligibility criteria, there are many students who secure chance for Higher Education, and yet they are not qualified for loans. Some of these students get to the university with the support of their parents or guardians. This study was particularly geared to explore their experiences in the university life and to compare their performance with those who are the beneficiaries of the loans. This study used parallel concurrent triangulation design, targeting university students and university loan officers. The findings indicate that students who are not beneficiaries of the loans experience various challenges such as failure to register as students, social isolation, stress, stigma, prostitution, pregnancy and others. The findings also indicate that students who are the beneficiaries of loans perform better than none beneficiaries of the loans. This study suggests that the government should find ways to allocate more funds for students who qualify to access higher education and find other ways of supporting students who qualify for higher education

High or low initial setting price?: Initial setting price as prediction of intention to bid in on line auctions

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economic

A multi-dimensional study into the relationships within children's journeys of free play between home and the nursery

This research examines the relationship over time between children’s (aged 3-5) free play cultures and practices at home and in the nursery. Research questions concern how this relationship was perceived and responded to from multiple perspectives; how these relationships, perceptions, and responses developed over time; and how children’s research experiences impacted their free play. In these six months of qualitative research, eighteen children from two state-maintained Nurseries in London used free play provision in the nursery as a participatory tool. Questionnaires and indepth interviews were conducted with parents and practitioners. The study makes the following methodological contributions to the field of conducting research with children. It offers free play as a participatory tool for children to communicate their perspectives and experiences by engaging in free play. The originality lies in the study’s introduction of the researcher to the children, as a learner from a school for adults who studied children’s play. It extends the use of participatory research beyond collecting children’s artefacts and narratives and includes an examination of children’s experiences of conducting research. The study’s conceptual framework contributes to the field of conducting research with children in the following ways. It extends ideas related to ‘agency’; and combines it with Bourdieu’s ‘field’ to conceptualise children’s free play and research experiences that are relationally, contextually and temporally dynamic; and are assigned multiple meanings from adult and child perspectives. Findings showed individuality in children’s free play that revealed the dialogic relationship between cultures and practices at home and in the nursery. Developments in play themes, language, play behaviour, and children’s agency exercised during free play over time, showed the complex and dynamic two-way traffic of cultures and practices between home and the nursery. The study revealed the development of unique relationships between children’s research experiences that included researcher-child relationships and their free play in the nursery

Cor e esgrafito no Alentejo

Este artigo pretende sensibilizar todos os intervenientes e o público em geral para o valor e para a situação de risco deste património, enfatizando a necessidade de salvaguardar a sua autenticidade material. Um dos resultados que mais se destacou durante a pesquisa por nós desenvolvida sobre os esgrafitos no Alentejo foi o facto de que a maioria dos esgrafitos inventariados terem sido sujeitos a tantas acções de pintura que, hoje, já não é perceptível o seu aspecto, os seus cromatismos e/ou as suas texturas originais. Sendo o esgrafito uma técnica decorativa com reboco à vista, há valores da matéria que não podem ser descurados, tais como a textura ou a cor das argamassas, pois são intrínsecos à natureza deste revestimento mural. Mesmo quando a actual cultura da conservação e restauro assume como condição sine qua non a conservação da matéria enquanto testemunho cultural, verifica-se frequentemente que, no caso do esgrafito, a intervenção é feita utilizando critérios da construção civil e não de conservação. Infelizmente, continua-se a constatar um desconhecimento sobre como intervir nos esgrafitos, resultando em intervenções ditas de “conservação” ou “recuperação” inadequadas, como, por exemplo, a aplicação de camadas de pintura sobre estas decorações, causando perda dos testemunhos e valores dos edifícios históricos. Numa primeira fase do artigo, descreve-se o conceito e a técnica de execução do esgrafito, e apresenta-se o panorama dos esgrafitos em monumentos religiosos no Alentejo, ilustrando com casos em que a cor, a textura e a superfície dos esgrafito não foi alterada. Posteriormente, procura-se sensibilizar o público expondo alguns dos inúmeros casos onde a técnica do esgrafito foi subvertida. Por fim sistematiza-se um conjunto de recomendações que poderão ajudar na qualificação das intervenções sobre os esgrafitos

The impact of macroeconomic variables on stock prices in Tanzania

Abstract. This paper examines the relationship between stock prices and macroeconomic variables namely, inflation rate, Treasury bill rate, exchange rate and money supply in Tanzania. The paper uses monthly time series data spanning from January 2012 to December 2016 across 10 companies listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange. Johansen’s co-integration and vector error correction models have been applied to investigate the long-run relationship between stock prices and macroeconomic variables while considering average stock price on one hand and individual companies stock prices on the other hand. We specify 11 models, whereas model 1 examines the effects of macroeconomic variables on overall stock price, models 2-11 explore the effects of the same macroeconomic variables on individual firm’s stock price across 10 firms. This is important because some firms tend to behave differently as far as changes in macroeconomic variables are concerned. The empirical analysis reveals that macroeconomic variables and the stock prices are co-integrated across all models and, hence, a long-run equilibrium relationship exists between them. Equally important, all regression models pass the specification tests of heteroscedasticity, serial correlation, Ramsey RESET test of specification and Jacque-Bera Normality test. The overall model regression results show that money supply and exchange rate have a positive effect on stock prices. By contrast, Treasury bill rate tends to have a negative effect on stock prices. Inconsistent with the a priori expectation, inflation rate seems to exert no impact on overall stock prices. However, individual firms’ regressions show that the coefficient on inflation is negative and statistically significant in 6 models but weakly significant in 2 models, and positive and statistically significant in 1 model. Similar controversial results across firms are revealed on the other macroeconomic variables while considering individual firms regressions. Nevertheless, money supply is found to be the main determinant of stock and hence, it should be targeted as the main monetary policy aimed at directing the stock market in Tanzania.Keywords. Stock prices, Macroeconomic variables, Error correction models.JEL. D51, H54, O24

Cor e esgrafito

Em Portugal, conhece-se pouco a dimensão da presença dos esgrafitos e o significado deste tipo de superfícies arquitectónicas. Os esgrafitos existentes não estão, muitas vezes, identificados e documentados porque, ainda não são reconhecidos, enquanto elementos identificativos ou de referência patrimonial

In Vitro Reassembly of the Malolactic Fermentation Pathway of Leuconostoc oenos (Oenococcus oeni)

The mechanism of metabolic energy generation by malolactic fermentation was studied with artificial membrane vesicles of Leuconostoc oenos (Oenococcus oeni). (Note that although L. oenos was recently reclassified as O. oeni, the old designation was kept in the present work.) Purified malolactic enzyme was entrapped in artificial membrane vesicles prepared from L. oenos cells able to transport L-malate. We show that the in vitro reconstituted system, including an electrogenic L-malate carrier and the decarboxylating malolactic enzyme, generated a proton motive force that was able to drive intravesicular accumulation of leucine.