Archives- 

Chemical speciation and mobility factor indices of Pb, Cd, Zn and Mn were assessed in a crude oil contaminated soil and compared with control (uncontaminated) soil. The assessment was done to evaluate the impact of crude oil contamination on the bioavailability of metals in a soil matrix. Soil was collected in triplicate from four locations (three reflecting the crude oil impacted area and one uncontaminated soil as control). Soil was collected around a crude oil transfer pipeline within Bdere community in Ogoniland, Nigeria, within the month of August 2017. Fractional concentration of metals was determined using a GBC Avanta PM6600 atomic absorption spectrophotometer. In the oil contaminated soil, Zn (41.13%) and Mn (77.54%) were predominantly associated to the residual fractions while Pb (29.45%) and Cd (25.53%) were prevalent in the amorphous Fe-oxide and plant available fractions respectively. Similarly, the uncontaminated soil depicted the residual fractions of Zn (49.43%) and Mn (48.63%) to be the most important while Pb (56.17%) and Cd (62.16%) were both predominantly affiliated to plant available fractions. Heavy metal mobility factor indices reflected the order: (Zn>Cd>Pb>Mn) and (Cd>Mn>Zn>Pb) for crude oil impacted and uncontaminated soils respectively. Despite the prevalence of heavy metals to the inert fractions, the significant affiliation of metals to the readily mobile fractions of crude oil contaminated soil reflected the order: Pb (10.71%), Cd (25.53%), Zn (40.22%) and Mn (3.52%) which further suggested that these metals may have emanated from the introduction of crude oil into the soil matrix.

In this analysis we investigate the effect of chemical reaction, thermo diffusion and diffusion thermo on the convective heat and mass transfer flow of a viscous electrically conducting fluid through a porous medium bounded by a semi-infinite vertical plate at with thermophoresis. The equations governing the flow heat and mass transfer are solved by employing Galerkine-finite element analysis with three nodded line segments.

Energy demand is increasing while fossil fuels, the main source of energy, threaten their depletion and consequently their market value increases. In addition to this crisis, climate change and air pollution caused by the combustion emissions of fossil fuels pose problems of increased greenhouse effect. Due to the environmental problems caused by the use of fossil fuels, attention has been paid to the production of biodiesel as an alternative to petrodiesel. Biodiesel is an environmentally friendly alternative diesel fuel made from renewable resources made from vegetable oils and animal fats. It is a renewable energy source that seems to be an ideal solution for global energy needs. The current method of biodiesel production is the transesterification of the inedible oil with an alcohol (methanol or ethanol) in the presence of a catalyst or not. The transesterification reaction is very sensitive to the parameters and oil nature such as the acid composition and the free fatty acid content. Other variables include reaction such as temperature, ratio of alcohol to vegetable oil, catalyst, and intensity of mixing, purity of reagents. The development of biofuels creates new agricultural sectors and could offer new niche markets for farmers in exploitable areas. This study aims to make a comparative study transesterification processes for biodiesel production.

Congenital bridle is a rare cause of inclusion in children. It remains difficult to diagnose and is often only confirmed during surgical exploration. We discuss the literature through the case of a 40-day-old girl admitted to the emergency room for an occlusive syndrome and in whom surgery confirmed this rare entity.

Let G be a simple connected graph of order n. Let Dct(G, i) be the family of connected total dominating sets of G with cardinality i. The polynomial Dct (G, x) = dct (G, i) xi is called the connected total domination polynomial of G. In this paper, we study some properties of connected total domination polynomials of the Extended grid graph Gn. We obtain a recursive formula for dct (Gn, i). Using this recursive formula, we construct the connected total domination polynomial Dct (Gn, x) = dct(Gn, i) xi , of Gn, where dct(Gn, i) is the number of connected total dominating sets of Gn with cardinality i and some properties of this polynomial have been studied.

The present study assessed the contributions of Aga Khan Education Services Pakistan (AKESP) in Early Childhood Development (ECD) in Chitral. The study aimed to find out head teachers, teachers and parents’ views about contributions of AKESP in Early Childhood Development (ECD) centers at Chitral, and to assess their views about contributions of ECD centers in physical, social, cognitive, emotional, academic and moral development of children. The study was descriptive. Data were collected from parents, teachers and heads of ECD centers from valleys of Chitral through two sets of questionnaires. Findings report that ECD centers are contributing a lot in providing facilities for children at these centers and that ECD centers are contributing a lot in the social, emotional, moral, academic and physical development of children. However, ECD Centers of AKESP may focus on launching more programs for cognitive development of children and programs of teachers training in ECD.

This work focused at designing and fabricating of an aluminium mould for the production of motorcycle brake lever. The pattern making, sand mould and the casting are the major step used to achieve the work. The thermal stress exerted on the mould stood at 0.67GPa which did not exceed the permissible thermal stress for aluminium. In the design of the motorcycle brake lever, it was discovered that a force of 0.58N is required to operate the lever at an effective length of 9cm from the motorcycle head. It shows that the production of motorcycle brake lever can be done locally since aluminium is largely available in the country and hence recommends that more effort should be put in by the Nigerian government for sustainability and development in this area.

The general objective of this study was to investigate the determinants of capital budgeting decision on merchandising companies in Mogadishu. Specifically, this study investigated the effects of company size, degree of risk and capital intensity on merchandising companies in Mogadishu. Capital budgeting decision rank among the most critical types of managerial decisions made in a company and can have major long-term implications, both positive and negative. Merchandise companies was only succeed if their capital budgeting decisions are made well In order to ensure the importance of capital budgeting decisions for merchandise companies and its determinants play the effectiveness and efficiency in merchandise companies. This study was conducted through a descriptive study. In addition the study employed a survey research design in data collection. The sampling procedure of this study is used non-probability sampling procedure particularly purposive sampling or judgmental sampling. This research employed quantitative data collection method whereby data is gathered by the use of closed ended questionnaires which are self-administered. The data collected was analyzed using the software called Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 and results shown in terms of frequency distribution and percentages. A regression model was applied to determine the relationship between Company size, Degree of risk and Capital intensity as the independent variables and Capital Budgeting Decision for merchandise as the dependent variable. Results confirm the varying importance of the determinants of capital budgeting decision on merchandising companies in Mogadishu. In general, the results reveal that Company sizes, degree of risk and capital intensity have significant and positive effects on capital budgeting decision. The study recommends that to improve capital budgeting decision on merchandising companies in Mogadishu, Managers should make use of the DPB on all the projects when the economic situation is not certain, and the use of NPV, DPB and PI should be more frequent as these techniques have been proved to be the best.

Energy input for technological, industrial, social and economical development of a nation. Gasification means the transformation of solid fuels into combustible gases in presence of an oxygen carrier (air, O2, H2O, CO2) at high temperatures. The gasification process occurs at temperatures between 600-1000 °C and decomposes the complex hydrocarbons of wood. The gasification process, with high temperature, produces ash and char, tars, methane, charcoal and other hydrocarbons. Well-designed updraft gasifier is simplest type of gasifier. A biomass up draft gasifier was specially developed to meet the heat requirements of Indian kitchens as well as industrial applications. The physical properties and proximate analysis of maize cob and biomass briquettes was determined. The combustion zone temperature is vary in between 955 to 974.00 and 731 to 820,40 °C at four fuel consumption rate i.e. 4,6,8 and 10 kg/h using maize cob and biomass briquettes as a fuel in the system respectively. The up draft biomass gasifier efficiency is vary in between 68.06 to 75.63 per cent and 65.38 to 72.65 per cent at four fuel, consumption rate i.e. 4,6,8 and 10 kg/h using maize cob and biomass briquettes as a fuel in the system respectively.

Nowadays water scarcity existing in many countries even though earth is covered by three –fourth of water. Worldwide rapid growth of industries and the immeasurable population are the major reasons for scarcity of water. Solar still is the only effective solution for water problems in dry areas where the scarcity of water and electricity exists. Solar still is a efficient solar device which converts the available brackish water into potable water. An extensive review on different methods to enhance the evaporation rate using photo-catalyst in solar still has been carried out in this paper.