154 research outputs found
Microstructural characterisation, physical and chemical properties of rice husk ash as viable Pozzolan in building material: a case study of some Nigerian grown rice varieties
Get PDFRecycling of agricultural wastes such as rice husk ash as pozzolan is being increasingly encouraged, particularly in developing countries. In this paper, preliminary investigation on the physical and chemical composit ions of r ice husk ash using different techniques was carried out. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images of the r ice husk ash showed residual p ores to be distributed within the ash sample, indicating th at the silica is a highly porous material with a large internal surface area . Samples burnt at 4000 C for 6 hours and 6000 C for 4 hours for ‘Bukus’ and ‘Soro/ Olomo nla’ show aggregates with clearly defined layers of loose flakes compared to ‘Faro 58’. The Energy dispersive x ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis of rice husk ash performed to determine percentages of silica present in the samples were graphically represented. Nine elements (Al, Si, K, Ca, Br, Fe, Mg, Na, Mn) and their corresponding oxides (Al2O3 , SiO2 , K2O, CaO, Br, Fe2O3 , MgO, Na2 O, MnO) were detected with varying concentrations. The three varieties , on the average possess good silica content of over 50% considering the two varied temperature and time. Therefore , the chemical analysis results show that burning at combustion temperature of 6000 C for 4hrs, gives optimal result than at 4000 C for 6hrs because all the samples show high Silica content (Faro 58; 61.9, Bukus; 62.6 and Soro/Olomo nla; 59.5). Keywords : Rice husk ash, Scanning electron microscopy, Energy dispersive x - ray spectroscop
Effect of Viscous Energy Dissipation on Transient Laminar Free Convective Flow of a Dusty Viscous Fluid through a Porous Medium
Get PDFA study on transient free convection flow of a dusty viscous fluid through a porous medium is important for improving the existing industrial processes and for developing new chemical and geothermal systems. This paper presents a mathematical model for transient laminar free convective flow of a dusty viscous fluid through a porous medium in the presence of viscous energy dissipation. The partial differential equations governing the phenomenon were non-dimensionalized using some dimensionless quantities. The dimensionless coupled non-linear partial differential equations were solved using harmonic solution technique. The result obtained were presented graphically and discussed. These results revealed that increase in Peclet number, Eckert number and Grashof number leads to increase in the velocity profile. Increase in the mass concentration of the dust particles, concentration resistance ratio, Eckert number and Peclet number leads to increase in the velocity profile of the dust particles. Increase in the Reynold number leads to a reduction in the velocity profile. Increase in Peclet number, Eckert number and Grashof number leads to increase in temperature profile. Similarly, increase in heat source parameter, coefficient of Grashof number and Reynold number lead to reduction in the temperature profile
IMPACT OF HOUSING QUALITY ON THE HEALTH STATUS OF RESIDENTS OF ONA-ARA LOCAL GOVERNMENT OYO STATE: APPLICATION OF BODY MASS INDEX
Get PDFThis study examined the impact of housing quality on the health status of residents of Ona-Ara Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria. The study was anchored on the concepts of healthy housing while data were sourced primarily and secondarily. A multi stage procedure was adopted in which the two housing schemes in Ona-Ara were purposively selected. Consequently, 150 houses constituting 50% of 300 houses enumerated were picked for the study. Thereafter, questionnaire containing the social structural characteristics, hosing condition and the relationship between housing condition and the health status were administered to the residents in the study area. Data were analysed using correlation, while health status was measured using the Body Mass Index (BMI). The study revealed, residents in Ogbere housing estate exhibited higher rates of overweight BMI. There was a significant association between housing quality and health status (r). There was a health risk associated with substandard housing. Therefore, raising awareness, adherence to sanitation laws, promoting healthy lifestyles are recommended
IMPACT OF HOUSING QUALITY ON THE HEALTH STATUS OF RESIDENTS OF ONA-ARA LOCAL GOVERNMENT OYO STATE: APPLICATION OF BODY MASS INDEX
No full textThis study examined the impact of housing quality on the health status of residents of Ona-Ara Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria. The study was anchored on the concepts of healthy housing while data were sourced primarily and secondarily. A multi stage procedure was adopted in which the two housing schemes in Ona-Ara were purposively selected. Consequently, 150 houses constituting 50% of 300 houses enumerated were picked for the study. Thereafter, questionnaire containing the social structural characteristics, hosing condition and the relationship between housing condition and the health status were administered to the residents in the study area. Data were analysed using correlation, while health status was measured using the Body Mass Index (BMI). The study revealed, residents in Ogbere housing estate exhibited higher rates of overweight BMI. There was a significant association between housing quality and health status (r). There was a health risk associated with substandard housing. Therefore, raising awareness, adherence to sanitation laws, promoting healthy lifestyles are recommended
Financial Fraud Detection using Radial Basis Network
No full textThe ubiquitous cases of abnormal transactions with intent to defraud is a global phenomenon. An architecture that enhances fraud detection using a radial basis function network was designed using a supervised data mining technique― radial basis function (RBF) network, a multivariate interpolation approximation method. Several base models were thus created, and in turn used in aggregation to select the optimum model using the misclassification error rate (MER), accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) metrics. The results shows that the model has a zero-tolerance for fraud with better prediction especially in cases where there were no fraud incidents doubtful cases were rather flagged than to allow a fraud incident to pass undetected. Expectedly, the model’s computations converge faster at 200 iterations. This study is generic with similar characteristics with other classification methods but distinct parameters thereby minimizing the time and cost of fraud detection by adopting computationally efficient algorithm.</jats:p
Assessment of a self-reported Drinks Diary for the estimation of drinks intake by care home residents: Fluid Intake Study in the Elderly (FISE)
Get PDFObjectives: We evaluated the accuracy of a newly developed self-completed Drinks Diary in care home residents and compared it with direct observation and fluid intake charts. Design: Observational study. Setting: Residential care homes in Norfolk, UK. Participants: 22 elderly people (18 women, mean age 86.6 years SD 8.6, 12 with MMSE scores <27). Measurements: Participants recorded their own drinks intake over 24 hours using the Drinks Diary while care staff used the homes’ usual fluid intake chart to record drinks intake. These records were compared with drinks intake assessed by researcher direct observation (reference method), during waking hours (6am to 10pm), while drinks taken from 10pm to 6am were self-reported and checked with staff. Results: Drinks intake assessed by the Drinks Diary was highly correlated with researcher direct observation (Pearson correlation coefficient r=0.93, p<0.001, mean difference -163ml/day) while few staff-completed fluid charts were returned and correlation was low (r=0.122, p=0.818, mean difference 702ml/day). The Drinks Diary classified 19 of 22 participants correctly as drinking enough or not using both the European Food Safety Authority and US recommendations. Conclusion: The Drinks Diary estimate of drinks intake was comparable with direct observation and more accurate (and reliably completed) than staff records. The Drinks Diary can provide a reliable estimate of drinks intake in elderly care home residents physically and cognitively able to complete it. It may be useful for researchers, care staff and practitioners needing to monitor drinks intake of elderly people, to help them avoid dehydration
Discriminating Input Variables for Fraud Detection using Radial Basis Function Network
No full textFraud is an adaptive crime; special methods of data gathering and analysis are required to combat fraud issues as criminals often quest for dubious techniques to evade detection. Radial basis function (RBF) network, was used to build base models that identifies and detect the risk of fraud in transactions. At first, it is imperative to isolate the basic factors that are predictive of fraud occurrences so as to determine the Information gain of each attribute. The input variables’ importance was ascertained to indicate how some of the input variables were distinguished as strong indicators or weak indicators of fraud. Hence, the relevant attributes were selected prior to examining the model’s performance. This study has found relevance among corporate business professionals and government agencies, to minimizing the time and cost of fraud detection. The researcher recommended that fraud mining processes be regularly updated at fixed time intervals to checkmate criminals.</jats:p
A SHETTLE’S METHOD MODEL FOR AUTOMATING PRECONCEPTION SEX SELECTION
Get PDFThe world over, and especially in Africa and Asia, couples show a preference for particular sex of children; eithermale or female. This preference may arise due to economic reasons, customs of the people, or simply for a “genderbalanced family”. Whatever the reasons, the fact still remains that couples would like to be able to choose the sex oftheir children. While there are various options to achieve sex selection, all of them are either too expensive or tooinvasive. This paper presents how Shettles’ method being the least expensive and the most reliable method ofpreconception sex selection was modeled to enable automation. The results show that it is a more consistent andreliable method for gender selection. In addition, the result also shows that the Shettles’ method lends itselffavourably to computer programming and would be very useful in the lives of couples that desire a particular genderof offspring.Keywords: Computer assisted, Preconception, Sex selection, Model, Programming
A New Generalized Log-Logistic Erlang Truncated Exponential Distribution with Applications
No full textWe introduce a new distribution via the Marshall-Olkin generator called the Marshall-Olkin Log-logistic Erlang-Truncated Exponential (MOLLoGETE) distribution. Some structural properties of the distribution including series expansion of the density function, sub-models, hazard function, moments, conditional moments, mean deviations, distribution of order statistics, R´enyi entropy and maximum likelihood estimates are presented. The new density function is an infinite linear combinations of Burr XII-Erlang-Truncated Exponential distributions. The new generalization is applied to real data sets to evaluate the model performance
Microalbuminuria, Other Markers of Nephropathy and Biochemical Derangements in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Relationships and Determinants
Get PDFBackground: Microalbuminuria is an early indicator of Diabetic nephropathy and cerebrovascular disease.Objective: To evaluate relationships between microalbuminuria and other predictors of morbidity and mortality in type 2 DM.Methods: Fifty type 2 diabetic subjects were recruited each for three groups separated by disease durations. Thirty non-diabetic subjects were recruited to control each group. Urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) was estimated. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG), serum creatinine, urea, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high- and low density lipoprotein (HDL, LDL) were measured.Results: The diabetics with longest disease duration of >10 years were the oldest (65.86±1.71), had highest systolic BP (147.12±3.39mmHg) and least BMI (27.20±0.71Kg/m2); they had poorest lipid control (TC:5.54±0.26mmol/L),though with the least TG (0.97±0.09mmol/L); they also had the most severe microalbuminuria (33.63±8.03g/L) and ACR (65.85±10.38mg/gm). Patients with diabetes of 5-10 years had the poorest glycaemic control:FPG- 7.82±0.47mmol/L; HbA1c-13.09±0.74%). Significant negative correlations exist between microalbuminuria,HBA1c(r=-2.28, p=0.028) and serum creatinine(r=-2.11,p=0.042) in patients with 5-10 years disease; a positive correlation between the ACR and TC(r=1.00,p<0.01) in those with >10 years disease. In multivariate analysis, independent predictors of microalbuminuria were disease duration (OR 2.2, p< 0.001); HBA1c (OR 7.3, p=0.02); LDL/HDL ratio (OR 13.4, p< 0.001).Conclusion: The severity and progression of albuminuria are associated with longer duration of diabetes and poor glycaemic control. Significant relationships exist between ACR and HBA1c, TC, HDL-C, TG, creatinine. Disease duration, ethnicity, HBA1c, TC, TG, HDL-C and LDL/HDL ratio are independent predictors of albuminuria.Keywords: diabetes, microalbuminuria, albumin-to-creatinine ratio, dyslipidaemia, nephropathy, cardiovascular diseaseFunding: None declare
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