Biogas production from anaerobic digestion of organic waste is an important renewable energy source with great potential of replacing fossil fuels for heat and electricity generation. However, efficient anaerobic digestion process and energy conversion technology must be ensured for better biogas yield and energy generation. The present study involves experimental assessment of biogas production from anaerobic co-digestion of biomass feedstock. The experimental stage involves the co-digestion of livestock manure with slaughterhouse waste and vegetable waste, different sets of experiments were conducted at mesophilic condition of 37o C, 25 days of retention time and utilizing water displacement experimental setup. The biogas yields obtained for the co-digestion of Cow dung + Poultry manure (S1), Cow dung + Sheep manure (S2), Slaughterhouse waste + Poultry manure (S3), Sheep dung + Poultry manure (S4), Poultry manure + Whey (S5) and Vegetable waste + Cow (S6) are 0.0236m3/kg, 0.0231m3/kg, 0.0264m3/kg, 0.0234m3/kg, 0.0266m3/kg and 0.0191m3/kg respectively. These values are acceptable values of biogas yields for livestock manure co-digestion. However the co-digestion revealed that the biogas yields obtained are slightly above the minimum reported value for co-digestion of manure slurry, this is due to the nature of the experimental setup used. According to the simulation conducted with engineering equation solver software on the modeled biogas plant, energy efficiency of 42.55% was achieved by integrating the digestion process to the steam cycle which provides better heat utilization.
Page(s): 01-11 Date of Publication: 28 February 2023
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Lithium-ion batteries have played an important role in large energy storage applications such as electric vehicles and portable devices due to their high energy density. Due to growing demands for better performance batteries with superior cycling stability and higher energy density, various investigations were performed on finding new cathode materials to satisfy those requirements. This review will first go over the current challenges of lithium-ion batteries and briefly outline some recent developments in carbon-based nanomaterials and low-Co Ni-based layered oxide cathodes. Research on various carbon materials coating such as single/multi-walled carbon nanotubes, reduced graphene oxide will be presented. Furthermore, this review will summarize the advancements in low-Co layered oxide and their reported performances. Lastly, the perspectives of future advancements in cathode materials will be presented
Page(s): 12-24 Date of Publication: 28 February 2023
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Mining is one of the main methods of extracting mineral resources. Due to mining potentially decreasing biodiversity, farmland, soil fertility, and contamination from mining waste may add additional stress on environmental quality and ecosystem services. The research was conducted to identify the loss of land and land-use changes due to clay and sand mining in the left Ma-Oya riverbank of the Katana Divisional Secretariat Division (KDSD). Geographically, environmentally, and socio-economically, the Ma-Oya River basin is one of the unique river basins in Sri Lanka. Due to sand and clay mining, the Ma-Oya River basin’s left and right riverbanks have been highly degraded during the last few decades. The study used the mixed method to identify the land use and land cover changes, especially the GIS and statistical techniques with quantitative and qualitative data. The study revealed that Ma-Oya left bank with significant modifications and land loss due to critical natural resource exploitation. Mainly clay has been excavated up to 835-meter distance from the left Riverbank of Ma-Oya, covering more than 60 hectares. According to the present value of lands in the area, it was the amount of Rs. 2,728,774,720 (27287 Rs/M). It is noted that there are four or five people lose their life annually due to drowning in these water holes. Moreover, the future prediction of land-use change has become a severe issue. Therefore, it is essential to involvement of government institutes to minimize the risk and establish sustainability.
Page(s): 25-34 Date of Publication: 09 March 2023
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The need to substitute the scarce and expensive fishmeal with a cheaper alternative has drawn attention to the use of insect protein in feeds due to their abundance and high nutritional value. In this regard the Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) stands out due to its dual ability of recycling organic waste materials into useful biomass for feed. This resulted in several studies that assessed the quality of carcass produced by livestock fed with the larva meal. However, very little studies have been carried out on the effect of this larva meal on the carcass quality of the African catfish (Clarias gariepinus). Here, this study showed that the Black soldier fly larva meal can be used to replace fishmeal in the diet of Clarias gariepinus up to 75% to increase the quality of carcass. Four treatment diets of compounded fish feed were formulated to contain Black soldier fly larva meal replacing fishmeal at different inclusion rates of 0%, 50%, 75% and 100%. The values for condition factor recorded from each treatment were above 1, which imply that the fish were in good physiological state. The values of the hepatosomatic indices observed among the treatment diets indicate that feeding Black soldier fly larva meal to Clarias gariepinus had no negative impact on the liver functionality and no excessive hepatic accumulation of fat or carbohydrate as the values were within the normal range (1–2%). The fillet yield was significantly highest for fish fed 75% larva meal. Meanwhile, the productive potential carcass quality was also noticed to have increased with the increasing rate of larva meal inclusion up to 75%. Our results demonstrate that Black soldier fly larva meal can be used to replace fishmeal in the diet of Clarias gariepinus up to 75% to reduce cost of feeding without compromising the quality of carcass produced.
Page(s): 35-42 Date of Publication: 11 March 2023
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This study aimed to assess the potential of using IoT-enabled waste food tracking and monitoring for animal feed in urban centers. The study was conducted in Enugu Urban, Nigeria, using descriptive statistics to analyze the data collected from a sample of food businesses. The results showed that the use of IoT-enabled waste food tracking and monitoring could significantly impact the collection and distribution of waste food for animal feed, ensuring that waste was efficiently collected for animal feeding. The study found that the median value was 3, the mean was 2.5, and the standard deviation was 1.2. The findings of this study highlight the importance of utilizing technology to improve food waste management practices and contribute to a more sustainable food system. The use of IoT-enabled waste food tracking and monitoring can help to address the challenges of food waste management in urban areas, such as ensuring proper storage and transport of waste and preventing food waste from going to landfill. The results of this study demonstrate the potential of IoT-enabled waste food tracking and monitoring for animal feed in urban centers and the need for continued efforts to reduce food waste and improve food waste management practices.
Page(s): 43-46 Date of Publication: 11 March 2023
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Landscape perception in urban greenery focuses on how people perceive and evaluate spaces and these perception relates to benefits experienced. Natural landscapes are perceived as more visually appealing, more calming and restorative, and more conducive to relaxation and leisure activities. The contrasting urban greenery of Enugu metropolis is a result of complex interplay of residential area densities and social systems and continues to be depleted. This study aimed at assessing landscape perception in urban greenery in residential areas in Enugu metropolis as categorised into high, medium and low densities. This was achieved by determining how local residents value urban greenery and examining local residents preference of urban greenery as a development initiative. A total of 389 respondents in all three densities were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The results showed that urban greenery received higher residents’ prioritization ranking in low density areas than in medium and high densities. Notwithstanding, most of the surveyed respondents 84% knew of the benefits of trees while 11% thinks it is of no value and as low as 5% are ignorant of it’s benefits. The study recommends that indiscriminate falling of trees by the Enugu Electricity Distribution company should be checkmated, the few available open spaces in high density areas should be procured for afforestation, baseline data on urban greenery at community level should be captured.
Page(s): 47-59 Date of Publication: 14 March 2023
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Traveller is a small portion among all the parts of ring frame machine but significant part in ring frame in a short staple spinning mill. Traveller has a great impact on yarn quality parameters specially hairiness. The traveller imparts twist to the yarn and enables winding of the yarn on the cop. Yarn quality varies due to different traveller number. Several investigations have been carried out on the influence of the ring traveller of Bracker brand. In some studies, it was observed that yarn properties( U%, CVm%, hariness%, IPI and end breakage) decreased as the weight of the traveller increased, whereas in some others it was stated that as the traveller weight is decreased as yarn properties increased. Therefore, specific number of traveller should be used for a particular count of yarn. And it is important for the technologist to understand this and act on them to optimised the yarn production and quality.
Page(s): 60-67 Date of Publication: 14 March 2023
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Header losses were evaluated at forward speeds 4.24, 2.95 and 2.04 km/h in combine A and 3.81, 2.73 and 1.9 km/h in combine B. Header grain losses initially decreased with an increasing forward speed from 2.04 km/h to 2.95 km/h but increased with an increase of the speed from 2.95 to 4.24 km/h in combine A. Header grain losses were also increased due to the increase of the speed from 2.73 to 3.81 km/h from combine B. Forward speed of 2.95 km/h in combine A and 2.73 km/h in combine B resulted in lower header losses of 38.7 and 45.8 kg/ha, respectively. The increasing forward speed of combine A from 2.01 to 4.24 km/h increased the effective field capacity from 0.245 to 0.38 ha/h. Similarly, in combine B forward speeds from 1.9 to 3.81 km/h increased effective field capacity from 0.175 to 0.197 ha/h. Increasing forward speed in combine A from 2.01 to 4.24 km/h decreased the field efficiency from 60.9% to 49.3%, whereas, increasing forward speed from 1.9 to 3.81 km/h decreased the field efficiency from 50.8% to 30.6% in combine B.
Page(s): 68-72 Date of Publication: 18 March 2023
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Diabetes mellitus is a disease that requires long-term therapy and causes complications in various organs of the body. To accelerate healing requires high adherence to taking medications by patients with education, which is an important factor to prevent patient anxiety in taking medications regularly. This study aimed to determine patients’ anxiety about adherence to taking patients’ diabetes mellitus medication. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 107 patients with accidental diabetes mellitus. The results of the study found that the anxiety of people with diabetes mellitus was in the mild category of 46 respondents (43.0%) and adherence to taking medicines for people with diabetes mellitus was in the low category of 46 respondents (43.0%). The results of statistical tests showed that the p-value was = 0.000<0.05, there was a relationship between anxiety and adherence to taking medications in people with diabetes mellitus. It is hoped that the public health center will be able to provide education about medication adherence to prevent anxiety about the treatment of diabetes mellitus.
Page(s): 73-78 Date of Publication: 18 March 2023
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The present study aims to comprehend the thermodynamics of the Al-Ni-Cr superalloy system utilizing the latest Thermocalc 2022b databases. Thermocalc is a software that has a large database which has become vast over the years. The thermodynamic behavior and stability of the system were examined under varying conditions, including temperature and composition. The findings of this study provide crucial insight into the phase behavior and stability of the Al-Ni-Cr superalloy system, which can inform the optimization of its properties and performance for various industrial applications, compared to previous studies and research. The results of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of the thermodynamics of superalloy systems and can be of great benefit to the materials science and engineering communities. The databases used for the binary systems were NIDEMO v2.0 (Nickel Demo database v2.0, including Ni, Cr, and Al – a subset of TCNI) and TCBIN V1.1 (TC Binary Solutions Database, Version 1.0), while for the ternary systems, NIDEMO V2.0 and PURE 5SGTE V5.1 (Pure Elements – Unary Database, Scientific Group Thermodata Europe) were used. The results here demonstrate the great benefits of studying the thermodynamics of this alloy through available database systems and comparing the results with experimental studies.
Page(s): 79-87 Date of Publication: 18 March 2023
DOI : 10.51584/IJRIAS.2023.8201Download PDF
One of the main steps in saving the feet of diabetics is to take preventive measures in the form of foot care. Self-efficacy is one of the factors that can support the success of foot care in diabetics. This study aims to determine the relationship between self-efficacy and foot care behavior in patients with diabetes mellitus. The research method is quantitative with a cross-sectional approach. The sampling technique in this study is purposive sampling with a sample of 110 respondents. Data was collected using the Foot Care Confident Scale (FCCS) and Nottingham Assessment of Functional Footcare (NAFF) questionnaires. Data analysis in this study using the chi-square test. The results showed that 67 respondents (60.9%) had high self-efficacy and 43 respondents (39.1%) had low self-efficacy, 59 respondents (53.6%) had good foot care behavior, and 51 respondents (46.4%) had poor foot care behavior. The results of the chi-square test obtained a P-value of 0.000 < α = 0.05, which means that there is a relationship between self-efficacy and foot care behavior in patients with diabetes mellitus. It can be concluded that there is a positive relationship between self-efficacy and foot care behavior in diabetes mellitus patients at the Gandapura Public Health Center, Bireuen Regency. It is recommended that health workers can provide health education about foot care regularly in order to increase self-efficacy in people with diabetes mellitus
Page(s): 88-95 Date of Publication: 24 March 2023
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Diabetics are at high risk of developing chronic disease problems such as diabetic foot injuries. Diabetic foot injuries can be prevented if diabetics have good knowledge so that they are able to carry out diabetic foot care. The provision of DSME can facilitate the knowledge and ability of diabetes mellitus clients to carry out self-care. This study aims to analyze the effect of DSME on the prevention of diabetic foot injuries. The method used is a quasi-experiment with one group pre-test post-test design. Data collection uses research instruments in the form of questionnaires. The study sample used was 55 people with a purposive sampling technique. The data analysis technique used is the marginal homoegenity test. The results showed that there was an effect of DSME on the prevention of diabetic foot injuries. It is hoped that the Center for Public Health can make DSME a regular health promotion program to improve the self-care ability of type 2 diabetes mellitus clients while preventing complications from diabetic foot injuries.
Page(s): 96-100 Date of Publication: 24 March 2023
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This study examined the influence of personality traits as determinant of Mathematics trainee teachers on their choice of career in the teaching profession. It specifically investigated how teachers’ personality traits influence their choice of teaching career in secondary schools in Ekiti State. The study adopted descriptive research of correlational design type. The population for this study comprises all the trainee-teachers in tertiary education in Ekiti State. The sample consist of 600 participants which were selected using multi-stage sampling procedure. The instrument used for this study was a questionnaire on personality traits and career choice. Five personality inventory on career choice was used to collect data for the study. Face and content validity of the instrument was ascertained and the reliability of the instrument was carried out. The reliability coefficient of 0.67 was obtained using cronbach alpha, the coefficient was high and therefore adjudge reliable for the study. The instrument was admistered on the respondents in the selected tertiary institution. The data were analyzed using frequency count, percentages and chi-square analysis.. The result revealed that personality traits of Mathematics trainee –teacher influenced their choice of teaching as a career. Mathematics trainee teachers with relevant personality traits shown interest in teaching Mathematics than Mathematics trainee teachers of other personality traits. This investigation concluded with suggested recommendation that school counsellor should encourage Mathematics trainee teacher to accept taking teaching job after their programme instead of looking for other job and better develop interest in Mathematics. School authority and government should create conducive environment that can allow manifestation of relevant personality traits in Mathematics trainee teacher.
Page(s): 101-106 Date of Publication: 26 March 2023
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