Archives-July 2015

In this paper, the availability and economic importance of some selected Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) among rural households in Nigeria were investigated. The National Living Standard Survey (NLSS) data collected by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics were used for the study. A number of forest products activities were found to be of importance to the livelihood of households in the study area. These include hunting, honey processing, palm wine tapping, fruit processing, hides, and mushroom gathering. About 17% of the respondents were engaged in hunting, 17.43% in honey processing, 17.36% in palm wine tapping, and 15.85% mushroom gathering. With respect to income generation, the most important of these activities is palm wine tapping with income share of 87.51%. The results also show that the poor were found to be more dependent on the forest than the non-poor, while households from the Southern zones were more forest dependent than households from the Northern zones. It is recommended that research should be conducted into breeding of early maturing species of these valuable trees that are being cut down at an alarming rate to guarantee future availability for food, medicinal and livelihood purposes.

Belt conveyor system is the transportation of material from one location to another location. Belt conveyor has high load carrying capacity (upto 30000 t/h), large length of conveying path (upto 3-4 km), simple design, easy maintenance and high reliability of operation. Belt conveyor system is also used various industries such as the material transport in foundry shop like supply and distribution of moulding sand, moulds and removal of waste, coal and mining industry, sugar industry, agricultural industry, bagasse industry, fuel industry etc. . In this paper the study is carried out on DISA pattern moulding machine to meet the requirement of higher weight castings. From the DISA specification the belt conveyor system is designed by using different standards like CEMA (Conveyor Equipment Manufacture’s Association) standards, some handbooks of belt conveyor system etc. then this parameter are verified by using Belt Comp software. The result got from the Belt Comp software is in close agreement of theoretical results. After the design the manufacturing is done and the installation is done on the manufacturer’s site. The trials are carried out on the belt conveyor system successfully and the problems occurs during the trials are overcome in the analysis by taking proper steps. The present discussion aims to Trial and Analysis on belt conveyor system.

This document was prepared by the author in his capacity as Task Manager RCE Kakamega Western. It was the main background paper for the RCE presented at the East Africa Regional RCE’s Pre-Conference Workshop on Environment and Society: Education and Public Awareness for Sustainability held at Golf Hotel, Kakamega, Kenya from 1st to 2nd August 2013. Second, it was a contribution by RCE Kakamega Western towards the implementation of the devolved system of Governance following the promulgation of the Kenya Constitution 2010. It borrows from the special work programme on Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) which “calls upon UNESCO to refine the concept and key messages of education for sustainable development”. The document is based on a wide variety of source materials, background papers prepared by specialists, and a preparatory meeting held in April 2013. It is to be considered the beginning of a process of discussion and debate, not a conclusion. Among the international institutions contributing to its preparation were: Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST),Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, International Education and Resource Nest Kenya (IEARN) and DAP Media. Beginning with a preface on the vision, mission and background of RCE Kakamega Western, the paper addresses priority issues reflected in the work programme of the CSD. Part I (“What is ‘Sustainable Leadership’?”) examines the emerging vision of ‘sustainability’ or ‘sustainable development’, including consideration of its inter-related components mainly addressing three key challenge areas and opportunities: Society, Economy and Environment. The role of education seen in this perspective is discussed, no longer as an end in itself but as a key instrument for achieving sustainability in the future. Part II (‘The Need for Effective Communication’) takes up the topic of public awareness and understanding as indispensable to support change towards sustainable development. Problems of vested interests, the difficulties of communicating science, the inherent complexity of the issues, and the tendency of the media to focus on extreme positions and controversies are considered. It is suggested that the most effective communication strategy for building awareness and understanding is to focus on problems which the public experiences in everyday life.

In most African countries, it is exceedingly difficult to make the transition from youth to adulthood. Some people have attributed this to the hard economic times facing governments. Others have pointed it to the inadequate systems of education where as the rest blame it to poor planning. Statistics has it that most of the people after secondary level of education would wish to go to university. However, due to our filtering system, the smallest group makes it to this level. Those who don’t achieve the marks required join training colleges. There is still a 3rd group, which is unfortunately the largest, who still do not attain the mark to warrant them a place to these training colleges. Technical institutes were created to cater for the 3rd group. The technical institutions train on different skills which an individual could get employment in the informal sector. While some choose to be self employed, others are employed by people who have established themselves with enterprises which specialize in that particular trade. Machakos and Kakamega counties have been blessed by hosting a number of universities and upgrading technical institutes to university colleges. However, technical institutes are scarce and cannot comfortably cater for the 3rd group for as indicated earlier; it is the largest in numbers. In this 3rd group, there is a particular category called persons with disabilities. There is a strong temptation to write off what is strongly referred to as “a lost generation”. The question is, will we sit and watch as the so called “the lost generation” is written off? This paper seeks to show that the challenged have something to prove and given the opportunity they can assert themselves. An inclusive institute is what we are proposing. Inadequate educational system combined with the challenges of PWDs in job placement poses a challenge in acquiring financial security thereby hampering the transition from youth to adulthood. In the African setting, one is considered to be an adult when he/she is independent. This is not the case with persons with disabilities for in most cases they are considered as dependants. Some challenged youth gain technical training in the few special vocational training institutes but cannot compete with their peers. More often than not, their path is blocked because they are seen as liabilities. The idea of a sheltered workshop proposed in this paper seeks to address the informal sector for persons with disabilities. This will involve both vocational training on different skills together with placement and a full workshop where there will be immediate employment for individuals who graduate from the trainings. This initiative is aimed at improving job skills and awareness and possibly coming up with a show room where the finished products could be exhibited for the purpose of marketing. This project will focus on educating and socializing the people with special needs to play a role in the county’s development and growth. The paper proposes a sustainable, gender based and inclusive human resource development initiative.

Hazardous-waste management, is defined as the collection, treatment, and disposal of waste material that, when improperly handled, can cause substantial harm to human health and safety or to the environment. Hazardous wastes can take the form of solids, liquids, sludges, or contained gases and they are generated primarily by chemical production, manufacturing, and other industrial activities. Proper management and control can greatly reduce the dangers of hazardous waste. There are many rules for managing hazardous waste and preventing releases into the environment. Even so, a lot can go wrong when we try to contain hazardous waste. Even the most technologically advanced landfills we build will leak someday. Tanks used for storing petroleum products and other chemicals can leak and catch fire; underground storage tanks weaken over time and leak their hazardous contents. Transportation accidents, such as train crashes and overturned trucks, can occur while transporting hazardous substances. There are also cases of intentional and illegal dumping of hazardous waste in sewer systems, abandoned warehouses, or ditches in remote areas to avoid the costs and rules of safe disposal. This paper discusses the importance of hazardous waste management, outlining legal requirements and the need to comply with standards; Environmental concerns surrounding hazardous waste management, characteristics of hazardous waste. The paper reflects on some major sources of hazardous wastes; Routes of transport of hazardous waste to the environment and exposure to humans, Health and Environmental impacts of industrial hazardous waste; Treatment of hazardous waste categorizing the four major methods: the physical including encapsulation, wetting and physical separation, the chemical, the biological including biodegradation, bioremediation (in-situ and ex-situ) and the thermal methods. The paper also provides faith-based reflections on waste and waste management issues and suggests various waste management techniques outlining various activities that can be practiced at the personal, home and institutional level in sustainable waste management. The paper emphasizes that waste and especially hazardous waste is not only a local issue; other countries all over the world have to deal with this challenge in order to achieve sustainable development. Participants are encouraged to take part in world events that address waste issues such as; World Environment Day (June 5th), Earth Day (April 22nd), World Health Day (April 7th), World Standards Day (October 14th), and International Coastal Clean-up Day (September 20th).

Local affairs and ensuring the welfare of the village as a desirable habitat for most people is a task The charge is based Dehyarys and according to law, public affairs, directly involved and of course Dehyarys legal entity, financial and administrative autonomy and property, funds and revenues, rights and specific duties and honors of the state. In this context, the role of village councils no secret. In this study, we have investigated the characteristics of Islamic Councils in the rural city of Bushehr, with a descriptive approach. This study aimed to identify qualitative and quantitative trends Council last three periods (second, third and fourth respectively). The findings show Decreasing age, increasing the role of women in village councils, more specialized work by increasing the number of people with higher education, higher education, council members and increase the average number of Islamic Councils has 5 members. The study was presented Proposals such as increasing the powers of councils, creating a bridge between city and rural Councils considering the findings in order to share experiences and Rural Management Training Program for Rural Councils.

Now in a days, there is a vast use of images in many applications. Today duplication of any digital items or multimedia have become very easy task. So digital image watermarking technique becomes the best solution for the protection of illicit operation. In this technique some kind of secret data is embedded to the cover image and this information is used for the authentication purpose. In this paper a combined DCT-DWT based watermarking algorithm is proposed in which the secret data is hidden to the lower frequency band of the cover image.

The study has been conducted with the purpose of clear understanding of world’s leading publisher in the area of electrical, electronics, computing and related areas of science and technology. The author is working in a Deemed University, which offered Engineering and Technology courses as main subjects, hence the author has the curiosity to know more about IEEE and its publications.

Prophylactic activities of methanol, ethanol and aqueous extracts of neem and lemon grass against plasmodium development in mice were investigated. Various extracts of the plants were prepared with soxhlet apparatus. Growth and reproduction of malarial parasite in the treated animals was delayed 3 days after treatment. The mean % parasitaemia obtained in mice administered with methanolic, ethanolic and aqueous extracts of lemon grasss were 43.01%, 50.21% and 48.08% while those treated with methanol, ethanol and aqueous extracts of neem displayed 59.54%, 61.50% and 13.4% respectively indicating the anti – plasmodial activity of both plants. . It is therefore, concluded that the activities of these plants depend neither on weight of the mice nor dosage but on the solvent used. The parasitaemia development in the group treated with standard drug (Malariech) was significantly minimal having 2.47% and 88.23% % parasitamia and average % suppression recorded. Aqueous Neem extract exhibited highest suppressive effect 76.21% followed by Lemon grass in respect of the methanolic(43.67%) and aqueous(38.07%) extracts as compared with methanolic(25.47%) and ethanolic(23.32%) extracts of Neem.. The suppressive value of aqueous neem extract 76.21%, was considered significant and could serve as sufficient replacement for conventional antimalarial drugs that easily loose their potency with the impending development of resistance.

Organizational justice is a variable that predicts a lot of organizational variables such as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and plays an important role in its improvement. In today's competitive world, organizations cannot survive for a long-term period of time without employees' voluntary intention to cooperate and adopt the organizational responsibilities, commitment, and mutual trust. They need behaviors beyond the organizational expectations and does not exist in written job description but ensure the organizational survival. Thus, managers should be sensitive to development and reinforce this organizational variable. Since, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of organizational justice on OCB through mediation of organizational identification as well as moderation of psychological contract. To do this, a sample size of 84 was estimated using Cochran's formula, and finally, 90 questionnaires were collected from the employees of Agriculture Jihad department of Gonbad-e-Kavoos. Cronbach's alpha for all the measures was greater than.70 and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the questionnaire's construct validity. Structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression were used to test the hypotheses. Research results indicated that organizational identification fully mediated the relationship between interactional justice and OCB; partially mediated the relationship between distributional justice and OCB, but the mediating role of organizational identification in the relationship between procedural justice and OCB was not confirmed. Furthermore, it was determined that the positive relationship between organizational identification and OCB was moderated by psychological contracts so that this positive relationship is stronger when transactional and relational contracts are high.