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Direct gamma spectrometry study was carried out within the Adenta municipality in the greater Accra Region of Ghana to ascertain a baseline radioactivity levels of naturally occurring radioactive materials in borehole water at the Adenta Municipality. The average activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in twenty boreholes were measured. The activity concentration of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in the samples ranged from0.27 ±0.05Bq/L to 1.83 ±0.55Bq/L, 0.11±0.06Bq/L to 4.29±0.27Bq/L and 1.24 ±0.16Bq/L to 28.75 ±4.82Bq/L respectively. The average activity concentration values were 0.77±0.42, 0.93±0.62 and 9.77±4.55 Bq/L respectively. The total committed annual effective doses due to intake of natural radionuclides in the borehole water was estimated to be 40.29±48.82µSv/yr, which is far below the World Health Organization recommendation limit of 100µSv/yr. However, four of the boreholes exceeded the WHO recommended limit for total committed annual effective dose. The results obtained in this study shows that some of the inhabitants in Adenta municipality were expose to a significant radiological health hazards due to drinking water from the boreholes in the municipality. The results from this study will serve as a baseline data for future research in the study area.

Grand, a brand of groundnut oil was studied to investigate the effect of X-irradiation on its physicochemical properties. Different physicochemical parameters were characterized- the iodine value, free fatty acid (FFA) value, pH value and viscosity of the non-irradiated oil was obtained as 2.38, 1.83, 5.73 and 4.80 × 10-5m2/s respectively. The effect of X-irradiation on the oil showed a modification of the iodine value, Free Fatty Acid (FFA) value, pH value and viscosity to be 2.28, 2.86, 5.25 and 4.52 × 10-5m2/s when irradiated once. Also, 2.23, 3.25, 5.14 and 4.52 × 10-5m2/s when irradiated twice and 2.17, 3.70, 5.06 and 4.20 × 10-5m2/s when irradiated the third time. From the results of the investigated parameters, it was concluded that the oxidative deterioration level of the Grand oil can be used as a lubricant if the higher viscosity can be lowered and its oxidation stabilized appreciably.

Autoimmune pancreatitis is a rare form of chronic pancreatitis. There are two diffuse and focal forms that mimic the appearance of a pseudo-mass or pancreatic adenocarcinoma, which the differential diagnosis may be difficult, The classic CT scan appearance of AIP is that of diffuse hypertrophy of the sausage shaped pancreas and a pathognomonic hypodense peripheral ring with a delayed contrast enhancement, Focal pancreatic involvement is often seen in the head of the pancreas and appears in the form of a mass mimicking pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

The role of electronic equipments in the industry has increased tremendously in recent past. With new technologies and techniques being considered in other domains, such as automotive, multimedia communications, mobile applications bring down the cost of the electronic gadgets. As the cost factor controls the reliability and volume issues, there is a need for design and development of low cost, reliable technology for industrial applications. The proposed techniques have been modeled using Verilog HDL and the models have been verified using test benches with a functional coverage of 95%. The results obtained have been compared with MATLAB results, which are considered to be a benchmark. The HDL (Hardware Description Language) code is synthesized using Synopsys Design Compiler targeting 130-nanometer TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) library and target technology. The synthesized netlist obtained for all the adaptive filtering techniques proposed in this research work is taken through physical design flow consisting of Floorplanning, Placement and Routing steps. The results obtained at each step are simulated for the functionality. The final GDSII (Graphical Design Standard II) file is generated for the proposed techniques.. The floor planning, placement and routing of the netlist ensures that the overall size for the entire chip does not exceed by 2.15 square millimeters. The results obtained for adaptive filtering techniques have proven that the complexities in the industrial applications can be met if the design is implemented on ASIC.

Developing countries lack proper segregation practices leading to biomedical waste management. (Muhwezi, 2014). This has led to accidental injections with contaminated syringes causing 21 million hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections, 2 million hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, and 260,000 HIV infections globally(HCWMP 2016-2021). The aim of this study was to assess the biomedical waste handling practices amongst healthcare workers in Mombasa County hospitals. Cross-sectional study design, stratified random. Data collection instrument were structured questionnaire and observational charts. Data was analyzed using SPSS Version 22 where comparison of mean by ANOVA was used to test significance of the results at 0.05 significant levels. Despite having knowledge on segregation and risks of exposure to biomedical waste 71.1%(1.17±0.157) of the respondents were exposed to biomedical hazards, sanitary staff(15.6% (2.11±0.123))of the respondents were less educated ( certificate the highest level) and lacked key information on biomedical waste guidelines of precautionary principle and government strategic plan on hospital waste management. 42.2 %( 1.21±0.091) of the respondents lacked adequate supply of color-coded waste containers leading to mixing of biomedical waste. 36.7 %( 1±0.00) of the respondents were informed of government medical waste management plan while 63.3% (1.14±0.46) had no idea P=0.277(>0.05). In conclusion, waste handling practices in Mombasa sub county hospitals are inadequate in relation to WHO,2014 guidelines due to deficient segregation and handling equipment and low level of awareness. I therefore recommend the review of the current waste management program and development of a more proactive approach that will ensure adequate supply of waste handling equipments and improve awareness on proper handling practices.

Ecological problems created by chemical insect control methods and their relevance to human health are receiving serious attention everywhere. Various pathogens, including viruses, protozoa, fungi and nematodes can be used to regulate pest population. Biological control of pests and vectors has been studied to a limited extent for many years with several notable successes, of which microbiological control is one aspect. The development of insecticide resistance in pest and vector population, the damage caused to non-target organisms and the realization of other environmental hazards of chemical insecticides have led to an increasing interest in biological, including microbiological control methods. Biopesticides are very effective in the agricultural pest control without causing serious harm to ecological chain or worsening environmental pollution. There is a requirement to develop alternatives to chemical pesticides for crop protection, due to the evolution of pesticide resistance in some pest species and concerns about the safety of chemical residues. One solution is the use of biopesticides (pest control agents based on living organisms) as an alternative in food production. The aim of this paper was to improve understanding of the environmental and regulatory sustainability of biopesticides as alternatives to chemical pesticides for crop protection. This paper reports on categories of biopesticides, biological control of aflatoxin, production of biopesticides using engineering techniques and its development.

Bladder tumors remain rare in young people. Tobacco is an important risk factor. The evolutionary profile of superficial tumors seemed to us different before and after 30 years. Tobacco is an important factor in the genesis of these tumors, but other factors may be hereditary. Their profile is still poorly known. The objective of this work is to:Specify the risk factors in this type of population.Define the characteristics of these tumors. Attempt to determine the evolutionary profile after treatment.

Panchayath Raj is not a new phenomenon in the country. Its illustration in history goes back to more than 1000 years. Panchyati Raj Institutions have always been considered as a means to good governance and 73rd Constitutional Amendment was effected in the hope that it would lead to better governance and provide political space to the disadvantaged section of the society like schedule caste, schedule tribes and women. The present study was an effort to know the extent of participation of Dalit women elected representative in Panchayath and the problems faced by them. Purposive sampling technique was adopted consisting of 60 respondents from Bantwal Talluk. A pretested, semi structured questionnaire was administered and data were analysed by using percentages and proportions. The findings of the study revealed that Self Help Groups are the major inspiration and determinant factor for the membership in Panchayath Raj institutions. The respondents opined neither the reservation for women nor their actual presence in the Panchayath has become any more sensitive to the problems related to the village women. Most of the women were elected for the first time so they can yet to gain more political experience. A majority of the respondents revealed that financial assistance is a necessary ingredient for their self esteem, their independent functioning and their committed concern and approach to the needs and urges of the people of the area. Bringing women into power is not only a matter of equity, of correcting an unjust and unrepresentative system political restructuring is the key to economic growth with justice. The training of women Panchayath members should be based on their own local experiences and elicit their involvement in preparing a framework that will enable them to analyse and understand their roles and responsibilities in accordance with the 73rd Constitutional Amendment.

This paper deals with demand prediction by combining basic exponential smoothening with Markov based algorithm. This demand prediction is suitable for novel and minimum shelf life products and is suited for small scale retailers and manufacturers, since for them acquisition of costly software tools is out of their financial reach. This paper attempts to arrive at predicting a fixed value of demand which will enhance the profit. The Exponential smoothing process involves comparing the latest observation with the previous weighted average and making a proportional adjustment, governed by the coefficient ?, known as the smoothing constant. By convention we constrain the coefficient to the range, so that only a part of the difference between the old mean and the new observation is used in the updating, 0<?<1.Initially demand is predicted by using basic exponential smoothing for two successive months and error of demand for each day is estimated. Markov based algorithm is then applied for these errors and the steady state probability is then determined for each state. The demand corresponding to the state with maximum probability is taken as the optimum one and the corresponding profit is estimated. This concept is then implemented for a baked product and the annual savings for a particular product is then established.

The variability of design parameters caused by material properties is a major challenge in designing microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS). The function of MEMSs is significantly influenced by this variability. We consider a thin-film resonator to show how the influence of scattering design parameters affect the behavior of the resonator. Here we used different material properties such as material density, poisson’s ratio, young’s modulus to analyse the performance of resonator