Archives-December 

Studies show that the number of debris in Low Earth Orbit is exponentially growing despite future debris release mitigation measures considered. Especially, an already existing population of small and medium debris is a concrete threat to operational satellites. Ground based DF-laser and space based Nd YAG-laser solutions which can remove at low expense and in a non-destructive way hazardous debris around selected space assets appear as a highly promising answer.

The study examined the extent to which impulsivity and sensation seeking predispose adolescents to sexual risk taking in Kisumu, Kenya. The study was carried out in Kisumu Municipality being one of the leading regions in Kenya in HIV prevalence (15%), a likely indication of high sexual risk taking. A sample size of 384 was drawn from a population of 10,278 secondary school students, but only 357 completed the study questionnaires. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics while the qualitative data was summarized thematically. The male respondents comprised of 156 (43.7%) while the female respondents were 201 (56.3%). The results indicated that about half the adolescents in the study were highly impulsive and sensational seekers predisposing them to take up risks. Sensation seeking was a better predictor of sexual risk taking than impulsivity especially among the male adolescents, while impulsivity was a better predictor among female respondents. The study recommended that behavioral and communication strategies being developed for adolescents should be gender differentiated since male and female adolescents respond differently to the different aspects of sexual risk taking behaviors.

More than 80% of roadway mileage in the world carries less than 400 vehicles per day and these roads are classified as low volume roads. India has essentially a rural oriented economy with 72% of its population living in villages. The low volume roads are part of tertiary road system, which consists of other district roads and village roads. The traffic conditions on these roads are distinctly different from the major roads. A variety of vehicles are used for transportation of goods on rural roads, ranging from bullock-carts to the fast moving commercial vehicles. Permanent deformation of the unbound base and sub-base layer is one of the distress types on these roads that require extensive maintenance. The gradation is the most important property that an aggregate can contribute to the performance of pavement. In the present study, an attempt has been made to investigate the rutting potential of low volume roads, taking into account base course gradation, sub-base course gradation, sub-base field density, subgrade field density, subgrade moisture content, subgrade California Bearing Ratio, and traffic volume. The influence of these factors on the rutting potential of in-service pavements has been investigated and a response type model has been developed.

Shot-peening is a cold-working process primarily used to improve the fatigue life and strength of metallic structural components. In this work, the shot-peening time (SPT) effect on fatigue life of 7075-T651 Al-alloy was investigating at room temperature stress ratio R=-1 and reversed bending. An increase in shot-peening time (SPT) resulted in an increase in fatigue life improvement percentage (FLI %). For 5 SPT, reducing the applied stress, increasing (FLI%) while at 10 and 15 SPT reducing the applied stress reducing the (FLI%).

In this work, an experimental study was carried to obtain the fatigue damage for aluminum alloy, 2024-T4 under rotating bending loading and stress ratio R= -1. The experiments were done at RT(room temperature) ,25oC ,and 200oC. A modified damage stress model was suggested to predict the fatigue life under elevated temperature which has been formulated to take into account the damage at different load levels. The microstructure and hardness of aluminium alloy after fatigue-creep interaction testing have been investigated. Attention has been paid to the role of the microstructure and hardness on the fatigue-creep strength of aluminum alloy. It has been shown that, there is a little effect of microstructure in the cyclic response of aluminum alloy, while the hardness has a significant effect on the fatigue-creep strength. This is described numerically.

The study centred on lecturers’ involvement in decision making and job enhancement in Colleges of Education in Cross River State, Nigeria. Two research questions and hypotheses were developed to guide the study with ex-post facto research design and the population of the study comprised all lecturers in Colleges of education in Cross River State, Nigeria. Data obtained from the registrar units of these colleges showed that there were one thousand six hundred and forty five (1,645) male and female lecturers in these Zones. Applying Tara-Yamene’s formula for a sample size of 503 from a finite population of lecturers’. The study adopted stratified random sampling technique to determine the sample for the study and the instrument for data collection was a questionnaire tagged Lecturers’ Involvement in Decision Making and Job Enhancement in Colleges of Education in Cross River State, Nigeria (LIDMJEQ) was constructed by the researcher to elicit data from the respondents. The drafts of the instruments were given to three experts - one from the Department of Educational Foundations and Administration, and two from Measurement and Evaluation, all from the Cross River University of Technology, Calabar. A trial test was carried out using forty (40) lecturers’ who were comparable groups outside the study area. The data obtained were analyzed using the Cronbach Alpha reliability method to determine the internal consistency reliability of the instruments. The data was analysed using one way ANOVA. The findings revealed that there is no significant influence of lecturers’ involvement in major decision-making and their job enhancement. Also, Lecturers’ involvement in minor decision-making does significantly influence their job enhancement. It was recommended among others that School leadership should involving their lecturers’ in the school major decision-making processes.

Electronic industry is one of the fastest growing manufacturing industry in India. But the increase in sales of electronic goods and their rapid obsolescence has resulted in generation of electronic waste, which is popularly known as E-waste. It includes discarded electronic and electrical equipment. Developing countries face enormous challenges which are related to the generation and management of E-waste which are either internally generated or imported illegally; India is no exception. However, the existing management practices related to E-waste in India are reasonably poor and have the potential to risk both human health and the environment. Moreover, the policy level initiatives are not being implemented appropriately. This paper reviews E-waste generation, present scenario in India, health and environmental implication of E-waste and E-waste management in India.

The intradiverticular bladder carcinoma (IDUCB) is a rare and poorly known entity. To analyze diagnostic and therapeutic features of urothelial carcinoma within the bladder diverticulum. Twenty eight men with an average age of 65 years were included. The main reason for consultation was hematuria. The intradiverticular tumor was suspected by radiological assessment in 11 patients. All these patients underwent an endoscopic resection of the tumor. The histological study concluded to a pTa stage in 10 patients, pT1 stage in 11 patients and invasive tumors in 7 patients. A complementary endovesical BCG-therapy and cystoprostatectomy were performed in patients depending on the stage, grade, recurrence and multifocality. With an average follow-up of 31 months, seven recurrences were found in the group of superficial tumors, including 5 cases of progression to invasive stage and 2cases of nodes invasion. Intradiverticular bladder tumors are rare and more common in elderly. They are distinguished from conventional bladder tumors by a triple specificity: pathological specificity with high frequency of ?T3a tumor, diagnostic specificity with a risk of under-staging of the extent and tumor multifocality, therapeutic specificity linked to a worse prognosis than conventional tumors which encourages a strict limitation of the indication of conservative treatment.

The incidence of neurodegenerative diseases are increasing in the present generation. Based on their diversified causes it is targeting almost all the age groups including young (juvenile) and old (senile) population without discrimination. There are some metabolic diseases which are targeting the brain functions in young. The juvenile diabetes is one among them, where the excess of unutilized glucose is following wide range of deranged paths resulting into encephalopathy. The early detection of such diseases needs to be identified and tackled at the earliest. The existing modern treatment is having much limitation; hence it is inviting the contribution from the field of alternate herbal medicine.

Organizational climate plays a key role in the performance of an organization. In schools it directly affects the academic achievement of the students. Therefore, this study was conducted on organizational climate of high and low adopter secondary schools in Khyber pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. This study was descriptive in nature. Population of this study comprised all the head teachers and teachers of public secondary schools registered with Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (Kohat, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan). 120 schools were selected as sample from these 8 boards, 40 schools from each board, out of which 20 high adopter and 20 low adopter schools from each board and from each school 01 head teacher and 04 teachers were selected using equal ratio sampling method. For collection of data simple survey method was applied using a self-developed questionnaire based on five major facets of organizational climate and each facet contained ten statements. To find out and compare the organizational climate of high and low adopter schools Mean, Standard Deviation and t-test were used. It was concluded that the organizational climate of high adopter schools was better than low adopter schools. And there was a close relationship between the organizational climate and students academic achievements. It was hoped that the government of Khyber pakhtunkhwa, policy makers and other authorities will take initiative steps to improve the organizational climate of the schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.