Archives-June...  

The effects of annealing on the structural, morphological and optical band gap of chemically deposited cadmium selenide (CdSe) thin films have been investigated. The X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that both the as-deposited and annealed CdSe thin films had three major peaks corresponding to the cubic structure of CdSe with a preferred orientation along the (111) plane. After annealing, the intensity of the major peaks became more pronounced and a new low intensity peak was observed. There was also a slight shift in peak positions towards smaller 2? angles. The average crystallite size increased after annealing whereas the microstrain and dislocation density decreased. The SEM micrographs of the annealed thin film showed a slight improvement in crystallinity and uniformly distributed all over the surface of the substrate without voids. The optical energy band gap of the thin films decreased from 1.86 eV to 1.74 eV after annealing.

Despite innovation absorbing real and substantial costs, the available literature tends to focus heavily on training and education, and has primarily been concerned with measuring the inputs, process and immediate outcomes rather than the longer term impact of innovation. To the best of the researcher’s knowledge no study had ever been conducted to investigate the effects of innovation strategies on growth of Microfinance Banks in Kenya. This research focused on Faulu Micro Finance Bank Branches in coast region; the general objective of this study was assessing the effects of organizational innovation on the growth of Microfinance Institutions in Kenya with specific focus of Faulu Microfinance Bank in coast region. Specifically, the study was assessing the effects of product innovation, market innovation, process innovation and service innovation on the growth of Microfinance Institutions in Kenya with specific focus of Faulu Microfinance Bank in Coast region. This research was studied through the use of a survey research design. The target population of this study was 96 staff working in Faulu Microfinance Bank in coast region with a sample size of 77 employees. These study utilized questionnaires which were dropped physically to the respondents’ place of work and stratified random sampling was used to get the sample. The descriptive statistical tools such as SPSS were used to help the researcher to describe the data and determine the extent to use. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine whether variables predict a given dependent variable. Tables were used to summarize responses for further analysis and facilitate comparison. This study investigated whether innovations adopted by Faulu Microfinance Bank branches in Coast Region lead to growth of Micro Finance Bank.

Scalar Energy proposes getting energy from nothing-energy from vacuum. It is also called zero point energy. Scalar energy was discovered in the 19th century theoretically and practically. However its uses towards the organism body have only come to existence over the past few years. Scalar energy not only protects the body from the effect of harmful radiation, but it also enhances the body's energy level of each cell, bio electric field and may stop the spread of harmful all diseases. It can help to harmonize organism body’s life-force by absorbing heat energy and transforming it into bio-energy which helps your body’s metabolic functions achieve holistic wellness, in other words it helps to balance overall body functions. Wear it as a volcanic stone around your neck or carry it in your pocket. The scalar energy from the Quantum scalar stone works outwardly and within the body. Outwardly scalar energy enhances the body’s bio-field, this helps to repel negative energies such as EMFs. Inwardly it works to facilitate cell permeability and thereby enhances the many physiological functions of the cells in the body; this can be witnessed by live blood cell microscopy tests. In the present investigation it is proved that increased the biochemical protein and glycogen content of fish, if the fish treated with scalar energy for about 21 days.

In the dynamic business environment, organizations have implemented Enterprise Resource Planning system solutions to gain competitive advantage and fasten service delivery for value realization. Despite their benefits, ERP solutions have not been fully embraced by SACCOs, and those that have implemented the ERPs are not able to justify the benefits of the investment. Therefore the purpose of the study was to establish the value realizations for SACCO’s after the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning solutions, Nairobi region. Specific objective included: to establish the levels of ERP implementation and the value realized by SACCOs through ERP implementation. The researcher administered the questionnaires to the respondents randomly on a drop and pick basis. The data collected was expected to give both quantitative and qualitative results and it was analyzed using descriptive and regression model. It was found out that there was a strong relationship between the implementation level and the benefits of the ERP systems to SACCOs. The findings recommended that ERP systems should be implemented for customer relationship management; education, training and mentorship; monitoring and evaluation; and for research and development and for these reason, SACCOs should invest in the ERP systems.

Environmental pollution control using Wetlands for poverty alleviation research was conducted in Nachingwea District at latitude 10° 30' S and Longitude 38° 20' E. The general objective examined the use of wetlands for environmental pollution control and poverty alleviation for Sustainable Development. Specificaly (i)To identify types of wetlands environment at Nachingwea in Tanzania.(ii)To examine the contributions of wetlands in environmental pollution control and poverty alleviation. The research hypotheses:Null (Ho) and the alternative (Ha) hypotheses at a significant level of 0.05. Ho: Wetlands in Rural and Urban localities contribute significantly in environmental pollution control and poverty alleviation. for Sustainable Development. Ha: Wetlands in Rural and Urban localities do not contribute significantly in environmental pollution control and poverty alleviation. Quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. Data collection involved observation, questionnaire, interview and documentary review. Random sampling was used to identify people from each village for the administration of questionnaires and the interview. Data analysis utilised Excel (2007) to construct percentage Tables and online ICT facilities. Results revealed Nachingwea District wetlands for poverty alleviation were in rural localities while for environmental pollution controls were in urban. The results indicated wetlands contribute significantly in environmental pollution control and poverty alleviation. These are through agricultural and mining activities which create employment by food and cash-crops production and livestock for increasing income to alleviate poverty. Aesthetics for tourism, hoabouring migratory birds, fishing and other activities create jobs. It is recommended that the utilization and management of wetlands for production purposes should be considered by the community, policy makers and researchers. This is a strategy in the environmental conservation as a significant area of environmental pollution control and poverty alleviation for Sustainable Development.

A substantial part of Nigeria is part of semi-arid areas of the world, underlain by basement complex (hard) rocks which are very poor in both transmission and storage of appreciable quantity of water. Recently, a growing attention is being paid on the need to develop water resources in these areas largely due to concerns about increasing droughts and the need to maintain water security challenges. While there is ample body of knowledge that captures the hydrological behaviours of the sedimentary part, reported research which unambiguously illustrates water distribution in the basement complex of the Sokoto basin remains sparse. Considering the growing need to meet the water requirements of those living in this region necessitated the call for accurate water balance estimations that can inform a sustainable planning and development to address water security challenges for the area. To meet this task, a one-dimensional soil water balance model was developed and utilised to assess the state of water distribution within the Sokoto basin basement complex using measured meteorological variables and information about different landscapes within the complex. The model simulated the soil water storage and rates of input and output of water in response to climate and irrigation where applicable using data from 2001 to 2010 inclusive. The results revealed areas within the Sokoto basin basement complex that are rich and deficient in groundwater resource. The high potential areas identified includes the fadama, the fractured rocks and the cultivated lands, while the low potential areas are the sealed surfaces and non-fractured rocks. This study concludes that the modelling approach is a useful tool for assessing the hydrological behaviour and for better understanding the water resource availability within a basement complex.

A survey method was employed to evaluate library computerization project at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria and University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. Structured questionnaire and interview were the instrument adopted. The instrument were validated by pre-test analysis using Pearson Product Correlation; there was a strong reliability (0.92) of the instrument. A total number of 39 copies of questionnaires were administered to the library staff which were all completed and returned. Out 0f 300 copies of questionnaires administered to users, only 277 were completed, returned and used for the study. The data generated was analyzed using descriptive statistics involving tables and percentages. The findings show that much progress has not been recorded by the libraries under study towards the effective automation of their libraries operations; information technology (IT) resources are inadequate and there was low percentage (32.1) of satisfied users. It was also discovered that the university libraries under this study were lagging behind in the pace of automation due to inadequate funding, inadequate IT resources, problem of software, lack of policy guidelines, lack of culture of evaluation to access performance of the computerized project and logistic problem. It can be concluded that some Nigeria University libraries are still on developing stride towards improving their IT profiles. Thus, it is recommended that periodic evaluation to assess performance of the computerized library projects services should be institutionalized within University libraries in order to continually improve the implementation, operation and cost-effectiveness of automated information services.

Sorghum is an under-utilized crop in the semi-arid tropics of Asia and Africa due to its antinutrient properties but high in protein, vitamins, and minerals. Drying, soaking, and malting appears to reduce tannin which is an antinutrient in sorghum. The aim of this project was to evaluate malted sorghum-wheat flour biscuit. Sorghum grains were malted, dried and milled into flour and biscuit was produced from blends of wheat flour and the flour of malted sorghum (l00:0, 95:5, 90:10, 80:20 and 70:30). The proximate composition and sensory properties of the biscuits were evaluated. The proximate composition of different flour mixes ranged from 6.75 to 7.12% moisture, 2.14 to 2.53% ash, 3.85 to 4.10 fat, 10.40 to 12.78% protein, 1.05 to 1.22% fiber and 73.18 to 74.88% carbohydrate. However, the protein (12.64-10.19%), fat ( 2.48-2.15%) and moisture (7.35-5.92% ) contents of the biscuit decreased as the level of substitution increases while increasing trends were observed for ash (2.17- 2.57%), fibre (1.06-1.55%) and carbohydrate ( 74.30-77.62%). Sensory evaluation showed that up to 30% substitution levels of malted sorghum could be used as a supplement with wheat flour for biscuit production, an indication that acceptable biscuit could be produced from low gluten flour. This has the potential to eradicate the problem of celiac disease associated with the intake of wheat gluten.

This paper deals with the development of technique for planning the location of a substation. In this work, we propose a STatistical INformation Grid based (STING) approach for distribution of load points with suitable allocation of substation. A real- life data, that is, the power map of Bihar is taken for the planning purpose. At present there are six substations located in Bihar. Google Earth is used for finding the location (latitude and longitude) of the demand sites. By implementing STING algorithm and simulating it in MatLab we have determined five substations that can feed the entire Bihar area with minimum distribution losses. The substations determined by STING algorithm are centrally located for a particular area (cluster). The methodology will be a very useful tool for power distribution planners.

Heat pipe technology becomes popular in waste heat recovery applications and in heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in recent years, especially in increasing the dehumidification efficiency and cooling capacity of the cooling coil especially in warm-climate countries. An experimental study was carried out on air-to-air thermosyphon heat pipe heat exchanger (THPHE) filled with R134a as the working fluid and a fill ratio of 60% of the evaporator volume. Two configurations were tested; plain and grooved (rifled) inner surface THPHE. For each THPHE module, the lengths of the evaporator and condenser sections were 300 mm and the central adiabatic section was 100 mm. There were 6 rows of 48 copper tubes with 12 mm outside diameter. Aluminum wavy plate fins were fixed between the tubes to increase the heat transfer area. A test rig was set up to study the thermal performance of the THPHE, different sets of experiments were carried out by varying the heat load as well as the mass flow rate inlet to evaporator section of the heat exchanger; the two THPHEs were examined under low temperature (30-60?C) operating conditions. Four evaporator section air face velocities namely, 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5 m/s were tested while ambient air flowed through condenser section with air face velocity controlled at 1.5 m/s. The results shows that the THPHE effectiveness values are shown to vary with the evaporator inlet temperature and mass flow rates. Also, the inner grooved THPHE showed a significant effect on increasing the thermal performance of the heat exchanger as compared with the plain inner surface THPHE