Archives-June... 

Liquid 13C-NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy) spectra of HA (humic acid) extracted from a Hanslope Soil, Writtle College, UK under five types of land management: grassland under permanent pasture on 5 y ley before stocking; grassland under permanent pasture sown with red clover a y before stocking; grassland under permanent pasture treated with N-fertilizer a y before stocking; arable land under barley and deciduous woodland showed four major fragments: the aliphatic (alkyl C) region between 10 – 48 ppm; the carbohydrate (o-alkyl C) region between 49 and 110 ppm; the aromatic (aryl C) region between 111 and 165 ppm and the carboxyl region between 166 and 195 ppm. The study also revealed carboxyl conspicuous spectra between 150 and 200 ppm. The highest concentration of humic acid was in deciduous woodland, 55.2 mg g-1, and least in permanent pasture on a 5 y ley before stocking, 33.8 mg g-1.. Since soil organic matter (SOM) influences soil structure and fertility, humic substances effects bioavailability of elements and chemical compounds in the environment. The degradation of humic substances are slow. Hence, they do not appear to be a major direct source of nutrients – carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur.

The present experimental study explains the effect of method of curing on the compressive strength of Pavement Concrete produced with Blended cement and non-chloride hardening Accelerator. Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) was used in the production of concrete mixtures. Concrete mixtures were designed as per the new guidelines of IS 10262: 2009. Accelerator dosage was varied from 2 liters to 5 liters per cubic meter of concrete in seven equal intervals. Compressive strength of standard cube specimens (150 mm) at early age and at full maturity cured with water and alternatively with wax based membrane forming curing compound, was studied. Performance of accelerator at a given age of concrete was assessed based on the maximum percentage increase in the compressive strength, measured with reference to the strength of control mixture (without accelerator) at the corresponding age. Average efficiency of the curing compound at a given age, calculated as the ratio of average compressive strength of concrete cured with it to that cured with water, was also studied. The test results revealed that the type of curing did not affect optimum performance of accelerator. Average efficiency of the curing compound was found to be more at early age than at later age.

The study examined the effect of parental conflict and divorce/separation on children’s attitude towards marriage in Nigeria. Three hundred and six undergraduate students of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko in Ondo State, Nigeria were randomly selected and used for the study. Participants’ age ranges between 19 and 27 years with a mean age of 22.03 years. Three hypotheses were tested and results of analysis of data showed that parental conflict and divorce significantly affects children’s attitude towards marriage [t (304) = 13.96, p <.05]. It was also revealed that there was a significant effect of sex on attitude of undergraduate students from divorced families towards marriage [t (124) = 7.95, p<.05]. Results also indicated that children who attributed parental conflict and divorce to inability of parents to give up personal freedom were significantly different on their attitude towards marriage from those who attributed parental conflict and divorce to a lack of mutual trust, poor communication, and discontentment [F (4,270) = 13.25, p<.05]. Results were discussed in light of available literature and recommendations were made.

Abacus has been considered as one of the most significant tools used for teaching and learning of mathematics among primary school mathematics teachers since it helps in spurring better performance in mathematics. However, most of the teachers who use it have reported poor and perennial ineffective use of Abacus in Rachuonyo South Sub County. It is a simple mathematics tool used for calculation and easy to use when solving problems in mathematics. The study objectives were to; find out how the effective use of Abacus can be achieved; to determine age and gender differences in the effective use of Abacus, to explore the challenges faced by mathematics teachers in using Abacus and finally to establish the strategies that could ensure the effective use of Abacus in the teaching and learning of mathematics in public primary schools. Using descriptive survey design, this study was framed from Vygotsky’s constructivism theoretical perspective. This study targeted 170 public primary schools with 1,069 mathematics teachers of which568 were males and 501 were females. Purposive random sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 30% which was 51 public primary schools and 321 class three mathematics teachers. Questionnaires were used for quantitative data collection. Interviews were conducted among 51 heads of mathematics department while observation was done throughout the process. The validity of the instruments for data collection was ensured by expert judgment of the University lecturers. The reliability was determined by the Split Half method and a reliability coefficient of r=0.791was reported. Trustworthiness of the study ensured the validity and reliability of the data from the study. The quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS version 22 while qualitative data was analysed based on the construct items relating to important components on the use of Abacus. The study established that, Abacus improves performance in mathematics among pupils in primary schools in Kasipul Division. The findings of the study also revealed that, teachers had positive attitude towards Abacus. Abacus is good and effective in spurring new skills for teaching and learning of mathematics, however, most of the mathematics teachers lack the skills to use abacus effectively and need to be trained on the use of abacus. Age differences did not significantly affect the effectiveness in the use of Abacus in teaching mathematics; however, there was gender difference on the effective use of Abacus for teaching mathematics where effectiveness for male teachers was higher than that of their female counterparts. The study also established several challenges faced by mathematics teachers in the use of Abacus simply due to lack of skills. The study findings established that, mathematics teachers adopted several strategies to ensure effective use of Abacus in the teaching and learning of mathematics. The study recommended that, the Kenyan Ministry of Education should train the mathematics teachers on the effective use of abacus. Moreover, the Kenya Institute for Curriculum Development should infuse the use of Abacus into the mathematics syllabus. The significance of this study therefore is that, it is believed the findings of this study will be used by mathematics teachers to improve in teaching mathematics, provide curriculum planners with an insight to infuse effective use of abacus in mathematics curriculum development and finally it is hoped that this study will generate knew knowledge in this field of study and further research.

A study is conducted to investigate the effects of socio economic factors on agricultural land use in Malaysia. Relevant socio – economic variables for the study were aggregated from the databases of various international and national agencies such as FAO, Index Mundi and Malaysian Departments of Agriculture and Statistics. These data were subjected to statistical analysis using stepwise regression method in SPSS version 18. Findings indicated that, relevant socio – economic factors in agricultural land use in Malaysia are available workforce in the population and their working conditions in the agricultural and non – agricultural sectors. This study has revealed that labour supply and their conditions of service are major factors in agricultural land use in Malaysia. This study further underscores the need for greater application labour saving technology in agricultural practices given the competition between agricultural and non – agricultural uses of available workforce in the population.

The world moved away from the concept that waste is something to be disposed of to recognizing it as a feedstock for energy. Therefore, the research was carried out by 2.5m3 pilot-scale Puxin digester from China to evaluate the anaerobic biodegradation of lignocellulose waste comprising cow dung, wheat straw and rice straw as feedstock is feasible at thermophilic condition (45 0C) for production biogas as a renewable energy. The addition of cow dung inoculum to fixed amount of feedstock was observed to improve biogas production. However, biogas yield was observed to decrease with use cow dung only. The ultimate biogas yield which can be determined from very long periods of anaerobic batch reaction was alternatively estimated through curve fitting. The maximum biogas yield for digester was estimated to be 233 L/Kg VS fed, while the ultimate biogas and methane yield attainable from these mixtures were estimated to be 340 L/Kg VS fed. This biogas can be burnt to produce heat and power. The results show that there are number of operating parameters affect the performance of the anaerobic digestion including the amount and type of inoculum, digestion duration, pH adjustments, temperature, C: N ratio and total solids (TS).

This paper proposes a distributed Quality of Service (QoS) oriented routing algorithm for hybrid wireless network. The wireless applications are demanding robust networks with end to end QoS requirements. Hybrid wireless networks will be the best next generation network. So providing QoS routing algorithm for such networks is on demand research. Here the QoS-Oriented Distributed routing protocol (QOD) is proposed to enhance the QoS support of hybrid wireless networks. This protocol consists of 6 algorithms. 1. Neighbor selection algorithm 2. Malicious Node Detection 3.Packet scheduling 4. Node mobility speed based packet assigning, 5. Packet data compression deflate algorithm 6.Tra?c redundancy elimination algorithm. The simulation results show that packet delay, packet loss is getting improved.

Gypsum, pressmud, farm yard manure, ETP sludge were tried to ameliorate the textile and dye effluent polluted soil habitat, using sunflower (CO4) as a test crop. The sludge along with effluent irrigation added considerable quantities of cations (calcium, magnesium and sodium) to the soil system. Application of pressmud @ 5 t ha-1 along with 100 per cent GR + NPK reduced the soil ESP by 44.96 per cent. The heavy metal content were also reduced due to addition of pressmud. Higher microbial population was also observed under effluent irrigation than well water. Application of 100 per cent GR + pressmud @ 5 t ha-1 + NPK under effluent irrigation increased the crop growth, yield attributes (head diameter, head weight, seed test weight) and yield of sunflower in effluent polluted soil habitat. The yield under pressmud amended plots was 36 per cent higher over control. Reclamation and restoration of textile dye effluent polluted soil habitat is possible by leaching the soil with 100 per cent GR followed by application of pressmud @ 5 t ha-1 and recommended NPK.

Drought in Kenya is not a new phenomenon. Drought is likely to become even more pronounced during the twenty first century due to climate variability whose impacts include unpredictable weather and seasons; increased frequency and intensity of droughts, floods and wind storms; warmer temperatures, resulting in heat stress, and sea level rise. Little is known and documented about Evaluation of drought mitigation and response strategies in Kenya. This study sought to contribute to closing this knowledge gap with a case study from Makueni County, Kenya. The County is located in the semi-arid environment, which is most often deficient in available moisture for meaningful agricultural engagements. Consequently, one of the unique features of the semi-arid Makueni County is vulnerability to drought events. The objective of this study was to evaluate the mitigation and response strategies adopted for drought Management in Makueni County, Kenya. To achieve the objectives of the study, both primary and secondary data were collected through a descriptive field survey design using focus group discussions, informal meetings, administration of household and institutional questionnaires, field observations, and a critical review of published and unpublished materials. Priority rank of use was used to identify the strategies. The findings of this study are anticipated to inform decision makers, development and Humanitarian actors in Kenya, whose interest is to mitigate, and respond to drought disasters on Kenyans lives, economy and development as a whole. Drought mitigation and timely responses not only saves lives but also saves funds, hence can be used to revamp the economy of the country to significant heights.

The philosophy of existentialism is a philosophy which draws attention to how human beings can insulate their distinct being in the world through the reality of individual being and the freedom of choice under the stance that existence precedes essence. The idea ‘existence precedes essence’ means that human nature is determined by the course of life rather than life by nature. However, pragmatic, progressive and reconstructive societal tides negate the individual being and freedom of choice. An attempt to recover individual being and freedom necessitates the need for education and lifelong learning. This study focused on existentialism as the cause of lifelong learning. The theory of determinism which holds that all events are instigated by other prevalent causes was therefore used to explain that lifelong learning is the outcome arising from the fact that human beings are susceptible to alienation and estrangement, and they use education to situate themselves. In this treatise, coherent abstractions revealed that the distinctiveness of human beings is contracted by existentialism, while teaching and learning is used to assist human beings to come to terms with issues of existence over essence, being and nothingness, anxiety and authenticity, absurdity and irrationality, freedom and independence, situatedness, alienation and estrangement. The implication is that these existential negations substantiate why human beings strive as individuals to transmute their essence or nature through lifelong learning.