j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 51–56 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences original research modeling of self potential (sp) anomalies over a polarized rod with finite depth extents t. s. fagbemiguna,∗, m. o. olorunfemib, s. a. wahabc adepartment of geophysics, federal university, oye-ekiti, nigeria bdepartment of geology, obafemi awolowo university, ile ife, nigeria cdepartment of applied geophysics, federal university of technology, akure, nigeria abstract modeling is a powerful tool used by geoscientists to provide pre-knowledge about the expectations of any geophysical field measurements. this study generates self potential (sp) anomalies over a typical dyke-like structure to observe the influence of depth of burial and dip on sp anomalies. a computer program was developed from the potential distribution equation of an inclined polarized rod with limited depth extent using visual basic (vb) programming language to produce synthetic data for potential distribution. the potential distribution data were used to generate theoretical sp anomaly curves for a polarized rod for varying depth of burial and dip. twenty sp anomaly curves were generated with different dip values and depth of burial and from these curves superimposed curves were also generated. the anomalies were analyzed for the effect of depth of burial and attitude or dip. the sp anomaly curves generated show that increase in depth of burial causes reduction in the peak negative amplitude of sp anomaly curves. for inclined polarized rod at relatively shallow depth (< 2.0 m), the peak negative amplitude remains virtually the same with a positive shoulder over the down dip side of the target. also as the dip angle decreases from 90◦ for fixed depth of burial, the anomaly curves become asymmetrical. at θ◦, the distance between the peak negative and peak positive amplitude of the anomaly curve is equal to the linear extent of the rod. therefore, this study shows that depth of burial inversely influences the amplitude of self potential (sp) anomalies while dip angle affects the form or symmetry of anomaly curves. keywords: modeling, self potential, polarized rod, geologic dip, depth of burial article history : received: 15 april 2019 received in revised form: 20 may 2019 accepted for publication: 21 may 2019 published: 31 may, 2019 c©2019 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: o. j. abimbola 1. introduction the pre-knowledge of the expectation on the field is very essential for any geophysical investigations and in turn, it serves as quality control on interpretation mindset of the geophysicist involved. in lieu of this, modeling or simulation of geophysicalrelated problems has become a vital tool in geophysics and this technique has allowed geoscientists to come up with synthetic ∗corresponding author tel. no: +2348066358839 email address: tsfagbemigun@gmail.com (t. s. fagbemigun ) solutions against any related challenges on the field [1]. numerical simulation of geometric source model involving the self potential (sp) method can yield valuable information related to the field data [2, 3, 4]. this aspect of geophysics enables the generation of theoretical anomalies over geologic structures which can be encountered on the field such as dykes, channels, sandlens and faults. hence, such theoretical anomalies can aid our understanding of field anomalies and the interpretation of same [5, 6]. sp is one of the geophysical methods that makes use of natural electrical sources to study earths subsurface or for surface 51 t. s. fagbemigun et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 51–56 52 exploration. the sp method has found several applications in various areas of science and engineering such as mineral exploration [7], well-logging [8, 9], engineering [10, 11, 12], agricultural sciences [13, 14], environmental studies [15, 16, 17]. this study aims to generate sp anomalies over a typical dyke-like feature for different depth extent and attitude (dip) as a means of investigating the influence of depth of burial and attitude on sp anomalies. 2. methodology equation 1 shows the basic equation for potential distribution [18]: v = ±q [ 1 r1 − 1 r2 ] , (1) here v is the potential distribution around the object, r1 is the distance from the point p to the top of the rod, r2 is the distance from the point p to the bottom of the rod and ±q is the charge at either end of the rod (figure 1). however, from figure 1 figure 1: diagrammatic representation of geometric model of self potential for a polarized rod [18]. r1 = ( x2 + z21 ) 1 2 , (2) r2 = ( z22 + (x − l cos α) 2 ) 1 2 . (3) where α is the geologic dip or attitude; l is the length or depth extent; z1 is the depth of burial; z2 is the depth to the bottom of the rod from the ground level; and x is the distance from the centre (o) to observation point. also from figure 1: z2 = z1 + l sin α, (4) therefore, substituting equations 2 and 3 into equation 1, we get: v = ±q  1( x2 + z21 ) 1 2 − 1( z22 + (x − l cos α) 2 ) 1 2  . (5) also, substituting equation 4 into equation 5, we get: v = ±q  1( x2 + z21 ) 1 2 − 1( (z1 + l sin α) 2 + (x − l cos α)2 ) 1 2  . (6) the parameters in equation 6 were considered in generating charge of the rod, depth of burial, geologic dip, length of the rod, depth to the bottom of the rod and distance in order for the theoretical potential distribution data generated to be concise and accurate. visual basic (vb) version 6.0 program was used for this study. potential distribution response was generated at 2 m interval and the polarized rod was inclined at different attitudes and depths of burial. sp profiles were generated for the potential distribution values in milliv olt(mv ) by plotting it against distance (in metre) from the observation point. interpretation was solely based on visualization of amplitude pattern of the sp profiles (qualitative interpretation). 3. results and discussion twenty (20) sp anomaly curves were generated with different dips/attitudes (0◦, 30◦, 60◦ and 90◦) and depths of burial (0.5 m, 2 m, 5 m, 10 m and 20 m). we also generated six (6) superimposed sp anomaly curves for same depth of burial but different dips and six (6) superimposed sp anomaly curves for same geologic dip but different depths of burial. the anomalies were analyzed for the effect of depth of burial and attitude on the amplitude and symmetry of sp anomaly curves. figures 2 and 3 (0◦and 30◦ dip) are replica of each other, except for the difference in the values of points at which they inflected. it is observed that, as the geologic dip increases, the geometry of the curves turned to be cone-like. at points of inflection, values of sp decrease with the increase in depth of burial. for a polarized rod with 0◦, the inflexion points of the anomaly curves are located at the middle of the rod (figure 2). the result of the study by [19] validates this, as their investigation over dykelike structure gave birth to gradual increase to sp values over the target. 52 t. s. fagbemigun et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 51–56 53 figure 2: sp profiles for 0◦ geologic dip. at relatively shallow depth (< 2.0 m), the peak negative amplitude remains virtually the same with the shoulder over the down dip side of the target (figures 10 11). the peak positive amplitude shoulder is therefore, maximum on the down dip side. figures 4 and 5 display the sp anomaly curves for 60◦ and 90◦ dips. these curves are characterized with negative peak amplitudes. the negative peak at lower depth of burial is sharp compared to the deeper depth of burial. the maximum and minimum negative sp values are −3.2 mv and −380 mv respectively. in all the anomalies generated except for dip angle of 0◦, the top of the target is located beneath a peak negative amplitude sp (figures 3 5). the sp anomalies for a vertically dipping rod is symmetrical about the top of the rod while the anomalies become asymmetrical as the dip angle is decreased from 90◦ (figures 2 5). the study by [3] corroborates with the results of this study in terms of symmetrical nature and amplitude of the sp anomaly curves. figure 3: sp profiles for 30◦ geologic dip. the superposition of sp anomaly curves of varying depth of burial with the same geologic dip show that, well pronounced negative amplitude is that of 0.5 m with sp value of −380.03 mv . the average maximum sp value of negative amplitude is −380.58 mv. therefore, with same dip angle but varying depth of burial, the sp anomaly decreases in the peak negative amplitude as the depth of burial increased (figures 6 9). with same depth of burial but varying dip angle, the anomaly curves become asymmetrical with decreasing dip angle from 90◦. figures 7 9 show the same signature as discussed by [2] of sp investigation, which revealed weiss anomaly of the maden copper mine, indicated that the source of signature could be spherical. it was established that vertically oriented pipe is associated with or characterized by relatively high-amplitude over the target [20] and this is not far fetch from this study. however, at deeper depth (> 2.0 m), the peak negative amplitude of the sp anomalies decreases in amplitude as dip angle is decreased from 90◦ (figures 12 and 13). the displacement 53 t. s. fagbemigun et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 51–56 54 figure 4: sp profiles for 60◦ geologic dip. between the peak negative and peak positive of the sp anomalies generated at relatively shallow depth of burial (< 5.0 m) is equal to the linear extent (l) of the polarized rod or target. 4. conclusion the interpretation of sp anomaly curves shows that the inflection points of the anomaly curves are located at the middle of the rod for a polarized rod with 0◦ dip. the displacement between the peak negative and positive amplitude of the sp anomalies is equal to the linear extent (l) of the polarized rod or target of shallow depth of burial or zero dip. however, the sp anomaly decreases in the peak negative amplitude for fixed dip angle but increasing depth of burial. the anomaly curves become asymmetrical with decreasing dip angle from 90◦ for fixed depth of burial and the anomalies for a vertically dipping rod is symmetrical about the top of target. in conclusion, depth of burial and geologic dip has great influence on the amplitude figure 5: sp profiles for 90◦ geologic dip. figure 6: superposition of sp anomaly curves for 0◦ at different depth of burial. 54 t. s. fagbemigun et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 51–56 55 figure 7: superposition of sp anomaly curves for 30◦ at different depth of burial. figure 8: superposition of sp anomaly curves for 60◦ at different depth of burial. figure 9: superposition of sp anomaly curves for 90 at different depth of burial. and the symmetrical nature of self potential anomaly curve over an inclined object. although numerical modeling is limited befigure 10: superposition of sp anomaly curves for 0.5 m depth of burial at different dip. figure 11: superposition of sp anomaly curves for 2 m depth of burial at different dip. figure 12: superposition of sp anomaly curves for 10 m depth of burial at different dip. cause of the interaction required on the field it is assumed the earth material is isotropic and homogenous. therefore, the lim55 t. s. fagbemigun et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 51–56 56 figure 13: superposition of sp anomaly curves for 20 m depth of burial at different dip. itations of the numerical modeling are unable to account for the influence of the earths subsurface physical properties and environmental effects. nonetheless, they still serve as frontier in exploration in geosciences as this study would serve as quality control on interpretation mindset of geophysicists. acknowledgments we appreciate mr. o. a. sanuade, mr. j. o. amosun and dr. a. b. eluwole for their advice and contributions towards the success of this work. we also thank the referees for the positive enlightening comments and suggestions, which have greatly helped us in making improvements to this paper references [1] a. bokulich & n. oreskes, models in the geosciences. handbook of model-based 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[2] m. e. hesham, “a new method for complete quantitative interpretation of self-potential anomalies”, journal of applied geophysics 55 (2004) 211. [3] a. a. adeyemi, a. i. idornigie & m. o. olorunfemi, “spontaneous potential and electrical resistivity response modelling for a thick conducto”, journal of applied sciences research textbf2 (2006) 691. [4] i. oliveti & e. cardarelli, “2d approach for modelling self-potential anomalies: application to synthetic and real data”, bollettino di geofisica teorica ed applicata 58 (2017) 415. [5] j. m. burke, “modeling and inversion of self-potential data”, ph.d thesis, massachusetts institute of technology, united states of america, 2007. [6] a. crespy, a. revil, n. linde, s. byrdina, a. jardani, a. bole‘ve & p. henry, “detection and localization of hydromechanical disturbances in a sandbox using the self-potential method”, journal of geophysical research 113 (2007) 1. 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[15] w. c. robert, geotechnical applications of the self-potential method: report 3: development of self-potential interpretation techniques for seepage detection. us army corps of engineers, washington, dc, 1989. [16] b. åogaåa, m. j. mendecki, w. m. zuberek & m. robak, “application of self potential method in the area contaminated with oil derivatives”, acta geodynamica et geomaterialia 9 (2012) 179. [17] p. soupios & m. karaoulis, application of self-potantial (sp) method for monitoring contaminants movement. 8th congress of the balkan geophysical society, chania, greece, 2015. [18] w. m. telford & l. p. geldart, applied geophysics. new york: cambridge university press, 1990. [19] b. j. dallas & k. james, “regional self potential anomalies at kilauea volcano”, us geological professional paper 1350 (2016) 947 . [20] j. b. rittgers, a. revil, m. karaoulis, m. a. mooney, l. d. slater & e. a atekwana, “self-potential signals generated by the corrosion of buried metallic objects with application to contaminant plumes”, geophysics 78 (2013) 65 . 56 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 140–143 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences synthetic characterization of cellulose from moringa oleifera seeds and potential application in water purification a. f. afolabia,∗, s. s. oluyamoa, i. a. fuwapea acondensed matter and statistical physics research unit, department of physics, the federal university of technology, p.m.b. 704, akure, nigeria abstract the use of moringa oleifera seeds for purifying water has been attempted locally in various forms without putting scientific potency of the material into consideration. the cellulose sample isolated from moringa oleifera seed was characterized using x-ray diffraction (xrd), scanning electron microscopy (sem) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ftir). the value of crystallinity index (cir ) from the xrd pattern is 63.1%. the high degree of crystallinity obtained is attributed to the high percentage of crystallinity index, cir (i.e. 63.1%). the morphology revealed aggregates of conical and needle-like structure. the ftir revealed o–h stretching, c–h stretching vibration and c=o bond stretching functional groups. these characteristics are indicative of the potential of the material in water purification. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2021.206 keywords: cellulose, crystallinity, moringa oleifera, morphology, water purification article history : received: 22 april 2021 received in revised form: 27 may 2021 accepted for publication: 03 june 2021 published: 29 august 2021 c©2021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: b. j. falaye 1. introduction water is a source of life and human existence depends to a large extend on its availability. water is obtained from different sources such as rain, dam, river, stream, borehole, well and lake e.t.c. the importance of water cannot be over-emphasized in our daily living. it has a broad impact on health, food, energy, economy and also necessary for human survival. the level of purity of water utilized in daily life is very significant since it has a definite effect on human health. likewise, water is an essential component of all living systems. the quality of drinking water has become a major concern since contaminants and toxic compounds are mostly accumulated in the body system thereby causing serious hazard to human health. hence, there is a need ∗corresponding author tel. no: +2347030614850 email address: agafolabi@gmail.com (a. f. afolabi ) for water purification to afford access to potable water for human consumption. imported chemicals for purifying water are expensive and have unfavorable effects on human health [1,2]. therefore, there is a dire need to use locally sourced and environmentally friendly organic material for water purification. moringa oleifera is non-toxic and has an added favourable opportunity over the chemical purification of water due to the medicinal and therapeutics properties such as cholesterol lowering, anti-inflammatory, antiulcer, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antispasmodic, antibacterial, antihypertensive, antiepileptic, antidiabetic, antifungal activity, antitumor and antimicrobial properties [3-6]. moringa has been discovered to be used in different health care products including body and hair conditioners and moisturizers. moringa oleifera is a plant material composed of lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose [7]. cellulose has a degree of polymerization of about 10,000 insoluble polysaccharide which con140 afolabi et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 140–143 141 sist of linear chains of glucopyranose units linked by a β-1,4 glycosidic bond. the common formula is (c6h10o5)n [8]. furthermore, cellulose is a prominent structural composition of the cell wall of different plants. cellulose also exists in a broad diversity of class of living, such as algae, fungi, bacteria, and even in some sea animals such as tunicates. a lot has been accomplished in the use of moringa oleifera for water purification, creating general interest in the researcher of moringa oleifera utilization. despite the attractiveness of this research, several challenges remain unresolved in the effective use of moringa oleifera. some of the challenges are: moringa oleifera seeds contain soluble organics that increase the residual organic carbon of the treated water which may serve as food for pathogens (microorganism that can cause harmful effect to the body system) and the large consumption of particles of moringa oleifera seeds precipitate into the body could also pose health challenges to the body. in this research, all the soluble organics and particles in moringa oleifera seeds which could pose health challenges to the body when consumed were eliminated during isolation of cellulose from moringa oleifera seeds which give pure and refined sample. the aim of this research is to identify the intrinsic potential of the cellulose of moringa oleifera seed for the purification of water. 2. materials and methods 2.1. materials the locally sourced organic material used in this research is moringa oleifera seed. it was removed from the shell, dried, grinded with a grinder and sieved to obtain fine particles. purification process was adopted to isolate cellulose and remove components that are not cellulose which include lignin, hemicelluloses, fats and inorganic contaminants. acetic acid, sodium chlorite (naclo2) and sodium hydroxide (naoh) were obtained from pascal scientific ltd and used as analytical chemical reagents. 2.2. methods a liquor ratio of 15:1(v/w) cooking condition was employed, the moringa oleifera seed particles was pulped with 20% of naoh at a temperature of 90◦c for 1 hour 30 minutes. after digestion process, the cooked pulp was filtered, screened and cleaned by rinsing properly with water without alkali. the pulped was left in the oven at 105◦c until the water was completely dried. 200 ml of hot water, 6g of naclo2 and 1.5 ml of acetic acid were mixed with 10g of bone dried sample of pulp in a titration flask. at 70◦c, the mixture was placed in the water bath and heated for 30 minutes. another 6 g of naclo2 and 1.5 ml of acetic acid were mixed and included, submitted to heat for next 30 minutes before putting the water bath power off. the sample remained in the water bath for 24 hours. after digestion, it was filtered and cleaned by rinsing properly with water until the chlorine and the acid were washed away. the sample acquired was left in the oven at 105◦c until the water was completely dried to obtain the cellulose. 3. characterization the crystallinity index of the isolated cellulose from moringa olienfera seeds was obtained using a philips pw diffractometer with cu-kα monochromator at voltage of 15kv, scanned at wavelength λ=1.54å with 2θ angle range from 5◦ to 90◦. the scanning electron microscope which was used to determine surface morphology was achieved using 15 kv accelerated voltage of jeol/eo jsm-6390 and has a resolution up to 100µm. the variation in functional groups was determined by fourier transform infrared (ftir) spectrophotometer induced by various treatments within a wavelength range of 700–4000cm−1. 3.1. theoretical background the interplanar spacing (d-spacing) was obtained as in equation (1) [9,10] d = nλ 2sinθ (1) where, the interplanar spacing of the crystal is d, order of reflection is n, wavelength of the incident x-ray is λ and angle of incidence is θ. the crystallinity index was calculated as following equation (2) [11,12] cir = i200 − iam i200 × 100 (2) where, highest peak intensity of the crystalline fractions is i200 and low intensity peak of the amorphous region is iam. the crystallite size (l) was calculated using scherrer’s equation [13] l = k ×λ b × s inθ (3) where, constant value given as 0.91 isk, wavelength of the incident x-rays is λ, bragg’s angle (◦) is θ, and intensity of the full width at half maximum (fwhm) proportional to a high intensity peak of the diffraction plane is b. 4. results and discussions 4.1. x-ray diffraction (xrd) xrd pattern of isolated cellulose from moringa oleifera seeds revealed crystalline characteristics peaks at 2θ = 14.39◦, 15.33◦, 22.47◦ and 34.50◦, indicating the crystal structure of cellulose i with allomorph cellulose iβ (monoclinic) [14]. the crystalline peaks indicate that the crystal structure is attributed to planes (110), (110), (200) and (004) respectively. it shows that the occurrence of intra and inter-molecular hydrogen bonding in the cellulose through hydroxyl group can ignite the arrangement of crystal order in the cellulose [15]. from the isolated cellulose, the peaks 14.39◦ and 15.33◦ were observed around 15◦ and the peak 15.33◦ was broad due to the amorphous nature of the material used [16,17]. the isolated cellulose shows prominent peak at 22.47◦ which exhibited higher crystallinity because of the efficient elimination of the amorphous parts. the value of crystallinity index(cir ) is 63.1%, 141 afolabi et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 140–143 142 figure 1. x-ray diffractogram of isolated cellulose from moringa oleifera seeds figure 2. scanning electron micrograph of isolated cellulose from moringa oleifera seeds crystallite size(l) is 1.95nm, d-spacing is 3.9å and fwhm is 0.07331. since the proportion of crystallinity index is high, then the degree of crystallinity is justified to be high. the high proportion of crystallinity index is ascribed to removal of some of the amorphous constituents and rearrangement of the crystalline regions into a more ordered structure [9]. 4.2. scanning electron micrograph (sem) the morphological features of the cellulose isolated from moringa oleifera seeds are shown in figure 2. the surface morphology showed that the particles have conical and needle-like feature. the isolated cellulose has an average length and diameter of .2µm and 88.9µm respectively. it was disjointed from one another, indicating the total elimination of hemicelluloses and lignin. this is similar to previous researches on the cellulose from oil palm empty fruits bunch extraction and characterization and cellulose nanocrystals from corncob extraction and characterization for application as reinforcing agent nanocomposites [12,18]. 4.3. fourier transform infrared (ftir) spectroscopy figure 3 shows the fourier transform infrared spectra of the isolated cellulose. some important functional groups ocfigure 3. fourier transform infrared (ftir) spectra of isolated cellulose from moringa oleifera seeds cupied by the cellulose which however revealed basic potentials of the material for water purification are highlighted. the spectra showed wide band centered at 3311 cm−1 appointed to o–h stretching. this functional group commonly present in the cellulose. there is also a feature in this region from the nh stretching of amide group which reect the cationic tendency of the cellulose. this is similar to the result of characterization and use of moringa oleifera seeds as a biosorbent for removing metal ions from aqueous effluents [19]. at 2887cm−1, there exist spectra of characteristics of c– h stretching vibration. in the region between 1687cm−1 and 1308cm−1 there are bands appointed to c=o bond stretching. the carbonyl group appears in the structures and there is a band at 1610cm−1 accompanied with the amide group. the presence of hydroxyl, carbonyl and amine groups are responsible for the coagulative capacity in water purification [20,21]. 5. conclusion the xrd determines the high percentage of crystallinity index of the cellulose and the degree of crystallinity was found to be high. the xrd pattern also revealed that the crystal structure is cellulose i with allomorph cellulose iβ (monoclinic). the characterization of isolated cellulose using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ftir) revealed o–h stretching, c–h stretching vibration and c=o bond stretching functional groups. the presence of hydroxyl, carbonyl and amine groups are responsible for the coagulative capacity in water purification. acknowledgments the authors gratefully appreciate dr. ige, o.o. and dr. alo, f.i. of the department of material science and engineering, obafemi awolowo university ile-ife, osun state, nigeria for their effort in the analysis of the samples. dr. adekoya mathew, mr. olasoji, m.o. and the department of materials and metallurgical engineering of the federal university of technology, 142 afolabi et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 140–143 143 akure, nigeria are also appreciated for their support during the period of the research. references [1] u. a. abdulwahab, s. s. sumaila, w. m. manja, b. opoku & j. ibrahim “assessment on the potential of moringa oleifera seed extract in the clarification of turbid 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[21] m. a. idris, m. s. jami, a. m. hammed & p. jamal “moringa oleifera seed extract: a review on its environmental applications”, international journal of applied environmental sciences 11 (2016) 1469. 143 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 57–61 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences original research numerical simulation of sandwiched perovskite-based solar cell using solar cell capacitance simulator (scaps-1d) i. t. belloa,∗, y. a. odedunmoyeb, o. adedokuna,∗∗, h. a. shittua, a. o. awodugbaa adepartment of pure and applied physics, ladoke akintola university of technology, ogbomoso, nigeria. bdepartment of mathematical and physical sciences, osun state university, osogbo, nigeria. abstract due to the superb characteristics of its light-harvesting, the perovskite sensitizer abx3 (a = ch3nh3, b = pb, sn, and x = cl, br, i) has recently attracted great attention. perovskite is composed of inexpensive and earth abundant materials. it is processable at low temperature preferably via the printing techniques. in addition, the charges in the bulk material after light absorption that enhances low loss in energy charge generation and collection were generated freely. in this research work, solar cell capacitance simulator (scaps-1d) was used to harnessing the real device hybrid perovskite (psc) solar cell with material parameters obtained from literatures and experiment used in the definition panel and the arrangement of an hybrid (fto/zno/czts/pscs/czts/htm) model in the scaps-1d simulator. from the simulated results obtained the band gap diagram and other curves were constructed. the efficiency greater than twenty percent (> 20%) was achieved, which shows that having a combination of two different absorber were achievable and calling for great attention from the researchers. keywords: sandwiched, perovskite, efficiency, band gap, harnessing article history : received: 09 april 2019 received in revised form: 22 may 2019 accepted for publication: 27 may 2019 published: 19 june 2019 c©2019 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: w. a. yahya 1. introduction the perovskite solar cells (pscs) originally came out as the result of unrelenting efforts on dssc researches. the perovskite solar cells have become a rapidly growing area of the photovoltaic world and of huge desire to the scientific community with its improvement. perovskite solar cells have attracted salient attention of the academic community since the first reported article in 2012 [1]. graphene was introduced into perovskite solar cell and an efficiency of 15.6% was obtained [2]. in 2015, 20.1% efficiency was recorded when the poly∗corresponding author tel. no: +2348062814778 ∗∗corresponding author tel. no: +2347031195750, +2348065976299 email addresses: itbello13@pgschool.lautech.edu.ng (i. t. bello ), oadedokun@lautech.edu.ng (o. adedokun) triarylamine (ptaa) was used as a new htm with another perovskite material, formamidinium iodide (hc(nh2)2pbi3) [3]. there is also a vast potency for better engineering work and effective solar cells which are anticipated to reach excess power conversion efficiency (pce) of over 20 per cent. perovskite solar cells have increased in pce at an unbelievably great rate in comparison with other solar cells. currently, the significant negative aspect of perovskite based solar cells was not known. although the life-times of the cells are not yet proved since there is no evidence to suggest that their life-time is any higher or less than that of pure organic devices. the use of lead in perovskite compound is not ideal since there is potential for a lead alternative to be used in perovskite compound instead, lead can be used in a much smaller amount than that of what is currently present in either lead or cadmium based 57 i. t. bello et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 57–61 58 batteries. finally, the optical density of the perovskite materials is yet to be fully discussed, although its optical density was still lower than other active materials but higher than that of silicon. as a result, the light-harvesting perovskite devices require thicker layers which may cause some limitations in the fabrication of a solution processed devices whereby achieving high uniformity with such thick layers will be difficult. improvement of the precursor materials for solution based perovskite deposition and associated coating and processing techniques will be a key development for any solution processed devices will ultimately yield lower production costs. although at present the best perovskite solar cells are vacuum deposited. while vacuum based processes are relatively easy to scale up, the capital equipment cost of doing so can rapidly become astronomical. to achieve a truly low cost-per-watt devices, perovskite solar cells will require to have the much heralded trio of high efficiency, long life-times and low manufacturing costs. perovskite based devices have so far demonstrated enormous potential for achieving this but have not yet been achieved for other thin film technologies [4]. there are many simulation software models used to simulate solar cells devices numerically, such as large-scale atomic/molecular massively parallel simulator (lammps), silvaco atlas, solar cell capacitance simulator (scaps) etc. in this research work, scaps software will be used to simulate a perovskite based solar cell. scaps (solar cell capacitance simulator) is a one-dimensional simulation program with seven semiconductor input layers developed by a group of photovoltaic researcher at the department of electronics and information system, university of gent, belgium [5]. 2. device structure the cell model used in the simulation is n-fto/n-zno/pczts/p-pscs/p-czts/htm. this cell structure consists of fluorine doped tin oxide (sn2o:f), as the window layer, namely, a conductive n-type zno, perovskite (ch3nh3pb3-xclx) and a cu2znsns4 (czts) which are p-type semiconductors. figure 1. shows the solar cells layers structure. the cell illuminated through the transparent conductive oxide (tco), which serves as a window layer, passes across the electron transport layer (ntype zno) which serves as a buffer layer and enters the absorber layer to the hole transport material. 3. methodology and simulations numerical simulation technique of solar cells devices has over the years proved to be a viable tool for studying and understanding the properties of solar cell devices such as the optical, electrical and mechanical properties of complex solar cell devices [5]. it also helps to reduce processing cost and time spent on solar cell device fabrication by providing useful information on how to vary the production parameters to improve the device performance [7][8]. scaps-1d simulator based its simulations on the solutions of the three basics semiconductor equations; poissons equation, continuity equation of electron and continuity equation of hole. scaps-1d software solves these three figure 1: model of sandwiched simulation structure [6]. coupled partial differential equations numerically for the electrostatic potentials electron and hole concentration as a function of positions x. poisson’s equation is given as ∂ ∂x ( � ∂ψ ∂x ) = −q �0 [ p − n + n+d − n − a + ρde f (n, p) q ] (1) where ψ is electrostatic potential, � is dielectric constant and q is an electronic charge. the first two terms in the right are free charge carriers per volume, third and fourth are ionized donor and acceptor-like dopants i.e, localized states and ρde f is defect charge density. thus, the conservation of free electrons and free holes in the device is expressed as continuity equations ∂n ∂t = − ∂jn ∂x + g − un(n, p) (2a) ∂p ∂t = − ∂jp ∂x + g − u p(n, p) (2b) where p,n – free carrier concentrations, nd,a charged dopants, ρde f (n, p)– defect distributions, jn, j−p the electron and hole current densities, un,p− the net recombination rates, gthe generation rate. scaps-1d was used in this work to harnessing the real device hybrid perovskite (psc) solar cell with material parameters defined in table 1.0 which were used in the definition panel of the scaps-1d simulator. the absorption coefficients of the materials used were determined by the simulator based on the input parameters (table 1.0) and the arrangement of the model as allowed by the scaps-1d simulator. from table 1.0, shown above, absorber layers were varied while the other parameters are kept constant. various efficiencies were generated based on the thickness variation of the absorber. all simulations in this work were performed under ambient temperature (300k). the electrical parameters (voc , js c , f f ) and efficiency generated by scaps-1d would then be used to determine the optimum thickness of the absorber layer. from, this, the j-v, c-v, c-f and q.e of the best solar cells from the simulation will be determined and the effect of sandwich in the solar cell. 58 i. t. bello et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 57–61 59 table 1: materials parameter used in simulation [7][8][9]. parameters fto zno psc czts thickness (µm) 0.5 0.05 varied varied band gap (ev) 3.5 3.35 1.55 1.55 electron affinity (ev) 4.0 4.21 3.9 4.5 dielectric constant 9 9 6.5 10 conduction band-dos nc(cm−3) 2.2.1018 2.2.1018 2.2.1018 2.2.1018 valence band-dos nv(cm−3) 1.8.1019 1.8.1019 1.8.1019 1.8.1019 electron thermal velocity (cm/s) 1.0.107 1.0.107 3.0.107 1.0.107 hole thermal velocity (cm/s) 1.0.107 1.0.107 3.0.107 1.0.107 electron mobility cm−3 · v−1 · s−1 2.0 25 1.6 100 hole mobility cm−3 · v−1 · s−1 1.0 100 0.2 20 donor density nd(cm−3) 2.0.1019 1.0.1018 0 0 acceptor density na(cm−3) 0 0 6.1018 8.22.1018 figure 2: (a) the band diagram of perovskite. (b) the band diagram of sandwiched perovskite 4. results and discussion 4.1. the bandgap diagram figure 2, show the band diagram of the sandwiched perovskite device. the band gap line up model of the simulated device of an hybrid fto/zno/czts/pscs/czts/htm was constructed from the data obtained from the scaps under the ambient temperature (300k). the band diagram of perovskite depends on the compositional variation of the component entails in the processing and synthesis of the absorber materials such as organic, metal and anion composition of the material. the band gap of the absorbing material is a crucial parameter for photovoltaic actions, as the absorber layer is the key material in any solar cell devices [10]. thus the band alignment is the type ii broken band gap with a band gap of approximately 1.55ev which is concurrent with the theoretical condition as reported by [11]. however, it was shown from figures 2a and 2b above, that the band alignment of perovskite solar cells shows single junction in the band gap while that of sandwiched perovskite band gap shows three junctions which confirmed the presence of a sandwiching materials embedded within the absorber layer. 4.2. j-v curve characteristic of simulated device j-v curves are the parameters used to determine the electrical output power of any solar cells. the j-v curve characteristic was obtained with the simulation of data in the table 1.0 was shown in figure 3 with open circuit voltage (voc) = 0.80v, short circuit current(jsc) = 25.12ma/cm2, fill factor (ff) = 49.99% and percentage conversion efficiency (pce) = 20.09% as the cell output parameters under the standard simulated sunlight of am1.5g and working conditions of ambient temperature and frequency of 106hz. 4.3. effect of variation in the sandwiched absorber layer thickness solar cell absorber layer plays an important roles in the fabrication and harnessing optimum values of the solar cell efficiencies. solar cell device performance depends solely on the electrical characteristic and variation of the absorber thickness. thereby this research simulation work tries to fix out the effect 59 i. t. bello et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 57–61 60 figure 3: sandwich i-v curve characteristic of the combination of czts absorber layer and organometallic (perovskite) layer, embedded in one solar cell. it was observed that the short circuit current and percentage conversion efficiency of the sandwiched absorber solar cell were 25.12ma/cm2 and 20.09% which are higher than the simulated perovskite device output in this work. from figure 4, it was observed that figure 4: pscs and sandwiched pce against thickness at 200 nm the efficiency of perovskite is around 15.2% while that of sandwiched perovskite was greater than 16.15% efficiency. also, at 250 nm the efficiencies of 16.52% and 17.58% were of observed for perovskite and sandwiched perovskite respectively. at 300 nm, an efficiency of 17.51% was observed for perovskite solar cell while 18.57% was observed for sandwiched perovskite. however, 18.24% and 19.48% efficiencies were observed at 350 nm for both perovskite and sandwiched perovskite solar cells respectively. lastly, at 400 nm the efficiency of perovskite was observed to be 18.79% and that of sandwiched perovskite was around 20.09%. thus, the apprefigure 5: pscs and sandwiched qe against wavelength ciable increment in the efficiencies values of sandwiched perovskite has shown the positive effects of sandwiching absorber layer the solar cells. 4.4. quantum efficiency of the solar cell the quantum efficiency is the ratio of the number of carriers collected by the solar cell to the number of photons of a given energy incident on the solar cell. however, quantum efficiency is the fraction of the excited carriers that combine radiatively to the total recombination. figure 5 is the q.e plot against the wavelength which showed that more than 90% of the wavelength between 300 nm and 890 nm radiatively recombine and less than 10% of such wavelength recombined through other processes (auger and srh). the results implied that, at the 400nm thickness, sandwiched layer absorbs almost all the incident photons to create the electron-hole pairs and the photogenerated carriers are almost separated and transported to the hole transport materials and electron transport material by the built-in field with minimum recombination. therefore it can be considered that higher thickness is the optimal length of photovoltaic action. the quantum efficiency may be given either as a function of wavelength or as energy. figure 5, showed that sandwiched layer can absorb incident photons up to 800nm, which implied that sandwiched absorber layer can perform better than perovskite layer which can only absorb photons around 750nm because of the higher the wavelength the lower photon energy. 5. conclusion in conclusion, perovskite and sandwiched perovskite-based solar cell has been successfully simulated using one-dimensional solar cell capacitance simulator (scaps-1d). the output results of the simulation were recorded and plotted across the thickness variation of the absorber layers which varies from 60 i. t. bello et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 57–61 61 200nm to 400nm. it was found out that the higher the absorber thickness the higher the efficiencies and other electrical parameters output in the solar cell. the efficiencies of 18.79% and 20.09% were recorded for the perovskite and sandwiched perovskite-based solar cells respectively. acknowledgments the authors would like to appreciate prof. marc. burgelman and his co-researchers at the university of gents, belgium for making scaps-1d available for use. one of the authors also thanks the tetfund for grant used in this work and others. the authors also thank the referees for the positive enlightening comments and suggestions, which have greatly helped them in making improvements to this paper. references [1] m. m. lee, j. teuscher, t. miyasaka, t. n. murakami & h. j. snaith “efficient hybrid solar cells based on meso-superstructured organometal halide perovskites”, science 338 (2012) 643. [2] j. t. w. wang, j. m. ball, e. m., barea, a. abate, j. a. alexanderwebber, j. huang, m. saliba, i. mora-sero, j. bisquert & h. j. snaith “low-temperature processed electron collection layers of graphene/tio2 nanocomposites in thin film pscs”, nano letter 14 (2014) 724. [3] w. s. yang, j. h. noh, n. j. jeon, y. c. kim, s. ryu, j. seo & s. i. seok, “high-performance photovoltaic perovskite layers fabricated through intramolecular exchange”, science 348 (2015) 1234. [4] http://www.ossila.com/pages/perovskites-and-perovskite-solar-cells-anintroduction (accessed december, 2017). [5] a. niemegeers, m. burgelman, k. decock, j. verschraegen & s. degrave, “scaps manual”, university of gent, 2014. [6] i. t. bello, m. k. awodele, o. adedokun, o. akinrinola & a. o. awodugba, “modelling and simulation of czts-perovskite sandwiched tandem solar cell”, turkish journal of physics 42 (2018) 321. [7] m. takashi & m. masashi, “device modelling of perovskite solar cells based on structural similarity with thin film inorganic semiconductor solar cells”, journal of applied physics 116 (2014) 054505 [8] m. takashi & m. masashi, “theoretical analysis on effect of band offsets in perovskite solar cells”, solar energy materials & solar cells 133 (2015) 8. [9] m. gloeckler, a. l. fahrenbruch & j. r. sites, “numerical modeling of cigs and cdte solar cells: setting the baseline”, in proc. 3rd world conf. photovoltaic energy conversion, 2003 pp 491. [10] s.j. fonash “solar cell device physics”, 2nd edition elsevier, usa; 2010. [11] w. shockley & h. j. queisser “detailed balance limit of efficiency of pn junction solar cells”, journal of applied physics 32 (1961) 510. 61 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 144–147 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences antimicrobial activity of green synthesized tri-metallic oxide ni/cr/cu nanoparticles sathish kumar ka,∗, g. r. venkatakrishnanb, r. rengarajb, p. k. gayathria, g. lavanyaa, d. hemapriyaa adepartment of chemical engineering, sri sivasubramaniya nadar college of engineering, kalavakkam, chennai, tamil nadu, india bdepartment of electrical & electronics engineering, sri sivasubramaniya nadar college of engineering, kalavkkam, chennai, tamilnadu, india abstract the tri-metallic oxide ni/cr/cu nanoparticles (nps) were synthesized using coriander sativum extract as the reducing agent. the precursors namely cuso4.5h2o, ni(no3)2·6h2o and cr (no3)3·9h2o were used for the green synthesis. further, the prepared nps were characterized using ultraviolet-visible (uv-vis) spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction (xrd) studies. its antimicrobial property against two fungal and two bacterial species was determined by measuring the respective zone of inhibition (zoi) in well diffusion method. a dose dependent inhibition was observed in all the four species of pathogens including escherichia coli, staphylococcus aureus, aspergillus flavus and penicillium sp. this antimicrobial property of tri-metallic oxide nps may be utilized in the field of medical research, pharmaceutical industries and environmental sciences. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2021.237 keywords: tri-metallic oxide nps, uv-vis, xrd, antimicrobial activity, zone of inhibition. article history : received: 23 may 2021 received in revised form: 21 june 2021 accepted for publication: 01 july 2021 published: 29 august 2021 c©2021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: e. edward anand 1. introduction the common methods to synthesize of multi metallic nps includes laser ablation, ultrasonication, sol-gel, hydrothermal, co-precipitation and green synthesis [1,2]. the physical and chemical methods involve higher cost and are not eco-friendly. on the other hand, use of green synthesis methods offer several advantages such as cost-effectiveness, simplicity, and environmentally friendliness. the green sources used for synthesizing ∗corresponding author tel. no: email addresses: sathishkumark@ssn.edu.in (sathish kumar k ), gayathri.kothandaraman@gmail.com. (p. k. gayathri), lavanya17026@chemical.ssn.edu.in; hemapriya17021@chemical.ssn.edu.in (d. hemapriya ) nps are micro-organisms and plants [3-6]. the choice of these sources as bioreducing agents should be delicately considered in the green synthesis approach [7,8]. on comparing, the choice of plants is less expensive than micro-organisms. coriander sativum is an important medical plant belonging to umbelliferae family comprising several bio-active compounds such as flavonoid, phenol, terpenoid, tannin and glycosides with high level of in vitro radical scavenging activity [9,10]. these bio-active compounds were believed to play a major role in the synthesis of metal oxide nps. due to the distinctive properties of bimetallic nps, it has attracted the attention of research community [11,12]. for various applications, the most suitable methods were to fabricate multi-metallic nps followed by core-shell and/or alloy forma144 sathish et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 144–147 145 tion. extensive research has been established on traditional single metallic methods. exploration tri-metallic nanostructures have been initiated recently [13] since an elaborate study with respect to its application is still at its infancy. the greatest obstacle for scientists trying to eradicate dangerous pathogens such as bacteria, moulds, yeast and viruses has been growing resistance to antibiotics. multi-metallic nps have been heavily studied against these dangerous pathogens as feasible therapeutic and diagnostic methods [14,15]. an effective approach to overcome these issues is to synergistically engineer these nps with various formulations, such as the creation of multi-metallic composites, to strengthen current vulnerabilities. the antimicrobial resistance has long been of concern to researchers and the use of metal oxide nps has increased the interest in nanomaterial researchers. hence in the present study, a green method to synthesize tri-metallic oxide nps comprising nickel (ni), copper (cu), and chromium (cr) using the coriander sativum extract will be developed. subsequently, its antimicrobial efficacy against two bacterial species and two fungal species will be assessed. this investigation of antimicrobial activity of tri-metallic oxide nps could be encouraging for a pharmaceutical application. 2. materials and methods 2.1. materials required chemicals including cuso4·5h2o, ni(no3)2·6h2o, cr (no3)3·9h2o were purchased from srl india. double distilled water was used for the preparation of chemical reagents.. all antibacterial and antifungal media were purchased from himedia. laboratory grade solvents were used for our study. the bacterial and fungal species were obtained from mtcc. 2.2. collection of plant coriander sativum leaves were used for our study. the collected leaves were washed with tap and double distilled water and finally dried. the leaves were crushed and grounded to fine powder. the extract was prepared using 5 g of fine powder in 100 ml distilled water for 15 min at 400w. it was filtered using whatman no.1 filter paper and filtrate was used as a reducing agent for green synthesis of tri-metallic oxide nps. 2.3. green synthesis of tri-metallic oxide nps the method involves simultaneous reduction of precursor salts cuso4·5h2o, ni(no3)2·6h2o and cr(no3)3·9h2o with the c. sativum extract [16]. typically, 0.01m of salt solution comprising all three metals was mixed with the leaf extract in 250 ml erlenmeyer flask. the temperature of the reaction mixture was maintained 40◦c for 45 min in a water bath. after completion of the reaction, mixture was cooled to achieve room temperature. the mixture was centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 15 min and washed several time with distilled water. finally the mixture was washed with ethanol to remove impurities. the sediment comprising the tri-metallic nps were stored in vacuum oven at 45◦c to maintain its stability and integrity. 2.4. characterization of nps the synthesized tri-metallic oxide nps were characterized using uv-vis spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction (xrd). the composition of the ni/cr/cu nps were investigated using a empyrean x-ray diffractometer, operated at 45 kv, 40 ma, with cukα1 radiation (wavelength λ=1.5406 å) and copper filter. the x-ray diffractogram was recorded in the 2θ range from 10◦ to 80◦ at scanning steps of 0.026◦. an uv-vis spectrum was measured between 190-800 nm using jasco spectrophotometer to determine the characteristic peaks of the synthesized nps. 2.5. antimicrobial activity the antimicrobial activity of tri-metallic nps was evaluated against two bacterial and two fungal species by well diffusion method [17,18]. 1 ml of the selected microbial species was inoculated over the entire agar surface. a well with 5 mm diameter was bored aseptically, and 50µl of the nps solution at desired concentration was introduced into the well. the inoculated plates were incubated under suitable conditions depending upon the test microorganism. the details of the medium, species and incubation conditions are provided below. 2.5.1. antibacterial activity mueller hinton agar plates were prepared and inoculated with standardized bacterial strains comprising e. coli and s. aureus in individual plate. five different wells were bored on the agar plates where, four different concentrations of the nps were added in four separate wells and control (amoxicillin) was added in the other well. the plates were incubated (37◦c/24 hours) and observed for zone of inhibition (zoi). 2.5.2. antifungal activity sabouraud dextrose agar plates were prepared and inoculated with standardized fungal strains of a. flavus and penicillium sp. five different wells were bore on the agar plates where, four different concentrations of the nps were added in four individual wells and control (fluconazole) was added in the other well. the plates were then incubated at 25◦c for 72 hours and observed for zone of inhibition (zoi). 2.6. statistical analysis all results of antimicrobial activity are expressed only numerically as mean ± standard deviation (sd) without any analysis. 3. results and discussions 3.1. synthesis and characterization of tri-metallic nps initially, the extract and the precursor solution looked tanned brown colour. after the reduction reaction, the solution turned dark brown in colour. after centrifugation and drying, a dark brown powder was collected. the uv-vis absorption of the c. sativum extract was compared with the collected tri-metallic oxide nps. the tri-metallic oxide nps showed three characteristic peaks at 261 nm, 426 nm and 564 nm (figure 1) that correspond to tri-metallic oxide ni/cr/cu nps reported earlier 145 sathish et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 144–147 146 figure 1. uv-visible spectrum of tri-metallic oxide ni/cr/cu nps figure 2. powder xrd of tri-metallic oxide ni/cr/cu nps [16]. similar results were obtained in monometallic nps synthesized using individual metallic precursors [19–21]. the ni, cu, and cr nps tend to show characteristic xrd peaks at 40-50◦ and 50-60◦ [19–21] individually. a combination of peaks was observed in xrd (figure 2) and new peak at 20◦ characteristic to that of graphene nanomaterials was also observed. this may be due to the reduction reaction of phytochemical that is present in the leaf extract of c. sativum. using scherrer’s equation, the crystallite size of the tri-metallic oxide nps was calculated as 17.72 nm from the xrd. in the present study, the cumulative peaks of all the three metal were exhibited in both uv-vis and xrd. this shows that tri-metallic oxide nps comprising ni, cr and cu were synthesized. 3.2. antibacterial activity the antibacterial activity of the tri-metallic nps was determined against e. coli and staph. aureus by measuring the zoi after incubation (37◦c/ 24 h) (table 1). the observed results are presented in figure 3. it can be seen that the tri-metallic nps exhibited dose-dependent antibacterial activity. that is, the zone of inhibition increased proportionally with the concentration of nps. among the tested species, the tri-metallic nps showed better antibacterial activity against e. coli than staph. aureus. there are reports that discussed the antibacterial activity of these metals. in a study by o. dlugosz et. al., copfigure 3. agar plates showing zoi against (a) e. coli and (b) staph aureus. control amoxicillin figure 4. agar plates showing zoi against (a) a. flavus and (b) penicillium sp. control fluconazole per showed improved antibacterial activity against e. coli and staph. aureus with respect to increasing size. but its effect reduced when it is combined with silver. on the other hand, it exhibited inhibition against broader spectrum of microbes. in another study, the bimetallic nps made of gold and silver showed that the size and the antimicrobial property are inversely proportional to each other [15]. there is only one study which discussed similar antibacterial property of similar tri-metallic nps wherein all the three metals showed synergistic antimicrobial effect [16]. hence as per the earlier studies and the present results, it can be understood that the antibacterial property of the metallic nps was due to the size and the charge of the active surface area. 3.3. antifungal activity the antifungal activity of the tri-metallic nps was determined against a. flavus and penicillium sp. by a similar method to that of antibacterial activity. the measured zoi and its respective plates are provided in table 1 and figure 4. it was observed that the organism showed resistance towards the trimetallic nps at 125 µg/ml concentration. but as the nanoparticle’s concentration increased, the diameter of the zone of inhibition also increased. thus, the dose and inhibition were directly proportional to each other. in earlier studies, the bimetallic nps showed good activity towards fungal species candida sp. and b. cinerea [22,23] due to their external charge and size. the tri-metallic nps showed better antifungal activity against penicillium sp. than a. flavus that can be attributed towards even 146 sathish et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 144–147 147 table 1. zone of inhibition (mm) measured for each microbes across the concentration gradient. all the values are given as mean value. s no nps concentration (µg/ml) e. coli (mm) staph aureus (mm) a. flavus(mm) penicillium sp. (mm) 1 125 19 13 nil nil 2 250 17 15 13 12 3 500 21 17 18 14 4 1000 27 24 23 15 5 control 16 18 18 16 size distribution and cumulative charge of the nps. 4. conclusion tri-metallic nps comprising ni, cr and cu were synthesized using the leaf extract of coriander sativum. characteristic peaks were observed in both uv-vis spectroscopy and xrd diffractogram. the main objective of this research is to investigate the recognition and targeting capability of the tri-metallic oxide nps and use it to deliver the antimicrobial drugs for resistant species. as per the results, these nps showed good antimicrobial property against e. coli, staph. aureus, penicillium sp. and a. flavus. further investigation is required to determine other parameters like minimum inhibitory concentration, critical dose and lethal dose. references [1] m. parashar, v. k. shukla & r. singh, “metal oxides nanoparticles via sol–gel method: a review on synthesis, characterization and applications”, journal of materials science: materials in electronics 31 (2020) 3729. [2] w. m. rangel, r. a. a. boca santa & h. g. riella, “a facile method for synthesis of nanostructured copper (ii) oxide by coprecipitation” j mater res technol. 9 (2020) 994. [3] s. p. patil, “ficus carica assisted green synthesis of metal nanoparticles: a mini review”, biotechnology reports 28 (2020) 00569. [4] i. fatimah, “synthesis of metal and metal oxide nanoparticles using plant extract: a review”, j eksakta. 17 (2017) 66. [5] y. kato, e. yoshimora & m. suzuki, “synthesis of gold nanoparticles by extracellular components of lactobacillus casei”, chemistry select 4 (2019) 7331. [6] y. kato & m. suzuki “synthesis of metal nanoparticles by microorganisms”, crystals, 10 (2020) 589. [7] a. muthuvinothini & s. stella, ”green synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles and their catalytic activity for the reduction of aldehydes”, process biochem. 77 (2019) 48. [8] r. chokkareddy & g. g. redhi, “green synthesis of metal nanoparticles and its reaction mechanisms” in: the macabresque: human violation and hate in genocide mass atrocity and enemy-making (2018) 113. [9] n. pathak, s. b. kasture & m. m. bhatt, “phytochemical screening of coriander sativum linn”, int j pharm sci rev res., 9 (2011) 027. [10] s. s. jangra, v. k. madan & s. i. dusyant, ”comparative analysis of phytochemical profile and antioxidant activity of coriander (coriandrum sativum l.)”, asian j chem. 30 (2018) 508. [11] t. mazhar, v. shrivastava & r. s. tomar, ”green synthesis of bimetallic nanoparticles and its applications: a review” journal of pharmaceutical sciences and research 9 (2017) 102. [12] o. długosz, m. sochocka, m. ochnik & m. banach, “metal and bimetallic nanoparticles: flow synthesis, bioactivity and toxicity”, j colloid interface sci. 586 (2021) 807. [13] m. nasrollahzadeh, m. sajjadi, s. iravani & r. s. varma, ”trimetallic nanoparticles: greener synthesis and their applications”, nanomaterials 10 (2020) 1784. [14] n. arora, k. thangavelu & g. n. karanikolos, ”bimetallic nanoparticles for antimicrobial applications”, frontiers in chemistry 8 (2020) 00412. [15] b. syed, n. karthik, p. bhat, n. bisht, a. prasad & s. satish, ”phytobiologic bimetallic nanoparticles bearing antibacterial activity against human pathogens”, j king saud univ sci. 31 (2019) 798. [16] z. vaseghi, o. tavakoli, a. nematollahzadeh, ”rapid biosynthesis of novel cu/cr/ni trimetallic oxide nanoparticles with antimicrobial activity”, j environ chem eng. 6 (2018) 1898. [17] ahmad i, mehmood z, mohammad f, ”screening of some indian medicinal plants for their antimicrobial properties”, j ethnopharmacol. 62 (1998) 183. [18] irshad s, mahmood m, perveen f, ”in-vitro anti-bacterial activities of three medicinal plants using agar well diffusion method”, res j biol. 2 (2012). [19] elango g, roopan sm, dhamodaran ki, elumalai k, al-dhabi na, arasu mv, ”spectroscopic investigation of biosynthesized nickel nanoparticles and its larvicidal, pesticidal activities”, j photochem photobiol b biol. 162 (2016) 162. [20] ramyadevi j, jeyasubramanian k, marikani a, rajakumar g, rahuman aa, santhoshkumar t, ”copper nanoparticles synthesized by polyol process used to control hematophagous parasites”, parasitol res. 109 (2011) 1403. [21] jaswal vs, arora ak, kinger m, gupta vd, singh j, ”synthesis and characterization of chromium oxide nanoparticles”, orient j chem. 30 (2014) 559. [22] al-dhabaan fa, shoala t, m ali aa, alaa m, abd-elsalam k, abdk, ”chemically-produced copper, zinc nanoparticles and chitosanbimetallic nanocomposites and their antifungal activity against three phytopathogenic fungi”, int j agric technol. 13 (2017) 753. [23] j. a. gutiérrez, s. caballero, l. a. dı́az, m. a. guerrero, j. ruiz & c. c. ortiz cc, ”high antifungal activity against candida species of monometallic and bimetallic nanoparticles synthesized in nanoreactors”, acs biomater sci eng. 4 (2018) 647. 147 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 116–120 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences characterizations of galena as potential photosensitizer in a natural dye-sensitized solar cell akinsola samson ibukuna,b,∗, alabi aderemi babatundea, adedayo kayode seunc, nicola coppeded a department of physics, university of ilorin, ilorin, nigeria. b crown-hill university, eiyenkorin, kwara state, nigeria. c department of physics, university of maiduguri, nigeria. d institute of materials for electronics and magnetism, parma, italy. abstract dye is one of the principal parts for high power conversion efficiency in a dye-sensitized solar cell. conspicuous developments have taken place via the work of several researchers in engineering of novel dye structures so as to enhance the performance of the system. the properties of a natural mineral dye were studied in this work. the structure of the dye was determined and discovered to have contains constituents which could enhance better absorption of solar radiation for use in a dye-sensitized solar cell (dssc). the lead sulphide and iron content of the mineral dye studied as revealed by the x-ray diffraction analysis done suggest this. the x-ray fluorescence (xrf) done revealed that the concentration of lead and iron (fe) is high as compared to other elements present in the material, probably as a result of the fact that it is a geological sample (of the earth) and which may even suggest its colour and hence makes it absorbs solar radiation of visible region at its wavelength (around 380 nm – 800 nm). the functional groups present in the dye as obtained from the fourier transform infrared spectroscopy are the amine, carbonyl and the hydroxyl groups, all which confirms the suitability of the dye material in photosensitizing a semiconductor in a dssc. the absorption spectra of the dye within the visible region of electromagnetic radiation shows that the material has high, increased and stable absorption of visible light which is suggesting a more durable natural dye for a dssc than the easily degraded natural dyes of plants source. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2021.184 keywords: galena, mineral, dyes, photosensitizers. article history : received: 26 march 2021 received in revised form: 07 may 2021 accepted for publication: 08 may 2021 published: 29 may 2021 ©2021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: b. j. falaye ∗corresponding author tel. no: +2348166602544 email addresses: siakinsola711@gmail.com (akinsola samson ibukun ), remi050970@gmail.com (alabi aderemi babatunde), kphysicsq@gmail.com (adedayo kayode seun), nicola.coppede@gmail.com (nicola coppede) 1. introduction as at the end of 2017, roughly 1.8% of the globe electrical energy came from solar photovoltaics (pv ), which has a vital prospect to have a key role in all major future energy matters with an installed capacity of about 5 terawatts by 2050 [1]. dye-sensitized solar cell (dssc) has its genesis from the 116 dawodu / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 116–120 117 suggestion of o’regan and gratzel and was classified as the third generation of photovoltaic devices for the conversion of visible light into electrical energy [2]. since the advent of dyesensitized solar cells (dsscs) in 1991, extensive researches are seriously ongoing on it as an alternative to silicon-based solar cells, and even the thin film solar cells; owing to their simple structure, transparency, flexibility and low production cost. regardless of these advantages, the low efficiency of dssc when compared to the long-ranged silicon-based cells is a limitation to their commercial implementation [3]. currently, dssc has the potential of converting photons from sunlight to electrical energy at an efficiency of 13%, according to [4]. a concerted and intensive effort is being put towards the optimization of various components of dssc with the aim of fabricating more efficient and stable cells. dyesensitized solar cells which are liquid-based consist of a fluorine doped tin oxide frontcontact (fto) on glass, nanoparticle photoanode covered in a monolayer of sensitizing dye, a hole conducting electrolyte, and finally graphite or platinum coated fto counter electrode (back contact). in dye-sensitized solar cells, the dye is one of the key components for high conversion efficiencies of power. in recent time, obvious progress has been achieved in the engineering of novel dye structures in order to enhance the performance of the system. for a while, ruthenium based organic complexes have been the most stable and effective dyes used for dsscs. as a result, that these dyes are characterized by its toxicity, relatively expensive, and difficult method of synthesis, increasing activities for using natural dyes have been reported [5]. in particular, the amphiphilic homologues of the pioneering rutheniumbased n-3 dye have beendeveloped. these dyes show several merits when put side by side with the n-3 dye such as: a higher ground state pka of the binding moiety which increases electrostatic binding onto the titanium dioxide surface at lower ph values, the decreased charge on the dye reducing the electrostatic repulsion between adsorbed dye units and hence increasing the dye loading, the oxidation potential of these dyes is shifted cathodically compared to that of the n-3 sensitizer, which increases the reversibility of the ruthenium iii/ii couple, and finally lead to enhanced stability. [4] stated that the sensitizers which are currently used in production of solar cells are transition metal coordination complexes like ruthenium (ii) carboxylated polypyridyl complexes, because of their high charge-transfer absorption within the entire visible range of electromagnetic radiation and highly efficient metal-ligand charge transfer transition (mlct). however, natural dyes are better desired than these synthetic dyes because of being more economical, easily attainable, abundant in supply and environmentally friendly. also, they invariably have large absorption coefficient due to allowed π to π * transitions. these pigments are derived from various figure 1: absorption spectra of galena dye plant parts such as flower petals, leaves, roots and fruits pulp/bark. therelatively quick degradation of even the natural dyes obtained from plants as compared with the metal coordination complexes calls for considering of an alternative natural dye with cost effectiveness and good stability. natural dye can be categorized into biological and mineral dyes. the biological are the ones obtained from plants while mineral dyes are from natural minerals ofthe earth. in this study, dye obtained from natural mineral; galena was characterized and the suitability in absorbing solar radiation for excitation of electrons in generating electricity via a dssc is considered. 2. materials and method rock-like mineral; galena, was obtained from a community market around the location of study, ilorin, nigeria (lat. 8.49280 n, long. 4.59620 e). the natural substance was grinded with an electric industrial grinder into a powder. the dye was separately extracted from the powder using an organic solvent (isopropyl alcohol). the structural property of the dye was studied by carrying out x-ray diffraction (xrd). the quantitative analyses of the dyes were done using the x-ray fluorescence (xrf) technique, to obtain the elemental composition of the dyes. the functional groups present 4 in the dyes were determined using the fourier transform infrared (ftir)spectroscopy. the absorption spectra of the dye was studied within the visible region of the electromagnetic radiation and it was done using the uv-visible spectrophotometer. 3. results and discussion 3.1. optical properties absorption of electromagnetic radiation is the process by which certain energy is being taken up with photon by matter. the absorption spectra of galena dye is given in figure 1. electromagnetic spectrum comprises of radio wave, infrared, visible light, region (about 380 nm – 800nm), since 117 dawodu / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 116–120 118 figure 2: absorption spectra of ruthenium-based dye, n-719 (product no. 703214). source: [6] the dye is being studied as a potential photosensitizer in a dye-sensitized solar cell (dssc) which absorbs solar radiation within the visible region of the electromagnetic radiation. it was observed (from figure 1) that the dye has absorption of solar radiation within the visible region. considering figure 2, the absorption of solar radiation, based on the absorbance value of a typical ruthenium-based dye (a synthetic dye) is just a little higher than that of the mineral dye; which shows a promising substitute to the relatively expensive synthetic dye. it is indeed a potential photosensitizer in a dssc, as substitute to dyes of plants sources.in addition, galena is a natural semiconducting material with an energy gap of about 0.4ev. indeed, it’s a strong absorber of solar radiation. the dye extract exhibited a strong absorption broad band in the visible region with a peak at around 408 nm (absorbance value of 0.2424 a.u. inferably, very little composition of the dye for absorbing the electromagnetic radiation was present. further work can still be considered on solvents or process of making the galena powder well dissolved for a uniform analysis by the uv-vis spectroscopy. galena is fundamentally a lead ore i.e.; lead sulphide and lead is metal. this intense absorption in the visible region has been reported for anthocyanin and is the reason for the efficient harvesting of photons in natural dssc. anthocyanins are group of naturally occurring phenolic compounds responsible for the colour of many flowers and fruit.ruthenium-based dye exhibit ligand-centered charge transfer (lcct) transitions (π -π*) as well as metal-to-ligand charge transfer (mlct) transitions (4d π*) that can be observed in the absorption spectra of n-719 dye (figure 2). the absorption bands at lower energiesrepresent the mlct transitions (λ1 and λ2) whereas the more energetically demanding transitions (λ3 and λ4) correspond to lcct transitions. promotion of an electron from π – bonding orbital to an antibonding π orbital* is denoted by π π* transition. section of molecules which can undergo such detectable electron transitions can be referred to asch table 1: elemental composition of galena elements concentration ca < 411.684 sc < 78.741 ti 263.183 ± 50.390 ppm v < 203.917 cr < 141.133 mn < 38.203 fe 965.357 ± 44.279 ppm ni 318.054 ±36.217ppm cu 345.412 ± 21.042ppm zn 141.191 ± 11.137ppm ga 490.431 ± 40.761 ppm pb 3690.413 ± 462.395 ppm se 188.198 ± 32.007 ppm br < 412.070 rb < 26.176 sr < 30.008 y < 1220.770 -romophores since such transitions absorb electromagnetic radiation (light), which may hypothetically be perceived as colour somewhere in the electromagnetic spectrum. the absorption spectra of galena dye given in figure 1 shows absorption bands (408 nm and around 573 nm) at more energetically demanding transitions which is close to lccttransitions within the visible region, hence favoring a good absorption of solar radiation for the operation of a solar cell. 3.2. quantitative analysis the elemental composition of the galena dye was summarized in table 1. from the analysis it was observed that the elements with the prominent concentrations in the dye material are lead (pb) and iron (fe) with 3690.413 ppm and 965.357 ppm respectively. the high concentration of pb and fe in the sample could be as a result of the fact that it has its source from the earth (being a natural mineral). also, the iron concentration in the dye material could be responsible for its lustrous black colour (see figure 3) which could eventually favours it high absorption of electromagnetic radiation in the visible region. although iron (fe), copper (cu), silver (ag) etc. are naturally parts of the common impurities of galena ore. the results discussed under the optical properties and as seen in table 2 justify this fact and also as revealed by the result given by the xrd pattern. colours in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. these colours absorb at different wavelengths of light (table 2), which in turn carry different magnitude of energy.the ma118 dawodu / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 116–120 119 figure 3: image of galena (source:[7]) table 2: corresponding wavelength of colour in the visible region elements concentration red 622-780 orange 597-622 yellow 577-597 green 492-577 blue 455-492 violet 390-455 terial being considered has a colour close to the ones within the wavelength range of 390 nm – 577 nm, as it is in table 2. 3.3. fourier transform infrared spectroscopic (ftir) analysis of the dye an ftir spectrum of the galena dye is shown in figure 4. the functional groupspresent in an organic dye responsible for the absorption of solar radiation are actually the amine, hydroxyl and the carbonyl groups. in addition to the high absorption coefficient in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum, the presence of hydroxyl and carbonyl anchoring groups in the dye as revealed by the stretching vibrations at 2883.1 cm−1, 2933.4 cm−1, 2970.7 cm−1 and 1654.9 cm−1 respectively will enable their adsorption unto the surface of semiconductor to be used in a dssc. the presence of the aminegroup in the dye is revealed by the vibration at 3332.2 cm−1. the absorption bands for bending vibrations are typically found in the fingerprint region (1400 – 600 cm−1). these vibrations correspond to the likely metalbonded compounds present in the region which characterfigure 4: ft-ir spectra of galena dye figure 5: xrd pattern of galena sample obtained for an organic dye ization carried out using the x-ray diffraction (xrd) technique revealed. 3.4. 3.4 x-ray diffraction characterization the dye material was subjected to x-ray diffraction. the xrd pattern obtained for the dye was given in figure 5. the 2θ peak values considered are as follows: 26.00, 30.10, 43.10 and 52.50 corresponding to diffraction from planes (1 1 1), (2 0 0), (2 2 0) and (3 1 1) respectively for the galena. the xrd patterns confirms the presence of lead sulphide, in the dye material, as thismatches with the jcpds card no. [05-0592]. it is confirmed to be of face-centeredcubic crystal. the multiple peaks obtained from the x-ray diffraction point to the fact that it is also polycrystalline. the crystal plane (2 0 0) is the prominently seen in the xrd pattern. this is in agreement with the report of [8]. the prominent peak in the xrd pattern corresponds to the galena, (pbs) mineral in the galena ore sample as other mineralogical content of the ore could be sphalerite (zns), pyrite (fes2), chalcopyrite (cufes2), etc. the confirmed pbs, a semiconducting material, in the galena ore actually makes it a potential absorber / good photosensitizer in a natural dssc. 119 dawodu / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 116–120 120 4. conclusion this research focuses on the properties of a mineral dye which make it suitable as a potential photosensitizer in a dyesensitized solar cell (dssc). the dye, though from a material being used for different purposes, among which is cosmetics in some part of africa for decades, is discovered to possess, through the characterizations carried out, tendencies of being a good absorber of solar radiation in the visible region of electromagnetic radiation. this is expected to yield an improved power conversion efficiency of the cell. references [1] a. le donne, t. vanira & b. simona, "new earth-abundant thin filmsolar cells based on chalcogenides", frontiers in chemistry. 7 (2019) 1. [2] s. a. monzir, b. a. mahmoud, a. naji, m. a. amal, a. t. sofyan, m.e taher & s. e. hatem, “dye-sensitized solar cells using fifteen natural dyes as sensitizers of nanocrystalline tio2", science technology and development34 (2015) 135. doi: 10.3923/std.2015.135.139 [3] h. y. jun, w. b. chung, h. k. kyung & w. c. hyung, “characteristics ofthe dye-sensitized solar cells using tio2 nanotubes treated with ticl4 ", materials 7 (2014) 3522. [4] g. william, k. hyeonggon, s. tajbik, y. sunil, c. tulio, n. fred & u. jamal, “fabrication, optimization and characterization of natural dye sensitized solar cell", scientific reports 7 (2017) 41470. [5] m. a. ahmed hemdan, s. h. m moataz, m. k. y. ghad, m. a. ahmed, s. h. & s. g. k. ahmed, “dye-sensitized solar cells (dsscs) based on extracted natural dyes", journal of nanomaterials. article id 1867271.https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/1867271 [6] d. hans & h. yanek, ruthenium-based dyes for dyesensitized solar cells, dyesol ltd, australia, 2017. [7] http://www.rocksandminerals.com/lead.htm (accessed on 27th september, 2019). [8] m. p. c. kalika, d. kuldeep, d. joyeeta, h. nilakhi, d. purbasha, d. ronita, p. sanchayita, s. trinayan & b. k. sarma, “x-ray diffraction line profileanalysis of chemically synthesized lead sulphide nanocrystals", . materials letters 87 (2012) 84. 120 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 250–255 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences preliminary investigation of microplastic as a vector for heavy metals in bye-ma salt mine, wukari, nigeria b. n. hikona,∗, g. g. yebpellaa, l. jafiyab, s. ayubaa adept. of chemical sciences, faculty of pure and applied sciences, federal university wukari, taraba state, nigeria bdept. of chemistry, faculty sciences, federal university gashua, yobe state, nigeria abstract this study is aimed at the preliminary investigation of microplastics as carrier of heavy metals pollution in surface sediment. heavy metals concentration was determined by faas while microplastics characterization was analysed by atr-ftir spectrophotometer. the results obtained showed high level of lead (pb) concentrations which ranged from 21.37−32.80 mg/kg across the sampling sites while cd has the least concentration between 0.04 − 0.80 mg/kg. the concentration of pb and cd were above the usepa permissible limit in sediment. the following absorption bands; 2978.19, 1728.28 and 1458.23 cm−1 with the functional groups; c-h stretch, c=o stretch and ch2 bend indicates the presence of ethylene vinyl acetate (eva) in site s2 and s4 respectively. other microplastics found in the sampling sites are nylon, nitrile, polycarbonate and poly propylene. this indicates that there is identical distribution of the microplastics in the sampling sites. the quantities of microplastics isolated ranged from 8.11−8.16 g across the sites. aquatic organisms fed on these polymeric materials because of their unique appearance. hence, heavy metals adsorption will lead to higher concentrations on microplastics which could be ingested and lead serious complication in their intestine. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2021.259 keywords: microplastics, sediment, aquatic, heavy metals, functional group. article history : received: 17 june 2021 received in revised form: 26 july 2021 accepted for publication: 23 august 2021 published: 29 august 2021 c©2021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: edward anand emile 1. introduction water has faced series of challenges ranges from point and non point sources of pollution and these challenges have remained the same from time immemorial, the nature of pollution has evolved and lengthened over time. freshwater biotas all over the planet earth are being endangered by both old and new form of pollutants. plastic debris are found in seas, oceans and large body of festered water worldwide [1, 2] mostly constituted by organic pollutants such as microplastics. [3, 4] ∗corresponding author tel. no: +234(0)8065374951 email address: babahikon@fuwukari.edu.ng (b. n. hikon ) defines microplastics as plastic constituent part smaller than 5 mm in size. the word “micro plastic” differs from upper limit of 0.5 mm to 5 mm (universally used), and a lesser limit of 1 m often used for practical purposes. however, groups of microplastics such as biofilms may penetrate and contribute to the sequestration of microplastics and metals in sediments [5, 6]. microplastics are ingested by fish and other aquatic organisms when feeding in sediments. once ingested, it results to problems like pseudo satiation, obstruction of the intestine, endocrine disorder through percolated plasticizers and contamination by adhered pollutants can arise [7, 8]. one of the factors that sway the ingestion of the microplastics is “colour”. some sea debris has the colour that resemble that of their prey which 250 hikon et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 250–255 251 entice raiders when ingested causes severe damage to the respiratory system of the aquatic organisms [9]. however, recent research by [10] showed that metal sorption kinetics fouling with organic and inorganic matter over time, increases the surface area and generating anionic active sites of the microplastics for the adsorption of metals from sediment [11]. the hydrophobic nature of the microplastics attract persistent organic pollutants and accumulate heavy metals like cadmium (cd), copper (cu), iron (fe), silver (ag), manganese (mn), aluminum (al) zinc (zn) and lead (pb), which could lead to a greater bio-accessibility of metals when aquatic animals consume micro plastics [12]. this research is aimed at isolation and characterization of microplastics in sediment as carrier of heavy metals in an aquatic system. 2. materials and methods 2.1. study area the study area covers bye-ma, former salt mine pond under chonku ward but presently hospital ward wukari local government of taraba state, nigeria. presently, the pond is used for fishing. it is located between longitudes 7◦51′0′′ north and 9◦47′0′′ east of the greenwich meridian. wukari local government area is situated in the southern part of taraba state and it is about two hundred kilometers away from jalingo the state capital. the local government is bounded by plateau state in the north, benue state in the southwest. it has an area of about 4308 km2 (1663 sq mi). figure 1. showing the study area (bye-ma pond) 2.2. sample collection about four sampling sites were randomly mapped out for sediment samples collection, and were designated as s1, s2, s3 and s4 representing sites 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively. the sampling sites were 50 m apart. each site was further subdivided into four giving a total of sixteen sites. a 100 g each of the sediment samples were collected from the sampling sites in the month of march, 2020. the samples were collected with the aid of a stainless steel hand trowel at the depth of 0−15 cm into clean glass container that was previously washed in 1% hcl and transported to the laboratory. the sediment samples from each sub sites were bulked together and mixed thoroughly to achieve homogeneity of the representative sample. 2.3. sample preparation the samples were air-dried in the laboratory for two days, manually sorted out debris of large size above 5 mm mesh size. a set of four sieves with mesh sizes 8, 5, 1 and 0.3 mm was obtained from soil science laboratory for the separation of particles size. sediment samples were then sieved mechanically to obtain a fraction of 0.3 mm. the sediment samples were divided into two portions (for heavy metal determination and isolation of microplastics) and are stored in glass bottles at room temperature until ready for further analysis. 2.4. extraction, isolation and characterization of microplastics from sample matrix sediments samples collected on the 0.3 mm sieve are subjected to wet peroxide oxidation (wpo) in the presence of a fe(ii) catalyst to digest labile organic matter. a 6 g of salt (nacl) to the mixture to increase its density of the aqueous solution according to [13]. microplastics were floated on the surface of the solution, were filtered, dried and manually sorted out and characterized with atr-ftir spectrophotometer: model 630 agilent tech usa. figure 2. micro plastics displayed on filtration apparatus 2.5. determination of total mass of micro plastics an empty vial was weighed and labelled a, the identifiable micro plastics was transferred to the vial and then reweighed b. the mass of the isolated micro plastics c was determined by subtracting the mass of a from b (formula: b − a = c). this procedure was repeated for all sediment samples [13]. 251 hikon et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 250–255 252 figure 3. micro plastics on sieve 0.3 mm. figure 4. retained debris/macroplastics on sieve 8 mm 2.6. determination heavy metal concentrations in microplastics method of heavy metals determination was adopted from [10] with little modifications. a 1.0 g of dried 0.3 mm size fraction of the microplastics sample were weighed into a beaker and digested with 25 ml mixture of analytical grade acids hno3:hcl in the ratio 3:1. the digestion was performed at a temperature of about 90◦c for 30 minutes in a fume cupboard until clear solutions was obtained. digested samples were allowed to cooled, filtered into a 100 ml volumetric flask, and made up to the mark with deionized water. digests were analyzed by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (faas, spectra aa 50, varian). triplicate determinations were made. the actual concentrations of heavy metals were calculated from the formula below: conc.(mg/kg) = conc.(mg/l) weight of sample digested ×dilution volume(1) 3. result and discussion 3.1. accumulation of heavy metals on microplastics the result obtained from the determination of heavy metals; lead (pb), cadmium (cd), zinc (zn) and copper (cu) in micro plastics from four different samples were shown in table 1. pb and cu have the highest concentration level in all the samples while cadmium has the least concentration and ranged from 0.040.80 mg/kg compared to other metals. the high concentration of pb which ranged from 21.37 − 32.80 mg/kg could be attributed to the following activities along the sampling sites; panel beating, automobile repairs, and discharge of lead from paints factories, lead acid accumulator cells and other dried cells. these wastes are released into water bodies by run off and atmospheric deposition. this agreed with the work of [14] who reported that, high level of heavy metals in sediment is associated with anthropogenic activities. the results presented in this study noticeably indicate a high affinity of metals in solution to microplastics in the sediment. the concentrations of zn and cu in all the sites are within the permissive level by the united state environmental protection agency (usepa). this concentration level is by far less than the permissible limit for zinc concentration in sediment which range from 50 − 300 and 20 mg/kg. zn present in the area could be as a result of its natural abundance, its association with cadmium and as a result of mechanical abrasion of crushing/grinding [15]. cadmium concentrations in all the sites were above the [16] permissible limit of 0.03 − 0.3 mg/kg in sediment. cadmium is emitted to air by mines, metal smelters and industries using cadmium compounds for alloys, batteries, pigments and in plastics. all the concentrations of lead were above the permissible limit of 2 − 20 mg/kg as stated by [16]. [12, 10] and environmental monitoring [17] have indicated that microplastics accumulate metals in aquatic environment. metal ions or complexes interact directly with the charged or neutral sites of the surface of the microplastic, and co-precipitate with or sorption onto hydrous oxides [12]. 3.2. mass of micro plastics figure 5 shows the quantities of microplastics recovered from each of the sampling sites after peroxide oxidation. s1 has the highest level of microplastics (8.16 g), followed by s4 which has 8.14 g and s3 with 8.13 g while s2 has 8.11 g respectively. the quantity and colors of microplastics normally draws the attention of aquatic organisms. [9] reported that aquatics animals sees plastic materials as prey and when ingested it could results to complications in their digestive system. 3.3. characterization of microplastics table 2 below showed the types and the various absorption bands of polymer materials identified in s1. micro polymeric constituents discovered are polycarbonate and nylon (polyamide). nylon is one of the common polymer material found in storage sack, thread for shoe sawing etc. plastics aptitude to adsorb other pollutants makes them a potential trajectory for transferring other pollutants to the aquatic ecosystems, such as heavy metals. both plastics and these pollutants are very difficult to degrade in the environment [18, 19]. the absorption spectrum of s1 displayed in table 2 above, showed that polycarbonate was detected within the following absorption bands: 678.97 cm−1, 1519.96 cm−1, 1712.85 cm−1 252 hikon et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 250–255 253 table 1. mean concentration of heavy metals (mg/kg) heavy metals / sample locations pb cd zn cu s1 30.79 ± 0.006 0.05 ± 0.006 0.32 ± 0.006 1.33 ± 0.003 s2 24.68 ± 0.003 0.04 ± 0.002 1.03 ± 0.006 1.45 ± 0.002 s3 21.37 ± 0.002 0.80 ± 0.003 0.55 ± 0.006 1.32 ± 0.003 s4 32.80 ± 0.007 0.50 ± 0.007 0.55 ± 0.006 1.73 ± 0.003 usepa 2002 2 − 20 0.003 − 0.3 50 − 300 20 table 2. ftir result for s1 absorption bands (cm−1) range functional groups polymer type 678.97 630 − 750 c=o bending polycarbonate1519.96 1500 − 1550 aromatic ring stretch 1712.85 1706 − 1730 c=o stretching 1519.96 1500 − 1550 n-h bend nylon (polyamide) 3248.23 3200 − 3550 n-h bend 2985.91 2800 − 3000 c-h stretch 2862.46 2800 − 3000 c-h stretch 3340.82 3584 − 3700 c=o stretch figure 5. quantity of microplastic in each sampling sites and 1519.96 cm−1 with the functional groups: c=o bending, aromatic ring stretch, c=o stretching and n-h bend respectively while nylon (polyamide) was detected within the bands: 2985.91 cm−1, 2862.46 cm−1 and 3340.82 cm−1 with the following functional groups: c-h stretch, c=o stretch and n-h bend. nylons are made from organic (carbon based) found in natural materials such as coal or petroleum, it can also be got from renewable materials called zytel. polycarbonates are made from the condensation of carbonic acid and bisphenol a. these materials after usage are disposed into water ways. because of their non degradable nature they remain in the environment and are finally deposited in soil, water and eventually accumulate in the sediment. the results obtained for ftir analysis in table 3 showed that only ethylene vinyl acetate (eva) polymers are predominant in sample s2. ethylene vinyl acetate (eva) has the following absorption bands and functional groups: 2978.19 cm−1, 1728.28 cm−1 and 1458.23 cm−1 respectively (c-h stretch, c=o stretch and ch2 bend). the result of microplastics characterization for sample s3 as showed in table 4 indicates that absorption occurred at the following frequencies: 2916.47 cm−1, 2244.91 cm−1, 1458.23 cm−1 and 941 cm−1 with functional groups: c-h stretch, c≡n stretch, c=c stretch and =c-h str. this absorption band and functional groups represent nitrile polymeric constituent. consequently, absorption bands at 2916.47, 1458.23 and 941.29 cm−1 which give the following functional groups (c-h stretch, ch2 bend, c-h bend and ch3 bend) indicates the presence of poly propylene in the sample. the absorption bands obtained for sample s4 as displayed in table 5 above showed that ethylene vinyl acetate (eva) is present in the sample. hence, it indicates that the absorption band of ethylene vinyl acetate (eva) in s2 (table 3) correspond with that of s4 in table 5. this indicates that there is equal distribution of the microplastics debris in the sampling sites. 4. conclusion in the present study, a preliminary assessment of microplastics pollution in the surface sediments from bye-ma salt mine pond was obtained. the results of flame atomic absorption spectrometer and ftir showed that microplastics are carriers of heavy metals since considerable concentrations of these metals, pb and cu were determined from the plastics materials. however, the polymer materials discovered are nylon, nitrile, 253 hikon et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 250–255 254 table 3. ftir result for s2 absorption bands (cm−1) range functional groups polymer type 2978.19 2800 − 3000 c-h stretch ethylene vinyl acetate (eva)1728.28 1706 − 1730 c=o stretch 1458.23 1430 − 1470 ch2 bend table 4. ftir result for s2 absorption bands (cm−1) range functional groups polymer type 2916.47 2800 − 3000 c-h stretch nitrile2264.91 2260 − 2320 c≡n stretch 941.29 900 − 950 =c-h str 2916.47 2800 − 3000 c-h stretch poly propylene1458.23 1430 − 1470 ch2 bend 941.29 900 − 950 ch3 bend table 5. ftir result for s2 absorption bands (cm−1) range functional groups polymer type 2924.18 2800 − 3000 c-h stretch ethylene vinyl acetate (eva)2862.46 2800 − 3000 c-h stretch 1735.99 1706 − 1730 c=o stretch 1458.23 1430 − 1470 ch2 bend polyethylene terephthalate eva and poly propylene. sediments are reservoir for both microplastics and heavy metals. aquatic organisms depend on sediment materials for survival as such there will be high concentration of these metals in aquatic animals and this will directly affect the food chain. acknowledgement the authors wish to acknowledge the support of mr. godfrey n. s and mr. peter ujulu of federal university wukari for proof reading of the manuscript. references [1] d.k. barnes, f. galgani, r.c. thompson & m. barlaz, “accumulation and fragmentation of plastic debris in global environments”, philos. trans. r. soc., b 364 (2009) 1985. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0205 [2] j.g. derraik, “ the pollution of the marine environment by plastic debris: a review”, mar. pollut. bull. 44 (2002) 842. [3] a.l. andrady, “ microplastics in the marine environment”, marine pollution bulletin 62 (2011) 1596. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.05.030 [4] m. cole, p. lindeque, e. fileman, c. halsband, r. goodhead, j. moger & t.s galloway, “ microplastic ingestion by zooplankton”, environmental science and technology 46 (2012) 11327. http://books.google.com.ng [5] e.l. teuten, j.m. saquing, d.r. knappe, m.a. barlaz, s. jonsson, a. björn, s.j. rowland, r.c. thompson, t.s. galloway, r. yamashita & d. ochi, “ transport and release of chemicals from plastics to the environment and to wildlife”, philos. trans. r. soc. 364 (2009) 2027. 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[13] j. masura, b. joel, f. gregory, a. courtney & h. carlie, “ laboratory methods for the analysis of microplastics in the marine environment recommendations for quantifying synthetic particles in waters and sediments”, noaa technical memorandum nos-or&r-48. usa. (2015) 13. [14] e.i. uwah, n.p. ndahi & v.o. ogugbuaja, “ study of the levels of some agricultural pollutants in soils and waterleaf (talinum triangulare) obtained in maiduguri, nigeria”, j appl sci in environ sanit. 4 (2009) 71. [15] z. monika & m. romic, “ soil contamination by trace metals. geochemical behavior as an element of risk assessment”, earth and environmental sciences 8 (2011) 34. doi: 10.5772/25448 [16] united state environmental protection agency, “ supplemental guidance for developing soil screening levels for superfund sites”, washington, d.c. (2002). [17] c.m. rochman, b.t. hentschel & s.j. teh, “ long-term sorption of 254 hikon et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 250–255 255 metals is similar among plastic types: implications for plastic debris in aquatic environments”, environ. sci. technol. 47 (2013) 1646. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0085433 [18] m.r. gregory, “ plastic “scrubbers” in hand cleansers: a further (and minor) source for marine pollution identified”, marine pollution bulletin 32 (1996) 867. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0025-326x(96)00047-1 [19] . l.m. rios, c. moore, & p.r. jones, “ persistent organic pollutants carried by synthetic polymer in the ocean environment”, mar. pollut. bull. 54 (2007) 1230. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2007.03.022. 255 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 27–33 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences mechanical evaluation and minerals phases identification of fine and coarse okelele block clay composites for furnace lining application yusuf olanrewaju saheed, mufutau abiodun salawu∗, aderemi babatunde alabi department of physics, university of ilorin, ilorin, nigeria abstract the suitability of fine and coarse okelele clays as refractory raw materials for furnace lining application was investigated. the clay samples were crushed and pounded with a mortar and pestle to a particle size of 20 microns. 230 g each of fine clay was mixed with 50 mls of water inside a bowl and stirred thoroughly to form homogenous plastic paste. 10 g, 15 g, 25 g, 35 g and 45 g of coarse clay were added respectively to the 230 g of homogenous fine clay paste in different container. the fine and coarse clays composites weighing 240 g, 245 g, 255 g, 265 g and 275 g were respectively put in a mold of dimension 3 x 5 x 6 cm and air dried for 7 days. the samples were fired at temperature of 1200 oc for five hours using carbolite furnace. after cooling, the fine and coarse clay composites of 240 g and 245g were broken by the heat and composites blocks 255 g, 265g and 275g were hardened and remove for compressive test analysis. the fine and coarse clays were characterized using x-ray diffractometer pw 1830 for minerals phases’ identification. the result of xrd shows that the clay was majorly composed of quartz and kaolinite with the traces of other minerals such as smectile, illite/mica, albite, jarosite, gypsum and pyrite. the kaolinite contains aluminum silicate (al2o3·2sio2) and quartz has the silicon and oxygen atoms. the compressive strength test result judged the 275 g fire block of clays composite the best with the maximum force breaks of 7652 n with deflection of 3.734 mm and young modulus of 212 n/mm2 for the time to failure of 22 seconds. the results proved that okelele clays are suitable as refractory material for furnace lining application. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2022.252 keywords: okelele clays, kaolinite, quartz, refractory materials article history : received: 13 june 2021 received in revised form: 14 october 2021 accepted for publication: 19 october 2021 published: 28 february 2022 c©2022 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: s. j. adebiyi 1. introduction nigeria is rich with abundant mineral resources but these resources have not been sufficiently explored and used. clay is a naturally occurring material composed of layered structures ∗corresponding author tel. no: email address: salawu.ma@unilorin.edu.ng; abideen2004@gmail.com (mufutau abiodun salawu ) of fine-grained minerals which reveal the property of plasticity at appropriate water content and permanently hard when fired [1]. clay as a mineral that consist of silica (sio2), alumina (al2o3), water (h2o), and other impurities are aluminosilicate, mostly answerable for its thermal property of refractoriness which applicable in the manufacturing of several refractory products. it is earthen and soil with intricate inorganic blend, whose structure diverges and generally depends on the environmental and geographical position [2]. 27 saheed et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 27–33 28 high demand for refractory materials for furnace building and other related high temperature processes is enormous. nigeria spends more than 2.27 billion naira yearly on the importation of refractories for industrial application [3]. the application of clay composites as a refractory material depends severally on its thermal property of refractoriness, chemical composition, mechanical and physical properties [2], [5-13]. refractory materials are inorganic materials containing the mixtures of oxides obtained from naturally occurring minerals capable of withstanding very high temperature conditions without cracking, deforming, softening or change in composition [3]. the good characteristic of a refractory is to provide basic thermal properties, support winding (electric resistance) and be able to hold solid or liquid metals without entering into any undesirable chemical reaction with them. thus refractory materials are characterized by the ability to withstand the heat, chemical attack, abrasion, impact, and shock caused by thermal stresses. the clays used for furnace linings in metallurgical industries are classified as refractory clays. however, the degree of refractoriness and plasticity of any clay material is often influenced by the amount of the impurities contained in them [13]. the mechanical properties of different particle sizes of some impurities for some specific application had been investigated [14]. chanchanga, bida, suleja and zungeru clays deposits have better refractory and physical properties when compared with imported ones [3]. some local clay deposits in other part of nigeria have also been investigated with good results. some of the clay deposits investigated for refractory application includes but not limited to dukku clay deposit in gombe state, onibode, ibamajo, ijoko in ogun state and are in ekiti state [15]. the characterization of otukpo clay in benue state was also reported [16]. the economic circumstance in nigeria as at today has necessitated for the inward sourcing of locally available raw materials across the country for domestic and industrial applications. due to the aforementioned economic needs and the fact that the okelele clay deposit in ilorin, kwara state is only used for local pottery by old women living around the area and building bricks by local bricklayer. the minerals phases’ identification and refractory properties of this particular clay deposit needs to be investigated. 2. materials and method the fine and coarse clay samples were collected from a deposit in okelele, ilorin east local government area of kwara state. the molding iron bar, mortar and pistol, electronic weighing balance, ht 4/28 carbolite gero muffle furnace machine located at geology department, university of ilorin, (0-3000 ◦c), xfs300 testometric compression test machine located at agricultural biotechnology laboratory, department of biotechnology engineering, university of ilorin and pw 1830 x-ray diffractometer located at the department of geology, university of ibadan were used in this work. the clay samples were crushed and pounded with a mortar and pestle to a particle size of 20 microns. 230 g each of fine clay was mixed with 50 mls figure 1. shows the broken and unbroken fired block of clays after firing of water inside a bowl and stirred thoroughly to form homogenous plastic paste. 10 g, 15 g, 25 g, 35 g and 45 g of coarse clay were added respectively to the 230 g of homogenous fine clay paste. the fine and coarse clays composites weighing 240 g, 245 g, 255 g, 265 g and 275 g were respectively put in a mold of dimension 3 x 5 x 6 cm and air dried for 7 days. the samples were fired at temperature of 1200 oc for 12 hours using ht 4/28 carbolite gero muffle furnace (0-3000 ◦c). after cooling, the fine and coarse clay composites of 240 g and 245g were broken by the heat and composites 255 g, 265g and 275g were hardened and sound like a glass when tapped. figure 1 shows the fabricated broken and unbroken fired block of clays after firing. 2.1. x-ray diffractometer (xrd) analysis xrd was used to identify the phase of minerals constituents of the clays. the fine and coarse clays were separately crushed and milled to fine particles and put in test tubes. the samples were subjected to x-ray using the philips pw 1830 x-ray diffractometer with a cu-anode at the “university of ibadan” ibadan, oyo state. after the x-ray characterization of the samples, mineral peaks were identified using xpert high score plus software. the background and peak positions were identified and based on the peak positions and intensities; a search-match routine was performed. 2.2. compression test the unbroken fired block of clays (255g, 265g and 275g) were subjected to mechanical compression test at the civil engineering laboratory of the university of ilorin, ilorin kwara state, to show how these materials deform (elongate, compress, twist) or break as a function of applied load, time, temperature and other conditions. the mechanical test was performed using xfs300 testometric compression test machine. the capacity of this machine is 10,000 pounds (tension and compression). the samples of the given clay material took a rectangular shape which is unreformed (with no permanent strain or residual stress), or original shape. 28 saheed et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 27–33 29 figure 2. testometric compression test machine used figure 3. cracked block of clay during compression test 3. results and discussion figure 4 and 5 show the xrd patterns of fine and coarse clays. the debye scherer equation was employed for the estimation of grain sizes of fine and coarse clays. grain size g = kh βcosθ (1) where k is the debye scherer constant (0.94) h = 1.56 x10−10m = 0.156nm β = (fwhm) full width at half maximum (radians) θ = peak positions (radians) the estimated grain sizes and mineral constituents of fine and coarse clays are shown in table 1 and table 2. tables 1 and 2 give the results for the minerals phase identification for the fine and coarse okelele clays. the kaolinite and quartz are dominance in the mineral phase identifications for the fine and coarse okelele clays composites. kaolinite which is also called china clay, is the best refractory clay type and will not soften below 1750 ◦c. kaolinite clays possessed little plasticity due to their large clay particles. the kaolinite contains figure 4. xrd pattern of fine clay figure 5. xrd pattern of coarse clay al2o3·2sio2. the pure kaolinite can be found at the site of its parent rock (primary clay) and when it has not been mixed with impurities, its refractoriness is great. the quartz is a very hard crystalline mineral mostly found in nature contained the silicon and oxygen atoms. quartz is the most conventional source of silica to be used for refractory production. the refractory made from silica (silica refractory bricks) possesses excellent thermal shock resistance at specific temperature range. the compressive strength test on 255 g, 265 g and 275 g fire blocks of clay composites were carried out to investigate the load carrying capacity of the fire blocks under compression using compression testing machine. this is important to determine the compressive strength of fire blocks for its suitability as furnace lining. the materials behaviours under a load were determined. the maximum stress a material can withstand over a period under a load (constant or progressive) was determined to a break (rupture) or to a limit. these results are shown in table 3, 4 and 5. 29 saheed et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 27–33 30 table 1. estimated grain sizes and mineral constituents of fine clay peak no. 2theta (rad) fwhm grain size (nm) constituents 1 4.43 2.187 3.844597803 smectile 2 8.46 5.038 1.672251355 illite/mica 3 12.24 7.12 1.186799367 kaolinite 4 13.56 5.097 1.660000572 albite 5 15.38 3.167 2.677013045 illite/mica 6 19.47 5.272 1.616958333 clay mineral 7 20.43 2.187 3.90360038 quartz 8 23.46 5.038 1.703266297 kaolinite 9 26.24 7.12 1.211663863 kaolinite 10 27.56 5.097 1.697242735 quartz 11 28.38 3.167 2.736431091 albite 12 30.47 5.272 1.651722605 illite/mica 13 31.32 2.348 3.716247528 albite 14 32.12 7.257 1.204777898 illite/mica 15 34.04 4.328 2.030195653 illite/mica 16 36.58 2.039 4.339821991 clay mineral 17 38.433 2.147 4.144207588 quartz 18 40.465 5.035 1.778423867 kaolinite 19 42.245 7.123 1.264497493 quartz plus kaolinite 20 46.567 5.027 1.819527192 quartz 21 48.382 3.164 2.91109195 quartz 22 50.473 5.278 1.75982879 quartz plus kaolinite 23 54.436 2.157 4.380159907 illite/mica 24 55.467 5.034 1.885640471 quartz 25 60.245 7.125 1.363317463 quartz 26 62.562 5.077 1.936374021 kaolinite figure 6. force (n) against deflection (mm) of 255 g fine and coarse fire block clay composites the 255 g block has the force break of 2632 n and deflection break at 4.343 mm. the time to failure is 26.133 seconds for the young modulus of 174.476 n/mm2 among other parameters (table 3). the 265 g block has the force break of 1439 n and deflection breaks at 4.671 mm. the time to failure is 28.1 seconds for the young modulus of 94 n/mm2 (table 4) while the 275 g block has the force break of 7652 n and deflection breaks at 3.734 mm. the time to failure is 22 seconds for the figure 7. force (n) against deflection (mm) of 265g fine and coarse fire block of clay composites maximum young modulus of 212 n/mm2 (table 5). generally, the 275 g block of fire clays composites requires the maximum break force and has the maximum young modulus relatives to blocks 255 g and 265 g of clays composites under study. the 275 g block of fire clay composites will be better for furnace lining application than the 255 g and 265 g blocks. figures 6, 7 and 8 shows the plots of force (n) against de30 saheed et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 27–33 31 table 2. estimated grain sizes and mineral constituents of coarse clay peak no 2theta (rad) fwhm grain size (nm) constituents 1 12.501 0.025 338.0839019 interstratified illitesmectile 2 17.45 0.037 229.7356597 gypsum 3 19.86 0.128 66.63776651 kaolinite 4 20.941 0.136 62.82444633 jarosite 5 21.165 0.164 52.11724848 jarosite 6 21.464 0.0172 497.1759627 jarosite 7 23.622 0.141 60.87648083 kaolinite 8 24.901 0.137 62.8043888 kaolinite 9 24.02 0.12 71.58228586 quartz 10 26.242 0.113 76.34585664 kaolinite 11 28.501 0.026 333.40756 kaolinite 12 34.45 0.038 231.4836125 microcline 13 35.86 0.124 71.21558276 pyrite 14 36.941 0.133 66.60274151 kaolinite 15 37.165 0.162 54.71585907 pyrite 16 38.464 0.017 523.4384171 kaolinite plus interstratified illitesmectile 17 39.529 0.022 405.8083969 kaolinite 18 40.43 0.033 271.3138386 quartz 19 41.821 0.122 73.72312076 kaolinite 20 42.937 0.134 67.37494247 quartz plus kaolinite 21 45.178 0.161 56.52152987 quartz 22 48.426 0. 170 54.14907336 quartz 23 50.643 0.144 64.5478197 quartz plus kaolinite 24 51.936 0.13 71.88749106 quartz 25 55.04 0.134 70.70014627 kaolinite 26 56.228 0.12 79.38153044 quartz 27 60.52 0.022 442.1458637 interstratified illitesmectile 28 62.439 0.03 327.4856536 kaolinite table 3. compressibility analysis of 255g block of clay test no def. @ break (mm) def. @ l.o.p. (mm) def. @ peak (mm) def. @ yield (mm) force @ break (n) force @ l.o.p. (n) force @ peak (n) 1 4.343 2.087 4.186 2.303 2631.700 2911.200 9924.000 test no force @ yield (n) strain @ break (%) strain @ l.o.p. (%) strain @ peak (%) strain @ yield (%) stress @ break (n/mm2) stress @ l.o.p. (n/mm2) 1 3469.000 7.896 3.795 7.611 4.187 2.056 2.274 test no stress @ peak (n/mm2) stress @ yield (n/mm2) time to failure (secs) time to peak (secs) youngs modulus (n/mm2) tangential modulus @ 0.000 n/mm2 (n/mm2) secant modulus 0.000 to 0.000 n/mm2 (n/mm2) 1 7.753 2.710 26.133 25.187 174.476 4.727 flection (mm) for the 255 g, 265 g and 275 g fire blocks of clay composites respectively. figure 9 compares the behaviours of the three fire blocks together. the plot reveals the maximum load of the fire blocks at respective deflection (mm). our interest in these plots is to investigate and compares the maximum load fire block clays composites can withstand. the 275 g block has the maximum compressive strength and young modulus of 7652 n and 212 n/mm2 respectively making it better than the 255 g and 265 g blocks for furnace lining application. 31 saheed et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 27–33 32 table 4. compressibility analysis of 265 g block of clay test no def. @ break (mm) def. @ l.o.p. (mm) def. @ peak (mm) def. @ yield (mm) force @ break (n) force @ l.o.p. (n) force @ peak (n) 1 4.671 2.164 3.628 2.273 1438.900 847.400 3851.000 test no force @ yield (n) strain @ break (%) strain @ l.o.p. (%) strain @ peak (%) strain @ yield (%) stress @ break (n/mm2) stress @ l.o.p. (n/mm2) 1 1038.600 8.493 3.935 6.596 4.133 1.022 0.602 test no stress @ peak (n/mm2) stress @ yield (n/mm2) time to failure (secs) time to peak (secs) youngs modulus (n/mm2) tangential modulus @ 0.000 n/mm2 (n/mm2) secant modulus 0.000 to 0.000 n/mm2 (n/mm2) 1 2.735 0.738 28.100 21.845 93.892 21.094 table 5. compressibility analysis of 275 g block of clay test no def. @ break (mm) def. @ l.o.p. (mm) def. @ peak (mm) def. @ yield (mm) force @ break (n) force @ l.o.p. (n) force @ peak (n) 1 3.734 2.349 3.132 3.132 7652.000 2964.300 9658.000 test no force @ yield (n) strain @ break (%) strain @ l.o.p. (%) strain @ peak (%) strain @ yield (%) stress @ break (n/mm2) stress @ l.o.p. (n/mm2) 1 9658.000 6.789 4.271 5.695 5.695 4.270 1.654 test no stress @ peak (n/mm2) stress @ yield (n/mm2) time to failure (secs) time to peak (secs) youngs modulus (n/mm2) tangential modulus @ 0.000 n/mm2 (n/mm2) secant modulus 0.000 to 0.000 n/mm2 (n/mm2) 1 5.390 5.390 22.443 18.842 212.102 6.752 figure 8. force (n) against deflection (mm) of: 275g fine and coarse fire block of clay composites figure 9. force (n) against deflection (mm) of different fabricated fine and coarse fire blocks of clay composites 32 saheed et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 27–33 33 4. conclusion in this research work, okelele fine and coarse clays have been characterized to establish their potentials for furnace lining application. the maximum compressive strength and young modulus as demonstrated by 275 g block clay are 7652 n and 212 n/mm2 at firing temperature of 1200 oc. the results of compressive strength analysis, mineral phase’s identification and ability to withstand higher firing temperature of 1200 oc proved that, okelele fine and coarse fire block of clays meet the needed criteria for use as refractory raw materials. references [1] j. b. mokwa, s. a. lawal, m. s. abolarin & k. c. bala,“characterization and evaluation of selected kaolin clay deposits in nigeria for furnace lining application”, nigerian journal of technology (nijotech), 38 (2019) 936. 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[7] a. b. etukudoh; k. g. akpomie & o. c. b. okereke, “characterization of ezzodo clay deposit for its industrial potentials”, international journal of advanced engineering research and technology (ijaert) 4 (2016) 1. [8] s. p. malu, j. t. ugye & r. b. donatus, “characterization of clay for industrial application by physicochemical, xrf, and tga methods”, fuw trends in science & technology journal 3 (2018) 314. [9] e. e. nnuka & j. o. adekwu, “refractory characteristics of kwa clay deposit in plateau state”, n.s.e, technical transaction 32 (1998) 54. [10] o. ombaka, “characterization and classification of clay minerals for potential applications in rugi ward, kenya”, african journal of environmental science and technology 10 (2016) 415. [11] j. o. osarenmwinda, “fabrication and performance evaluation of oil– fired crucible furnace using locally sourced materials”, int. journal of engineering research and applications 5 (2015) 29. [12] i. f. titiladunayo & o. p. fapetu, “selection of appropriate clay for furnace lining in a pyrolysis process”, journal of emerging trends in engineering and applied sciences (jeteas) 2 (2011) 938. [13] j. c. ugwuoke & n.i. amalu, “characterization of obe clay deposits for refractory production”, american journal of engineering research (ajer) 6 (2017) 74. [14] a. b. alabi; m. a. salawu; r. a. jimoh & t. akomolafe, appraisal of mechanical properties of different particle sizes of palm kernel shell, coconut shell and mixed palm kernel-coconut shells particles epoxy-filled composites, sri lankan journal of physics 21 (2020) 1. [15] o. j. omowumi, characterization of some nigerian clays as refractory materials for furnace lining, nigerian journal of engineering management 2 (2000) 1. [16] e. e. nnuka & agbo j. e, evaluation of the refractory characteristics of otukpo clay deposit, n.s.e, technical transaction 35 (2000) 32. 33 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 82–87 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences original research the solution of a mathematical model for dengue fever transmission using differential transformation method felix yakubu eguda∗, andrawus james, sunday babuba department of mathematics, federal university, dutse, jigawa state. abstract differential transformation method (dtm) is a very effective tool for solving linear and non-linear ordinary differential equations. this paper uses dtm to solve the mathematical model for the dynamics of dengue fever in a population. the graphical profiles for human population are obtained using maple software. the solution profiles give the long term behavior of dengue fever model which shows that treatment plays a vital role in reducing the disease burden in a population. keywords: dengue fever, mathematical model, differential transformation method, ordinary differential equations article history : received: 15 june 2019 received in revised form: 13 july 2019 accepted for publication: 16 july 2019 published: 03 september 2019 c©2019 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: t. latunde 1. introduction dengue fever is an infectious vector borne disease spreading in tropical and subtropical countries with more than 50 million dengue fever cases per year. it is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected aedes mosquitoes. the major vector, aedes aegypti, thrives in tropical regions, mainly in urban areas, closely linked to human populations providing artificial water-holding containers as breeding sites. a second potential vector, aedes albopictus, resides in temperate regions (north america and europe), where it may give rise to occasional dengue outbreaks. [1, 2]. as part of awareness campaigns, different kinds of precautions have been suggested towards preventing mosquito’s bite. some of the precautions that can be taken are: to keep home, environment and surrounding clean, to remove all stagnant water and containers, to cover all containers properly to prevent ∗corresponding author tel. no: +2348160559365 email address: felyak_e@yahoo.co.uk (felix yakubu eguda ) dengue mosquito breeding there, to use mosquito repellents to avoid mosquito bite, to use mosquitoes net around bed while sleeping etc. [1]. different studies have shown the importance of mathematical approaches in understanding dengue disease transmission and evaluating the effectiveness and/or costeffectiveness of control strategies [1]. in recent years, the field of public health has benefited tremendously from the use of mathematical models to study the spread of infectious disease. most epidemiological models are represented using systems of non-linear ordinary differential equations [3]. differential transformation method is a semi-analytical method of solving both linear and nonlinear system of ordinary differential equations (ode) to obtain approximate series solutions. this method which was derived from the taylor’s series expansion has been used to solve problems in mathematics and physics [4], fractional differentialalgebraic equations [5], fourth-order parabolic partial differential equations [6], fractional-order integrodifferential equations [7], differential equation [8] and problems in epidemic models [9]. 82 eguda et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 82–87 83 2. materials and methods 2.1. model formulation two populations consisting of human and vector population will be considered in this work. the model sub-divides these populations into a number of mutually-exclusive compartments, as given below. the total population of human and vectors is divided into the following mutually exclusive epidemiological classes, namely, susceptible humans ( s h (t) ), humans with dengue in latent stage ( e1 (t)), humans with dengue ( i1 (t) ), humans treated of dengue ( r1 (t) ), susceptible vectors ( s v (t) ), vectors with latent dengue ( ev (t) ), vectors with dengue ( iv (t) ). 2.2. derivation of model equations let nh (t) and nv (t) denote the total number of humans and vectors at time t, respectively. hence, we have that, nh (t) = s h (t) + e1 (t) + i1 (t) + r1 (t) and nv (t) = s v (t) + ev (t) + iv (t) susceptible humans are recruited at a rate h while the susceptible vectors are recruited at a rate v. susceptible humans contract dengue at a rate λdv = βv h (ηv ev + iv) nh , where ηv < 1 , this accounts for the relative infectiousness of vectors with latent dengue iv compared to vectors in the iv class. susceptible vectors acquire dengue infection from infected humans at a rate λdh = βhv (ηa e1 + ηb i1) nh , where ηa < ηb this accounts for the relative infectiousness of humans with latent dengue e1 compared to humans in the i1 class [10]. the model equations for dengue disease transmission incorporating treatment as a control measure are given below: s h = λh −µh s h −λdv s h e1 = λdv s h − (γ1 + µh ) e1 i1 = γ1 e1 − (τ1 + µh + δd1) i1 r1 = τ1 i1 −µh r1 s v = λv −µv s v −λdh s v ev = λdh s v − (γv + µv ) ev iv = γv ev − (µv + δhv ) iv 2.3. differential transformation method (dtm) an arbitrary function f (t) can be expanded in taylor series about a point t = 0 as f (t) = ∞∑ k=0 tk k! [ dk f dtk ] t=0 (1) the differential transformation of f (t) is defined as f (t) = 1 k! [ dk f dtk ] t=0 (2) then the inverse differential transform is f (t) = ∞∑ k=0 tk f (t) (3) if y (t) and g (t) are two uncorrelated functions with t where y (k) and g (k) are the transformed functions corresponding to y (t) and g (t) then, the fundamental mathematical operations performed by differential transform can be proved easily and are listed as follows table 1: the fundamental mathematical operations by differential transformation method (dtm). source: [11, 12] transformed function original function y (t) = f (t) ± g (t) y (k) = f(k) ± g(k) y (t) = a f (t) y (k) = af(k) y (t) = d f (t)dt y (k) = (k + 1)f(k + 1) y (t) = d 2 f (t) dt2 y (k) = (k + 1)(k + 2)f(k + 2) y (t) = d m f (t) dtm y (k) = (k + 1)(k + 2)...(k + m)f(k + m) y (t) = 1 y (k) = δ(k) y (t) = t y (k) = δ(k − 1) y (t) = tm y (k) = δ(k − m) = { 1, k = m 0, k , m y (t) = f (t) g (t) y (k) = ∑k m=0 g(m) f (k − m) y (t) = e(λt) y (k) = λ k k! y (t) = (1 + t)m y (k) = (m(m−1)...(m−k+1))k! 2.4. analytical solution of the model equations using differential transformation method (dtm) in this section, the differential transformation method (dtm) is employed to solve the system of non-linear differential equations which describe our model for dengue fever. let the model equation be a function q (t), q (t) can be expanded in taylor series about a point t = 0 as q (t) = ∞∑ k=0 tk k! [ dkq dtk ] t=0 , (4) where, q (t) = {sh (t) , e1 (t) , i1 (t) , r1 (t) , s v (t) , ev (t) , iv (t)}(5) the differential transformation of q (t) is defined as q (t) = 1 k! [ dkq dtk ] t=0 (6) 83 eguda et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 82–87 84 table 2: values for parameters used for analytical solutions parameter description values unit reference λh, λv recruitment rate into the population of susceptible humans and vectors respectively. 500,10000000 year−1 [14] µh,µv natural death for humans, vectors respectively. 0.02041,0.5 year−1 [13] βv h effective contact rate for 0.5 dengue from vectors to humans 0.5 year−1 [14] βhv effective contact rate for 0.4 dengue from humans to vectors 0.4 year−1 [14] τ1 dengue treatment rate for i1 (0,1) ind−1year−1 [14] γ1 progression rate to active dengue 0.3254 year−1 [14] γv progression rate to active dengue (vectors) 0.03 year−1 [14] δd1 disease induced death dengue 0.365 year −1 [13] δhv disease induced death dengue (vectors) 0 year−1 [14] ηv , ηa, ηb modification parameters for ev, e1, i1 0.4,1.2,0.5 year−1 [13] then the inverse differential transform is q (t) = ∞∑ k=0 tk q (t) . (7) using the fundamental operations of differential transformation method in table 1, we obtain the following recurrence relation of equation (1) as s h (k + 1) = 1 k + 1 [ λh −µh s h (k) − βv hηv nh k∑ m=0 s h (m) ev (k − m) − βv h nh k∑ m=0 s h (m) iv (k − m)  (8) e1 (k + 1) = 1 k + 1 βv hηvnh k∑ m=0 s h (m) ev (k − m) − βv h nh k∑ m=0 s h (m) iv (k − m) − (γ1 + µh ) e1 (k) ] (9) i1 (k + 1) = 1 k + 1 [ γ1 e1 (k) − (τ1 + µh + δd1) i1 ] (10) r1 (k + 1) = 1 k + 1 [ τ1 i1 (k) −µh r1 (k) ] (11) s v (k + 1) = 1 k + 1 λv − βhvηanh k∑ m=0 s v (m) e1 (k − m) − βhvηb nh k∑ m=0 s v (m) i1 (k − m)  (12) ev (k + 1) = 1 k + 1 βhvηanh k∑ m=0 s v (m) e1 (k − m) − βhvηb nh k∑ m=0 s v (m) i1 (k − m) − (γv + µv) ev (k) ] (13) iv (k + 1) = 1 k + 1 [ γv ev (k) − (µv + δhv ) iv (k) ] (14) with the initial conditions s h (0) = 3503, e1 (0) = 490, i1 (0) = 390, r1 (0) = 87, s v (0) = 390, ev (0) = 100, iv (0) = 190 (15) the parameter values are nh = 4470, nv = 610, λh = 500, λv = 1, 000, 000, µh = 0.02041,µv = 0.5,βv h = 0.5,βhv = 0.4, τ1 = 0.75,γ1 = 0.3254,γv = 0.03,δd1 = 0.365, δhv = 0,ηv = 0.4,ηa = 1.2,ηb = 0.5 (16) we consider k = 0, 1, 2, 3. cases a1 to a3 are the variation of different values of τ1 case a1: high dengue treatment rate, τ1 = 0.75 s h (1) = −237.6147983, s h (2) = 12320.67062, s h (3) = −146425.8636, s h (4) = 1347694.18, e1 (1) = −522.0979067, e1 (2) = 6637.369770, e1 (3) = −82219.53607, e1 (4) = 775491.4995, i1 (1) = −283.36390, i1 (2) = 75.92177345, i1 (3) = 691.1992607, i1 (4) = −6884.757898, r1 (1) = 290.72433, r1 (2) = −109.2283043, r1 (3) = 19.72355993, r1 (4) = 129.4992219, s v (1) = −14008.26174, s v (2) = 260942.4174, 84 eguda et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 82–87 85 s v (3) = −3239718.545, s v (4) = 30208553.32, ev (1) = −3515.845638, ev (2) = 61669.12070, ev (3) = −717387.0983, ev (4) = 6204920.468, iv (1) = −4742.00, iv (2) = 86488.76230, iv (3) = −1051663.250, iv (4) = 9591046.752. (17) then the closed form of the solution where k = 0, 1, 2, 3 can be written as s h (t) = ∞∑ k=0 s h (k) t k = 3503 − 237.6147983t +12320.67062t2 − 146425.8636t3 +1347694.180t4 e1 (t) = ∞∑ k=0 e1 (k) t k = 490 − 522.0979067t +6637.369770t2 − 82219.53607t3 +775491.4995t4 i1 (t) = ∞∑ k=0 i1 (k) t k = 390 − 283.36390t +75.92177345t2 + 691.1992607t3 −6884.757898t4 r1 (t) = ∞∑ k=0 r1 (k) t k = 87 + 290.72433t −109.2283043t2 + 19.72355993t3 +129.4992219t4 s v (t) = ∞∑ k=0 s v (k) t k = 390 − 14008.26174t +260942.4174t2 − 3239718.545t3 +30208553.32t4 ev (t) = ∞∑ k=0 ev (k) t k = 100 − 3515.845638t +61669.12070t2 − 717387.0983t3 +6204920.468t4 iv (t) = ∞∑ k=0 iv (k) t k = 130 − 4742.00t +86488.76230t2 − 1051663.250t3 +9591046.752t4 (18) case a2: moderate dengue treatment rate, τ1 = 0.5 s h (1) = −237.6147983, s h (2) = 12320.67062, s h (3) = −146421.4193, s h (4) = 1347571.999, e1 (1) = −522.0979067, e1 (2) = 6637.369770, e1 (3) = −82223.98033, e1 (4) = 775613.8858, i1 (1) = −185.86390, i1 (2) = −2.662451550, i1 (3) = 720.7191613, i1 (4) = −6848.453788, r1 (1) = 193.22433, r1 (2) = −48.43782929, r1 (3) = −0.1142032264, r1 (4) = 90.09047788 s v (1) = −14008.26174, s v (2) = 260933.9106, s v (3) = −3239404.789, s v (4) = 30202664.15, ev (1) = −3515.845638, ev (2) = 61660.61400, ev (3) = −71707.62417, ev (4) = 619913.9432, iv (1) = −4742.00, iv (2) = 86488.76230, iv (3) = −1051663.335, iv (4) = 9591049.860. (19) then the closed form of the solution where k = 0, 1, 2, 3 can be written as s h (t) = ∞∑ k=0 s h (k) t k = 3503 − 237.6147983t +12320.67062t2 − 146421.4193t3 +1347571.999t4 e1 (t) = ∞∑ k=0 e1 (k) t k = 490 − 522.0979067t +6637.369770t2 − 82223.98033t3 +775613.8858t4 i1 (t) = ∞∑ k=0 i1 (k) t k = 390 − 185.86390t −2.662451550t2 + 720.7191613t3 −6848.453788t4 r1 (t) = ∞∑ k=0 r1 (k) t k = 87 + 193.22433t −48.43782929t2 − 0.1142032264t3 +90.09047788t4 s v (t) = ∞∑ k=0 s v (k) t k = 390 − 14008.26174t +260933.9106t2 − 3239404.789t3 +30202664.15t4 ev (t) = ∞∑ k=0 ev (k) t k = 100 − 3515.845638t +61660.61400t2 − 717076.2417t3 +6199139.432t4 iv (t) = ∞∑ k=0 iv (k) t k = 130 − 4742.00t +86488.76230t2 − 1051663.335t3 +9591049.860t4 (20) case a3: low dengue treatment rate, τ1 = 0.25 s h (1) = −237.6147983, s h (2) = 12320.67062, s h (3) = −1464169750, s h (4) = 1347571.999, e1 (1) = −522.0979067, e1 (2) = 6637.369770, e1 (3) = −82223.98033, e1 (4) = 775613.8858, i1 (1) = −88.36390, i1 (2) = −56.87167655, i1 (3) = 720.7191613, i1 (4) = −6848.453788, r1 (1) = 95.72433, r1 (2) = −12.02235429, 85 eguda et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 82–87 86 r1 (3) = −0.1142032264, r1 (4) = 90.09047788 s v (1) = −14008.26174, s v (2) = 260925.4039, s v (3) = −3239404.789, s v (4) = 30202664.15, ev (1) = −3515.845638, ev (2) = 61652.10730, ev (3) = −71707.62417, ev (4) = 619913.9432, iv (1) = −4742.00, iv (2) = 86488.76230, iv (3) = −1051663.335, iv (4) = 9591049.860. (21) then the closed form of the solution where k = 0, 1, 2, 3 can be written as s h (t) = ∞∑ k=0 s h (k) t k = 3503 − 237.6147983t +12320.67062t2 − 146416.9750t3 +1347450.373t4, e1 (t) = ∞∑ k=0 e1 (k) t k = 490 − 522.0979067t +6637.369770t2 − 82228.42463t3 +775735.7158t4, i1 (t) = ∞∑ k=0 i1 (k) t k = 390 − 88.36390t −56.87167655t2 + 731.9789850t3 −6805.559035t4, r1 (t) = ∞∑ k=0 r1 (k) t k = 87 + 95.72433t −12.02235429t2 − 4.657514297t3 +45.77245152t4, s v (t) = ∞∑ k=0 s v (k) t k = 390 − 14008.26174t +260925.4039t2 − 323909.2451t3 +30196827.38t4, ev (t) = ∞∑ k=0 ev (k) t k = 100 − 3515.845638t +61652.10730t2 − 717666.8033t3 +6193410.4t4, iv (t) = ∞∑ k=0 iv (k) t k = 130 − 4742.00t +86488.76230t2 − 1051663.420t3 +9591052.958t4. (22) 2.5. numerical simulation and graphical representation of the solutions of the model equations the numerical simulation which illustrates the analytical solution of the model is demonstrated using maple software. this is achieved by using some set of parameter values given in the table 2. the following initial conditions for the human populations s h (0) = 3503, e1 (0) = 490, i1 (0) = 390, r1(0) = 87, s v (0) = 390, ev (0) = 100, iv (0) = 190 are considered. figure 1: solution of susceptible population using dtm figure 2: solution of exposed population using dtm figure 3: solution of human population with dengue using dtm 3. discussion of results the figures 1 to 6 give the numerical profiles of the solutions (17), (19) and (21) using dtm. figure 1 shows increase in the population of susceptible individuals while figure 2 indicates a decreasing population of the exposed owing to the progression out of exposed class to class of human with dengue. figure 3 implies a decrease in the population of human infected with dengue which later increases. figure 4 implies the treated 86 eguda et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 82–87 87 figure 4: solution of treated human population using dtm figure 5: the effect of different treatment rates on human population with dengue using dtm figure 6: the effect of different treatment rates on treated human population using dtm human population increases sharply to a point and then decreases. figure 5 indicates that increasing the treatment rate of individuals in the infected population leads to a reduction in the number of infected individuals which is due to progression into the treated population while figure 6 shows that increasing the treatment rate of individuals in the infected population leads to a corresponding increase in the treated population. 4. conclusion we formulated a compartmental model to investigate the dynamics of dengue fever in a population with treatment as a control measure. differential transform method (dtm) was employed to obtain the series solution of the model. numerical simulations were carried out to determine the long term behavior of dengue fever model which shows that treatment plays a vital role in reducing the disease burden in a population. the results of the simulations were displayed graphically. acknowledgments we thank the referees for the positive enlightening comments and suggestions, which have greatly helped us in making improvements to this paper. references [1] g. r. phaijoo, & d. b. gurung, “mathematical model of dengue fever with and without awareness in host population”, international journal of advanced engineering research and applications 1 (2015) 2454. 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[14] s. m. garba, a. b. gumel & m.r.abubakar, “backward bifurcations in dengue transmission dynamics”, mathematical biosciences 215 (2008) 11. 87 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 256–261 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences influence of silicon nanoparticle on the electrical properties of heterostructured cdte/cds thin films based photovoltaic device a. a. faremia,∗, s. s. oluyamob, k. d. adedayob, y. a. odusoteb, o. i. olusolab adepartment of physics, federal university, oye-ekiti, nigeria bfederal university of technology, akure, nigeria abstract this paper presents the influence of silicon nanoparticles at the interface of heterostructured cadmium telluride and cadmium sulfide thin films based photovoltaic device with improved electrical parameters leading to tremendous improvement in cds/cdte thin film based solar cells performance. the films of cdte, cds and si were electrodeposited using electrodeposition technique to form a heterostructured cdte/si/cds/fto. the films respective structural properties were also examined using x-ray diffractometer (xrd) before forming a heterostructured material. the heterostructured cdte/si/cds/fto and the structure without the inclusion of silicon nanoparticle were examined using electrometer for the extraction of electrical parameters such open circuit voltage (voc ), short circuit current density (js c ), and fill factor (ff). although a large body of experimental results are available to date on the optoelectronics properties of the materials. however, there is relatively low research studies or works on the electrical properties of the materials. therefore, we formed heterostructured based photovoltaic device and characterized the structure to determine useful electrical properties. the value obtained for voc , js c and ff are 418 mv, 25 ma/cm2 and 0.72 which are indicative of pin holes free semiconductor materials and no leakage path emerging from high-grade materials used in the deposition of heterostructured cdte/si/cds. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2021.267 keywords: silicon nanoparticles, electrodeposition technique, heterostructured based photovoltaic, electrical properties article history : received: 23 june 2021 received in revised form: 23 july 2021 accepted for publication: 01 august 2021 published: 29 august 2021 c©2021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: e. edward anand 1. introduction the use of p-type cdte, n-type cds and transparent conducting substrates such as fluorine doped tin oxide and indium doped tin oxide for the formation of heterostructured cdte/cds based solar cells have received considerable attention because of their notable performance in energy conversion devices [13]. the suitability of cds thin film as a good window layer ∗corresponding author tel. no: +2347033712587 email address: abass.faremi@fuoye.edu.ng (a. a. faremi ) material capable of providing excellent receptive surface to absorber layer materials such as p-type cadmium telluride (cdte), p-type copper indium selenide (cuinse2), etc is owned to its high electron affinity [3]. despite the potential of cds in the formation of heterojunction based solar cells, there is need to treat its surface for better receptive surface which offer better improvement on the electrical parameters of the photovoltaic solar cells [4-6]. cdte thin film as one of the primary candidates in the field of photovoltaic technology has gained worldwide prominence owning to its near ideal bandgap energy of 1.45 ev for the absorption of photons [6]. interdiffusion of tel256 faremi et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 256–261 257 lurium as a dopant in cdte has been reported as a hindrance to the performance of cdte based devices [7]. however, a lot of improvement have been made to prevent such as an interdiffusion such as post-heat treatment of the films surface in the presence of cadmium chloride or oxygen [6], [8], [9]. silicon thin film as a leading and the most building block for electronics has been report being a useful material to set an enabling environment for cdte/cds based solar cells [7]. we therefore use silicon nanoparticles as a preventive measure to interdiffusion of tellurium since we aimed at forming heterojunction of cdte/cds. the films of cdte, cds and si have been prepared by various techniques, including sputtering, spraypyrolysis, chemical bath deposition, sol-gel, close space sublimation, ion implantation and electrodeposition [1], [2], [10-12]. among the various techniques available for the synthesis of these materials, electrodeposition and sol-gel techniques have been reported as viable techniques over other processes because of their simplicity in term of material growth [13-15]. however, in a typical sol-gel technique, the chosen reagents for a thin film need to undergo series of hydrolysis and polymerization reactions to form a solution bath [16]. the series of process require in the formation of solution bath make the technique to be more less cost-effective than electrodeposition technique. the technique has also gained research attention due to its possibility of scaling down bulk silicon to either thin film or nanoparticles [17], [18]. in our study, we employed electrodeposition in the synthesis of the heterostructured cdte/si/cds because of its relatively simple, easy, robust, easily scalable, bath selfpurification and economically viable for large area production of photovoltaic devices [4], [19], [20]. 2. materials and method the film of cds sourced from the solution of high-grade cadmium sulphate (3cdso4.8h2o, 99%) and thiourea (cs(nh3)2, 99%) without further purification was electrodeposited at a cathodic potential of 1400 mv on a thoroughly degreased conducting fto/substrate of 3.2 by 3 cm2 in dimension. after deposition, the material was subjected to curing at substrate temperature of 400o c in 20 minutes and further purified in deionized water so that the surface could provide a perfect receptive surface for the other materials since we aimed at forming a heterostructured device. silicon powder of 2 grams by weight was dispensed in 500 ml beaker containing 400 ml of deionized water and magnetically stirred for 2hrs. the electrolytic bath of silicon powder was electrodeposited potentiostatically at cathodic potential of 1000 mv on the deposited cds. the structure of si/cds/fto was also further cured at the same substrate temperature and washed thoroughly to remove possible undissolved particles on the surface to enable proper adherent of cdte film sourced from the solution of high-grade cadmium sulphate (3cdso4.8h2o, 99%) and tellurium dioxide (teo2, 99%). the electrolytic bath of cdte, cds and si was adjusted and controlled using ammonium solution and ph probe. the ph value of the bath was 2.0 since the employed technique is favourable in acidic medium. deposition took place at bath temperature of 80 oc in 60 minutes using working electrode with carbon as counter electrode. the films of cdte, cds, si, the heterostructure of cdte/si/cds/fto and structure without the inclusion of silicon was also fabricated. the structure was examining for their structural and electrical properties using xrd and electrometer probe. the particle crystallite size and the electrical parameters of the electrodeposited structure were extracted using equation 1-5 d = kλ βcosθ (1) where λ is x-ray wavelength in a ◦ , k is a scherrer constant (k=0.9), β is measured at half-maximum of the diffraction peak and θ is the bragg’s angle and d is the particle size or crystalline size. η= pmax pin = vm im pin (2) where pmax is the maximum power out, pin is the maximum power input (a solar simulator made from a 25 w incandescent light bulb was employed for this. the distance between the bulb and the surface of the cells was approximately 9.2 cm, which good enough for maximum radiance without significant heat transfer. the radiance intensity of the simulator used, considering sample distance from source as 9.2 cm was estimated at 220 w/m2.), vm is the maximum voltage power and im is the maximum current power f f= pmax voc isc = vm im voc isc (3) where ff is the fill factor, voc is the open circuit voltage and is c is the short circuit current the conversion efficiency can also be estimated by combining equation 1 and 2 to form equation 3 η= f f×voc×isc pin (4) it is important to note the relationship between jsc and isc as the two parameters are often used. jsc= isc a (5) where a is the surface area of the heterostructured cdte/si/cds which is estimated as 0.000096 m2. 3. result and discussion 3.1. structural characterization of cdte, cds thin films and si nanoparticle figure 1 reveals eight basic peaks (111), (210), (211), (220), (222), (321), (411) and (420) with their corresponding diffraction angles 22.71o, 28.01o, 30.00o, 37.00o, 48.80o, 50.00o, 57.88o and 60.24o. the different peaks as observed in the xrd pattern of cdte, cds and si indicated structural transformation from single phase to polycrystalline. there is no noticeable broad hump in the structures of polycrystalline cdte, cds and si. figure 2 reveals similar structural transformation with six basic 257 faremi et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 256–261 258 figure 1. xrd plot for cadmium telluride thin film prepared using 1400 mv cathodic deposition technique, with peaks characteristics of polycrystalline cadmium telluride figure 2. xrd plot for cadmium sulfide thin film prepared using 1400 mv cathodic deposition technique, with peaks characteristics of polycrystalline cadmium telluride peaks (111), (220), (311), (400), (420) and (422), as a function of diffraction angles 20.97o, 34.01o, 41.08o, 50.00o, 54.68o and 58.72o. in figure 2 and 3, three prominent peaks that’s (111), (220) and (311) are observed which holds potentiality to polycrystalline cadmium sulfide (cds) thin films and silicon (si) nanoparticles [21], [22]. peak 111 as a dominant peak in both figures 1, 2 and 3, revealed the preferred orientation of the structures being the most intense peak which is also an indication of particles crystallization (highly and randomly oriented) and zinc blende structure. the full width at half maximum of cdte cds and si were obtained by broadening most intense peak through a gaussian fitting which was used to determine the particle crystallite size using sherer’s equation. the estimated particle crystallite size of cdte, cds and si are 11.98, 14.08 and 89 nm respectively. the estimated particle crystallite sizes of both cdte, cds and si agreed with the previous work [21], [22], [24], [25]. figure 3. xrd plot for electrodeposited silicon nanoparticles prepared using 1000 mv cathodic potential, with peaks characteristics of polycrystalline silicon figure 4. sem micrograph of electrodeposited cdte thin film 3.2. morphological characterization of cdte, cds thin films and si nanoparticle the electrodeposited materials are uniformly distributed on the substrate and the grains as depicted in figure 4-6 have spherical shape with faceted edges. the uniformity of materials reveals the significance of cathodic deposition technique over anodic technique [26]. however, the nucleation cdte, cds and si on the well degreased fto/substrate show uniform distribution of grains and relatively little agglomeration. such a uniformity in the grains distribution could reducing electron trapping in the lattice site resulting to improved electrical parameters [22], [23]. the little agglomeration in the sem micrographs of the materials agrees with previous works [3], [4], [26], [27]. 3.3. electrical characterization of heterostructured cdte/si/cds and cdte/cds in order to characterize the electrical behaviour at the interface of the heterostructured devices, it is necessary to carry out i-v characterization under illumination and dark conditions which helps to harness the potentials of heterostructured photovoltaic devices [28], [29]. figure 7 revealed the electrical parameters 258 faremi et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 256–261 259 figure 5. sem micrograph of electrodeposited cds thin film figure 6. sem micrograph of electrodeposited si thin film of cdte/si/cds/fto based photovoltaic measured under illumination condition using electrometer. the fill factor as an important photovoltaic parameter which characterized the grade and the curve fitness of the device revealed the potential of the structures. the slight change in the electrical parameters as depicted in figure 8 was as result of measurement condition, dark. despite the variation in the parameters, there is tremendous improvement in the electrical conductivity of the device. such improvement could be attributed to overcoming the barrier potential or potential hill using forward bias voltage. figure 9 and 10 revealed the electrical parameters of the device without the inclusion of the silicon nanoparticle. the injection of silicon nanoparticles in the structure also aided the device electrical parameters such as open circuit voltage (voc), short circuit current density (jsc), and ll factor (ff) of the heterostructure devices as shown in table 1. the structure exhibits pin-diode like characteristic due to the injection of silicon nanoparticles which serve as an intrinsic material between the p-type cdte and ntype cds. such a structure could act as a good photodetector, high voltage rectifier and radio frequency switches. the high values of the extracted open circuit voltage (voc), short circuit current density (jsc) and ll factor (ff) showed that pinhole free semiconductor materials have been successfully fabricated and their suitability have been confirmed in the electrical properties figure 7. electrical properties of cdte/si/cds/fto based photovoltaic structure measured under illumination condition using electrometer figure 8. electrical properties of cdte/si/cds/fto based photovoltaic structure measured under dark condition using electrometer figure 9. electrical properties of cdte/cds/fto based photovoltaic structure measured under illumination condition using electrometer of the heterostructured cdte/cds based photovoltaic. 259 faremi et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 256–261 260 table 1. quantitative electrical parameters of heterostructured based photovoltaic device heterostructured cdte/si/cds light dark voc (mv) js c (ma/cm2) vmax (mv) imax (ma) ff voc (mv) j s c (ma/cm2) vmax (mv) imax (ma) ff 418 25.02 395 17.17 0.72 367 12.85 0.339 9.25 0.69 heterostructured cdte/cds light dark voc (mv) js c (ma/cm2) vmax (mv) imax (ma) ff voc (mv) js c (ma/cm2) vmax (v) imax (ma) ff 398 18.58 362 13.10 0.66 338 9.55 0.297 6.33 0.61 figure 10. electrical parameters of the fabricated cdte/si/cds and cdte/cds under illumination and dark conditions 4. conclusion the potential of electrodeposition technique in the fabrication of heterostructure based photovoltaic has made a significant improvement in the electrical properties of the cdte/si/cds and cdte/cds configurations. the probe into electrical behaviour at the interface of the heterostructured based device has revealed the successive development of photovoltaic devices. the injection of silicon into the structure also offer better and improved photovoltaic parameters leading to high value in both open circuit voltage and short circuit current density. such increase in the photovoltaic parameters are indicative of high-grade reagents used which have also resulted to no leakage path and pinhole free compound semiconducting materials. the structural analysis of the films revealed structural transformation from single phase to polycrystalline which is an evidence that we have successfully fabricated polycrystalline cdte, cds and si acknowledgments the authors wish to acknowledge the financial support of tertiary education trust fund (tetfund) of nigeria through federal university oye-ekiti and the efforts of the federal university of 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[29] s. krishnan, g. sanjeev, m. pattabi & x. mathew, “electrical properties of rf sputtered cdte/cds thin film solar cells”, open fuels and energy science journal 2 (2009) 110. https://doi: 10.2174/1876973x00902010110. 261 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 148–153 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences synthetic characterization and structural properties of nanocellulose from moringa oleifera seeds a. f. afolabi∗, s. s. oluyamo, i. a. fuwape condensed matter and statistical physics research unit, department of physics, the federal university of technology, p.m.b. 704, akure, nigeria. abstract in this research, nanocellulose is isolated from moringa oleifera seed using acid hydrolysis and the structural properties were determined. x-ray diffraction (xrd) and fourier transform infrared (ftir) spectroscopy were used for the characterization of the isolated nanocellulose. the most noticeable peak is observed at 22.53◦ and the value of the crystallinity index (cir ) from the xrd pattern is 63.1%. the calculated values of hydrogen bond intensity (hbi), lateral order index (loi) and total crystalline index (tci) are 0.93, 1.17and 0.94 respectively exhibited high degree of crystallinity and well arranged cellulose crystal structure. the isolated nanocellulose has an average length and diameter of 14.3 nm and 36.33 nm respectively. furthermore, the ftir peaks revealed the presence of c-h bending, c-o stretching and o-h stretching functional groups. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2021.202 keywords: crystallinity index, crystal structure, hydroxyl group, moringa oleifera, nanocellulose article history : received: 20 april 2021 received in revised form: 14 june 2021 accepted for publication: 27 june 2021 published: 29 august 2021 c©2021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: a. h. labulo 1. introduction moringa oleifera is a well known plant material with numerous potential uses which belong to the family of moringaceae [1,2]. moringa oleifera is a plant material composed of organic nutrients, lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose. one of the prominent structural compositions of different green plants cell wall is cellulose. moreover, nanocellulose can be prepared from cellulose [3]. the fact has been established that cellulose with appearance of nanostructures (nanocellulose) is among the paramount organic materials of recent times [4]. nanocellulose exhibits unique characteristics due to the nanoscale size. the properties of the nanocellulose can be tailored to increase their performance for specific applications [5,6]. chemical method ∗corresponding author tel. no: email address: agafolabi@gmail.com (a. f. afolabi ) of treating nanocellulose is based on the source, the resulting material can change in crystal arrangement (crystal structure), degree of crystallinity, morphology and surface chemistry [7]. nanocellulose has been a research key in nanomaterial because it is a sustainable biomaterial which has low toxicity. nanocellulose is isolated using various distinct approaches such as oxidative, acid hydrolysis, oxidative, enzymatic and mechanical treatments of cellulose. the most common approach for isolating nanocellulose from wood and other plant materials is acid hydrolysis [8,9]. many researchers have investigated the isolation of nanocellulose from agricultural residues such as banana [10], sisal [11], tomato peels [12], calotropis procera fibers, onion waste, citrus waste, coconut [13], sesame husk [14], cotton, rice husk [15], oil palm [16], groundnut shells [17], macrophyte typha domingensis, potato peel, jute, spruce bark, agave angustifolia fibers, 148 afolabi et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 148–153 149 figure 1. schematic diagram of experimental procedure of nanocellulose mango seed, sugarcane bagasse, corncob, bamboo, straws, soy hulls, olive stones, miscanthus giganteus, kapok and flax fibers. the potential and industrial application of the isolated nanocellulose is based on the structural and other properties of the nanocellulose. the aim of this research is to synthesis, characterize and determine the structural properties of nanocellulose from moringa oleifera seed. 2. materials and methods 2.1. materials the locally sourced organic material (moringa oleifera seeds) was removed from the shells, dried and grinded with a mixer grinder (bajaj gx 10 dlx, mumbai, india). it was sieved to obtain fine particles using a pascal engineering wiley mechanical sieve shaker, england. analytical chemical reagents used are naoh, naclo2, acetic acid and h2so4. the chemical reagents were obtained from the pascal scientific ltd. the schematic representation of experimental procedure is shown in figure 1. 2.2. methods a liquor ratio of 15:1(v/w) cooking condition was employed, the moringa oleifera seed particles was pulped with 20% of naoh at a temperature of 90◦ for 1 hour 30 minutes. after digestion process, the cooked pulp was filtered, screened and cleaned by rinsing properly with water without alkali. the pulped was left in the oven at 105◦c until the water was completely dried. mixture of 200 ml hot water, 6 g of naclo2, 1.5 ml of acetic acid and 10g of bone dried sample of pulp in a titration flask were placed in the water bath at 70◦ and heated for 30 minutes. another 6 g of naclo2 and 1.5 ml of acetic acid were added to the mixture and switched off the water bath after submitted to heat for the next 30 minutes. the sample was left in the water bath for 24 hours. after digestion, it was washed, filtered and cleaned by rinsing properly with water until the chlorine and the acid were washed away. the sample acquired was left in the oven at 105◦until the water was completely dried to obtain the cellulose. 2.3. preparation of nanocellulose the nanocellulose of the sample was prepared by acid hydrolysis in accordance with the method developed by bondeson [18] with little change. the cellulose sample was treated with 60 % sulfuric acid (h2so4). the hydrolysis was conducted by using a hot plate to heat the suspension in a round bottom flask with reflux condenser and intermittently stirred with a magnetic stirrer at an average temperature of 45◦ for 60 minutes. the hydrolyzed cellulose sample was distinctly washed and drained to remove excess h2so4 until the sample was neutral and dried. the reflux condenser was used to cool the acid so that the acid will not escape. 3. characterization the crystallinity index of the isolated nanocellulose from moringa oleifera seeds was acquired by making use of a philips pw diffractometer with cu-kα monochromator at the voltage of 15kv, scanned at wavelength λ=1.54å with 2θ angle range from 5◦ to 90◦. the surface morphology was determined by scanning electron microscope using15 kv accelerated voltage of jeol/eo jsm-6390 and has a resolution up to 100µm. fourier transform infrared (ftir) spectrophotometer was used to determine variation in functional groups induced by various treatments within a wavelength range of 700–4000cm−1. 3.1. theoretical background the interplanar spacing (d-spacing) was obtained as [19,20] d = nλ 2 sin θ (1) where n is the order of reflection, d is the interplanar spacing of the crystal, θ is the angle of incidence and λ is the wavelength of the incident x-ray. the crystallinity index was determined using equation (2) [21,22] cir = i200 − iam i200 × 100 (2) where, low intensity peak of the amorphous region is iam and highest peak intensity of the crystalline fractions is i200. the crystallite size (l) was calculated using scherrer’s equation [23] l = k ×λ b × sin θ (3) where, constant value given as 0.91 is k, bragg’s angle (◦) is θ, wavelength of the incident x-rays is λ and intensity of the full width at half maximum (fwhm) proportional to a high intensity peak of the diffraction plane is b. the surface chains (x) is the proportion of crystallite interior chains [24] was calculated as x = (l − 2h)2 l2 , (4) where l is the crystallite size and h = 0.57 nm is the layer thickness of the surface chain. 149 afolabi et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 148–153 150 figure 2. x-ray diffractogram of isolated nanocellulose from moringa oleifera seeds. 4. results and discussion 4.1. x-ray diffraction (xrd) of isolated cellulose and nanocellulose the xrd pattern of the isolated cellulose in figure 2 revealed crystalline characteristics peaks at 2θ = 14.39◦, 15.33◦, 22.47◦ and 34.50◦ while nanocellulose has distinct peaks at 2θ = 14.95◦, 15.01◦, 22.53◦ and 34.67◦ in agreement with isolation and characterization of cellulose nanocrystals from agave angustifolia fibre [25]. the crystalline peaks indicate that the crystal structure is attributed to planes (110), (110), (200) and (004) respectively. furthermore, there is a noticeable crystal peak observed at 50.12◦ similar to the peaks in the xrd results of cellulose and α-cellulose from date palm biomass waste [26]. the peaks at 21.58◦, 24.88◦ and 32.24◦ in the pattern of the cellulose were not noticed in the pattern of nanocellulose in figure 2. this is due to the fact that the bond of the cellulose was broken after the sulfuric acid hydrolysis. the most prominent peaks of the isolated cellulose and nanocellulose are 22.47◦ and 22.53◦. the crystallinity index of isolated cellulose from moringa oleifera seeds (62.6%) is lower than the crystallinity index of the nanocellulose (65.4%), this contributed to high degree of crystallinity of the nanocellulose [27,28,29,30]. additionally, the high crystallinity of nanocellulose depends on the three hydroxyl groups in fundamental chemical structure of cellulose which have potential to instigate large intra and intermolecular hydrogen bonding included in the cellulose chains, granting the crystalline packing of cellulose chains into greatly compact system (crystal structure) [31]. the diffraction peaks of the nanocellulose were narrowed, longer and became sharper due to the efficient elimination of the amorphous parts. this shows that the nanocellulose is highly crystalline [32]. table 1 showed the values of dspacing (d), full width at half maximum (fwhm), crystallinity index (cr i), crystallite size (l), and surface chains (x) also known as the crystalline proportion of the crystallites of the isolated nanocellulose. figure 3. scanning electron micrograph of cellulose from moringa oleifera seeds figure 4. scanning electron micrograph of nanaocellulose from moringa oleifera seeds. 4.2. scanning electron microscopy (sem) analysis of isolated cellulose and nanocellulose figure 3 shows the surface morphological features of the isolated cellulose. the surface of the isolated cellulose from moringa oleifera seeds was rough due to amorphous nature of the materials [28]. the isolated cellulose from moringa oleifera seeds has an average length of 46.20 µm and diameter of 88.90 µm. the particles were dissociated from one another, indicating the elimination of hemicelluloses and lignin. this is similar to the report of nazir et al. [22]. the surface morphology of the isolated nanocellulose from moringa oleifera seeds in figure 4 is predominantly rod-like with conical feature. in addition, the nanocellulose is clean, smooth and disjointed from one another owing to the removal of impurities and non-cellulosic components from the materials. furthermore, non-agglomerated structure of the nanocellulose is expressed as highly porous with noticeable diameters, thus able to provide large surface areas [26]. the isolated nanocellulose has an average length and diameter of 14.30 nm and 36.33 nm respectively. 150 afolabi et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 148–153 151 table 1. structural analysis of the isolated nanocellulose from the xrd patterns sample 2θ(◦) d(å) l(nm) fwhm x cr i(%) isolated cellulose 22.43 3.95 1.95 0.07 0.17 62.60 isolated nanocellulose 22.53 3.90 2.13 0.06 0.22 65.40 4.3. fourier transform infrared (ftir) of isolated cellulose and nanocellulose the fourier transform infrared (ftir) spectra of the isolated cellulose and nanocellulose are shown in figure 5. the prospect of the ftir was to ascertain the functional groups of the cellulose and nanocellulose isolated from the moringa oleifera seeds. absorption bands in all spectra of the isolated cellulose were observed at 3335.43 cm−1, 2913.17 cm−1, 2345.16 cm−1, 1577.27 cm−1, 1426.66 cm−1, 1156.49 cm−1, 1015.50 cm−1 and 661.67 cm−1. the spectra of the isolated cellulose showed wide band centered at 3335.43 cm−1 appointed to oh stretching vibration of hydroxyl groups and absorbed water having strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding with alcohol compound class [33,34]. the wide absorption band of the isolated nanocellulose observed at 3340 cm−1 in figure 5 is strong corresponded to the vibration of the o–h group having a compound class of alcohol. this is in agreement with preparation and characterization of novel microstructure cellulosic sawdust material [35]. this functional group commonly present in the cellulose. the characteristics spectra of c–h vibration occur at 2910 cm−1. the absence of peak between 1740 cm−1 and 1726 cm−1 signifies that there is no ester linkage of lignin or ester group of the hemicellulose due to the sulfuric acid hydrolysis [32]. furthermore, disappearance of the hemicellulose and lignin in the ftir spectrum verifies that the cellulose is crystalline. the peaks in the region between 1025 cm−1 – 1321 cm−1 are associated to the c-o stretching [26]. additionally, the band at 664 cm−1 is a characteristic associated with the c-h bending [36]. total crystalline index (tci), hydrogen bond intensity (hbi), lateral order index (loi) and lateral order index (loi) of the nanocellulose from moringa oliefera seeds were obtained from the spectra of the ftir spectroscopy. the calculated values of tci and loi are 0.93 and 1.17 respectively. the values signify more ordered cellulose structure and structure high degree of crystallinity. this result is similar to previous research on green solvent for water hyacinth biomass deconstruction [37]. the other indicator of high degree of intermolecular regularity and ordered nature of cellulose is hbi value. the hbi value of the isolated nanocellulose is 0.94 which indicates high degree of intermolecular regularity. this is in agreement with the result on native cellulose: structure, characterization and thermal properties [23]. this result show that there were additional chains of cellulose in a highly coordinated form which leads to higher hydrogen bond intensity among neighbouring chains of cellulose and produce a more packing structure of cellulose and higher crystallinity. figure 5. fourier transform infrared (ftir) spectra of isolated cellulose from moringa oleifera seeds figure 6. fourier transform infrared (ftir) spectra of isolated nanocellulose from moringa oleifera seeds 5. conclusion the structural properties of the isolated nanocellulose were successfully examined in this research. the isolated cellulose and nanocellulose from moringa oleifera seeds revealed the 151 afolabi et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 148–153 152 most prominent peaks at 2θ = 22.47◦ and 22.53◦ respectively. the crystallinity index values were 62.60% and 65.40%. in addition, the nanocellulose is predominantly rod-like with conical feature. the isolated cellulose has an average length of 46.20 µm and diameter of 88.90 µm while the average length and diameter of the obtained nanocellulose are 14.3 nm and 36.33 nm respectively. the ftir revealed the presence of c-o stretching, o-h stretching and c-h bending functional groups. the tci, loi and hbi values of the nanocellulose from moringa oleifera seeds were 0.93, 1.17 and 0.94. these results indicate more ordered cellulose structure and high degree of crystallinity. acknowledgements the authors gratefully appreciate dr. ige, o. o. and dr. alo, f.i. of the department of material science and engineering, obafemi awolowo university ile-ife, osun state, nigeria for 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[37] j. k. singh, r. k. sharma, p. sharma, a. kumar, m. l. khan “imidazolium based ionic liquids: a promising green solvent for water hyacinth biomass deconstruction”. frontiers in chemistry 6 (2018) 548, doi: 10.3389/fchem.2018.00548. 153 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 180–185 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences original research mass resolution of ca, k isotopes and co, n2 and c2h4 isobars in isotopes separator on-line trap mass spectrometry b m dyavappa∗ department of physics, government first grade college for women, kolar, karnataka, india abstract in isotopes separator on-line trap, ions are trapped, cooled, accumulated, bunched and isotopes or isobars are separated, cyclotron frequencies are determined, which are followed by time of flight mass resolution. the mass resolution of isotopes in penning trap mass spectrometry is achieved by the direct excitation of axial motion of ions, driven by rf field at the pure cyclotron frequencies of ions. the design and working of isotopes separator on-line trap which is used for high-accuracy mass spectrometry in the mass resolution of calcium isotopes (40ca+, 42ca+, 44ca+), potassium isotopes (39k+, 41k+) and [28(co)]+, [(28n2)]+, [28(c2h4)]+ isobars found in mixtures is achieved from time of flight mass spectrometry are presented here. keywords: mass spectrometry, mass resolution, isotope online penning trap, resonance spectrum, rf excitation. article history : received: 09 may 2020 received in revised form: 17 july 2020 accepted for publication: 20 july 2020 published: 01 august 2020 c©2020 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: o. j. oluwadare 1. introduction the stable six isotopes of calcium are 40ca, 42ca, 43ca, 44ca, 46ca and 48ca out of which 43ca, 46ca, 48ca are rare isotopes found in trace amounts and hence cannot be identified in the isotope-ratio mass spectrum obtained from stimulations. the mass resolving powers of 40ca+, 42ca+, 44ca+ are determined from [1, 2, 3] (m.r.p.)ca+ = mca+ δmca+ (1) where mca+ →mass of ca +and δmca+ →full width at half maximum in mass spectrum. the mass spectrum of ions [28(co)]+, [(28n2)]+ and [28(c2h4)]+ of isobars is obtained by time of ∗corresponding author tel. no: +919483113600 email address: dyavappabm@gmail.com (b m dyavappa ) flight mass spectrometry simulations. the isobars are identified from identifying the values of time of flight in mass spectrum and calculating the mass from [4, 5] m = 2qv [ t f d ]2 , (2) where m → mass of ion, q → charge state of ion, t f → time of flight of ion, d → distance travelled by the ion before reaching the detector. this is compared with the estimated values of masses of the isobars and the corresponding isobar is identified from approximately equating to the estimated value of its mass. the mass determination of 4119 k + isotope in penning trap mass spectrometry is achieved by the excitation of axial motions of same charge state of 3919 k +and 4119 k +ions by driving radio frequency (rf) field at the pure cyclotron frequencies fc (3919 k + ) , fc(4119 k+ ) of 3919 k +and 4119 k + ions respectively as the 180 dyavappa / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 180–185 181 magnetic field is known. the mass of most abundant isotope m(3919 k+ ) = 38.963707 amu is well known and hence the mass of less abundant isotope m(4119 k+ ) of 41 19 k + can be determined from the following equation [6]: m(4119 k+ ) = fc (3919 k + ) fc(4119 k+ ) m(3919 k+ ). (3) 2. theory the isotope-ratio mass spectrum of ca isotopes is drawn by using data from the mass spectrometry data base. the accuracy of mass measurements in penning trap is determined by the resolving power of masses of isotopes. the resolving power of masses of isotopes of ions is defined as the ratio of the centre frequency of the resonance line to the full width at half maximum of the resonance line. therefore the mass resolving power (m.r.p.) of masses of isotopes of ions is given by [1, 2, 3] (m.r.p.)ion = m δm = f0 ∆ f1/2 , (4) where m → mass of ion and δm → full width at half maximum in mass spectrum, f0 → centre frequency of the resonance line, ∆ f1/2 → full width at half maximum of the resonance line. the mass spectrum of ions [28(co)]+, [(28n2)]+ and [28(c2h4)]+ of isobars is obtained by time of flight mass spectrometry simulations. in time of flight mass spectrometry ions are accelerated by an electric field of known strength e with potential v and all those ions which have the same charge state q, will have same kinetic energy with velocity v due to the acceleration. the specific charge (q/m) of ions is given by [7] q m = 1 2 [ e2 b2v ] = 1 2 [ v2 v ] , (5) where q → charge state of ion, m → mass of ion, b → magnetic field, e → electric field, v → electric potential, v → velocity of ion. the velocity of the ion accelerated by electric field depends upon its specific charge q/m the time taken by the particle to reach the detector is called time-of-flight t f and it can be measured. the specific charge of ions is determined through the measurement of time to reach the detector in time-of-flight mass spectrometry. heavier ions reach the detector slower than the lighter ones as the mass of moving ion is m ∝ t2f . the time is measured from the instant the ion leaves the cooler ion trap to the instant that reaches the detector, it is used to find specific charge of it and the ion is determined from the known parameters. the time-of-flight is given by [4] t f = d √ 2v √ m q ⇒ m q = 2v [ t f d ]2 ⇒ q m = 1 2v [ d t f ]2 . (6) ∴ m = 2qv [ t f d ]2 , (7) where d → distance traveled by the ion, v → electric potential,m is mass and q is charge state of ion. when the ions are excited by continuously sweeping the rf field, the motional frequencies of ions respond to the external rf at a given step, consequently some of the ions gain enough energy to escape the trap. this change in the motion of ions due to rf field drive causes increase in kinetic energy in the radial plane and can be detected by a time-of-flight technique. the mass resolution of isotopes of ions is related to specific charge and cyclotron angular frequency as [6] m δm ∝ q m b ( trf √ n ) = ωc ( trf √ n ) = 2π fc ( trf √ n ) ⇒ fc∝ 1 m , (8) where q→ charge state of ion, m→ mass of ion, b→ magnetic field, trf→ time of rf drive, n→ number of cycles of rf field, ωc→ cyclotron angular frequency. the resolving power of masses of isotopes of ions is proportional to the time of excitation of rf field, which results in the motional resonances of the isotopes of ions that can be observed in motional resonances spectrum. the lifetime of unstable isotopes limit the time of excitation as they are in very short duration of time. the temporal stability of the magnetic field due to shielding current in pair of coils of wire limit the radial confinement of the stable and long-lived isotopes. the exchange of the ions of isotopes in the trap is required for comparison of cyclotron frequencies of two different ions and measured at different times during which the magnetic field strength changes. superconducting magnets require temperature and pressure stabilization to reduce temporal variation of the magnetic field strength. the mass determination in isotopes separator on-line trap is on the basis of the fact that the two ions of isotopes whose charge state is same but their masses are different. the ratio of their cyclotron frequencies is equal to the inverse of ratio of their masses kept in the same magnetic field [6]. therefore if the charge state of two ions of isotopes is q1=q2 kept in the same magnetic field b then fc1 fc2 = m2 m1 , (9) where fc1 and fc2 are cyclotron frequencies of isotopes of ions of an element with masses m1 and m2 respectively. 3. experimental procedure 3.1. design the isotopes separator on-line trap consists of three ion traps connected end to end together in an order of rf paul trap, cooler penning trap and precision penning trap as shown in figure 1 [8, 9]. the rf quadrupole ion trap consists of 4 rods structure to which a rf field is applied for alternate rods, and 181 dyavappa / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 180–185 182 this is used for beam preparation and hence it is also called beam buncher. the cooler penning trap is a large cylindrical penning trap which is placed in the homogeneous magnetic field of superconducting magnets, which is used to cool the ions. the precision penning trap is a quadrupole penning trap in which ions are detected through time of flight. figure 1. schematic diagram of isotopes separator on-line trap [8, 9] 3.2. working a quadrupole penning trap is designed with three-electrode infinite hyperboloid revolution of structure, which consists of two end-cap electrodes and a ring electrode, a homogeneous magnetic field is superposed on electrostatic quadrupole field. the magnetic field b confines ion beam of isotopes of charge state q and different masses in the radial direction, while the electric field quadrupole potential vdc , confines ions in the axial direction, as it prevents the ions from escaping along the magnetic field lines. the motion of trapped ions in a penning trap is not a simply pure cyclotron motion with frequency fc but a combination of three harmonic eigen motions, viz. an axial oscillatory motion with frequency fz, two circular motions called modified cyclotron motion with frequency f ′ c and magnetron motion with frequency fm which are related to each other as [1] fc = f ′ c + fm. (10) the precise value of pure cyclotron frequency in an isotope separator on-line trap is [6] fc = ( q m ) b 2π ⇒ fc ∝ 1 m ( ∵b, q → constants ) (11) the motion of ions of isotopes can be driven by oscillating electric field which changes the amplitudes of the oscillatory motion of ions and azimuthal electric quadrupole field causes the excitation of ion oscillatory motion directly at the side band frequency fc. the mass determination of ion of unknown isotope in isotopes separator on-line trap mass spectrometry is achieved by the direct excitation of axial oscillatory motions of same charge state ions of isotopes at their pure cyclotron frequencies from the relation m2 = m1 fc1 fc2 as the magnetic field is known [6]. 3.3. cooling and bunching in rf quadrupole ion trap a rf field is applied to the 4 rods structure which creates an oscillating quadrupole electric field that confines the ions of isotopes or isobars along the symmetry axis of trap. the rods are segmented and an appropriate shape dc potential is applied to the segments to drag the ions close to the end of the 4-rods structure where the ions are trapped. the first step is stopping and preparation of the high energy of ≈ 30 − 60kev ion beam of isotopes or isobars. the ions of isotopes or isobars are decelerated electro statically by applying repelling potential and then injected into the central region of 4-rods structure being filled with buffer gas. the rf quadrupole ion trap cools the ion beam of isotopes through buffer gas cooling by collisions. the ions of high energy of ≈ 30 − 60kev lose kinetic energy up to a few kev due to the collision with the buffer gas, and then finally accumulated as a small ion cloud of isotopes or isobars in the trapping region. thus cooled ions of isotopes or isobars are accumulated in beam buncher and enter into cooler penning trap later, where contaminants are removed. the cold ion cloud bunch of selected isotopes or isobars of an element can be ejected out off the trapping region, transported and then injected into the cooler trap through a potential adaption in a pulsed drift tube. 3.4. the cooler trap the cooler trap is a large cylindrical penning trap placed in the homogeneous magnetic field of ≈5t superconducting magnets. the ions transported from the rf quadrupole ion trap are captured in the cylindrical penning trap and cooled through mass selection technique. the cooler cylindrical penning trap is optimized for high quality mass selection to resolve isotopes or isobars. isotopes are different species of the same element with same atomic number (same number of protons and electrons) but differ in mass number (the number of nucleons) and hence specific charge (charge to mass ratio) will be different for different isotopes with same charge state, therefore the isotopes travel with different velocities and take different time durations to reach the detector. when ions of isotopes which have same charge state but different masses are trapped in constant magnetic field, then heavier ions of the same charge state reach at lower speeds as [6] fc = q m b ∝ 1 m ∝ v ∝ d t ( ∵b, q are constants ) (12) ∴ m ∝ t (∵d is constant) (13) isobars are different elements with same mass numbers (same number of nucleons) but differ in atomic number (the number 182 dyavappa / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 180–185 183 of protons and electrons) and hence specific charge (charge to mass ratio) will be different for different isobars, therefore the isobars travel with different velocities and take different time durations to reach the detector. for ions of isobars which have same mass but different charge state in constant magnetic field, the velocity of ions with higher charge state will also increase [6]. fc = q m b ∝ q ∝ v ∝ d t (∵b, m are constants)(14) ∴ q ∝ 1 t (∵d is constant) (15) the cooled and clean bunches of ions are transferred into the precision penning trap, which are used for highly accurate mass measurements. 3.5. precision penning trap mass spectrometer an azimuthal rf field of frequency frf drives the motion of ions, the amplitude of the cyclotron motion of the stored ions increases due to resonance of driving frequency of rf field with cyclotron frequency ( f rf = fc) in quadrupole penning trap. the rf generator switched to sweep mode is used to feed rf energy into the trap through the antenna. the rf power is kept very low of the order of a few mv to weakly probe the motion of the trapped ion cloud. if the rf power is kept high, then it will resonantly drives the trapped ion cloud in the trap and causes to escape from the trap. when the ions are excited by continuously sweeping the rf field, the motional frequencies of ions respond to the external rf at a particular step, consequently some of the ions gain enough energy to escape from the trap, then the signal height is reduced and appears as a dip in the motional resonance spectrum, which is directly proportional to the number of ions lost from the trap. the cooled ions are ejected from the trap due to the excitation of the motion of ions by rf field, and drift through the inhomogeneous fringe magnetic field b to reach the detector of ions. the magnetic moments of the orbits of ions also increase due to magnetic field. an axial force arising from the inhomogeneous magnetic field increases the axial momenta of the ions by orbital magnetic moments. the time-of-flight of ions is determined as a function of the frequency of the rf field, as ions in resonance with the rf field reach the detector faster than those ions that are not in resonance. the mass can be extracted in conjunction with a reference mass measurement after the determination of the frequency of stored ion from the time-of-flight detection technique . 4. results and discussion 4.1. mass spectrum of calcium isotopes the isotope ratio mass spectrum of calcium isotopes shows 3 peaks as shown in figure 2. the tallest peak corresponds to table 1. mass resolving powers of calcium isotopes ions of calcium isotopes mass resolving power 40 20ca + 794.0675 42 20ca + 789.60086 44 20ca + 900.089 40ca+ as specific charge of it is lesser than that of both of 42ca+ and 44ca+, the second short peak next to it corresponds to 42ca+ as its specific charge is greater than that of 40ca+ and the third short peak next to it corresponds to 44ca+ as its specific charge is greater than that of 42ca+. the mass resolving powers of 40ca+, 42ca+, 44ca+ are [10] (m.r.p.)40 20ca + = mca+ δmca+ = 39.961765 39.981125 − 39.9307996 = 794.06751 ≈ 794.0675 (16) (m.r.p.)42 20ca + = mca+ δmca+ = 41.9586 41.9802842 − 41.9271452 = 41.9586 0.053139 ≈ 789.60086 (17) (m.r.p.)44 20ca + = mca+ δmca+ = 43.9555 43.9763821 − 43.9275475 = 43.9555 0.0488346 ≈ 900.089 (18) therefore the mass resolving powers of 40ca+, 42ca+, 44ca+ as calculated from equation (1) are 794.0675, 789.60086 and 900.089 respectively as presented in table 1. figure 2. isotope ratio mass spectrum of ions of 40ca+, 42ca+, 44ca+ isotopes drawn by using isotope-ratio mass spectrometry data base 4.2. mass spectrum of co, n2 and c2h4 isobars the ions [28(co)]+, [(28n2)]+ and [28(c2h4)]+ of isobars can be produced by collisions of isobars with electrons. the 183 dyavappa / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 180–185 184 table 2. masses of isobars calculated from mass spectrum of ions ions of isobars mass (amu)[ 28 (co) ]+ 27.99489[( 28 n2 )]+ 28.00699[ 28 (c2 h4) ]+ 28.031297 mass spectrum of ions [28(co)]+, [(28n2)]+ and [28(c2h4)]+ isobars obtained by time of flight mass spectrometry simulations is shown in figure 3. the mass spectrum consists of three peaks, one corresponds to each of ions [28(co)]+, [(28n2)]+ and [28(c2h4)]+ of isobars [11]. the isobars are identified from identifying the values of time of flight of isobar in mass spectrum and the mass of corresponding isobar is calculated from the value of time of flight. this accurate value of mass is compared with the estimated values of masses of the isobars and the corresponding isobar is identified from approximately equating it to the estimated value of its mass. the masses of ions [28(co)]+, [(28n2)]+ and [28(c2h4)]+ of isobars are calculated from time of flight using equation (19) as shown below. from figure 3 the time of flight that corresponds to first peak is t f = 762.27882 ns, then m = 2qv [ t f d ]2 (19) m = 2 × 1.6 × 10−19 × 25 [ 762.27882 × 10−9 10 × 10−3 ]2 (20) ⇒m = 46.48552 × 10−31kg = 27.99489 amu = mco (21) from figure 3 the time of flight that corresponds to second peak is t f = 762.43137ns, then m = 2 × 1.6 × 10−19 × 25 [ 762.43137 × 10−9 10 × 10−3 ]2 (22) ⇒m = 46.504128×10−31 kg = 28.00699 amu = mn2 (23) from figure 3 the time of flight that corresponds to third peak is t f = 762.77432 ns, then m = 2 × 1.6 × 10−19 × 25 [ 762.77432 × 10−9 10 × 10−3 ]2 (24) ⇒m = 46.54597×10−31kg = 28.031297 amu = mc2 h4 (25) the ions of isobars [28(co)]+, [(28n2)]+ and [28(c2h4)]+ are identified from mass spectrum as shown in figure 3. the mass of the isobar that corresponds to the first, second and third peaks were calculated using equation (19) as 27.99489 amu, 28.00699 amu and 28.031297 amu with corresponding time of flight of 762.27882 ns, 762.43137 ns and 762.77432 ns respectively as presented in table 2. figure 3. mass spectrum of ions [28(co)]+, [(28n2)]+ and [28(c2h4)]+ of isobars drawn by using mass spectrometry data base 4.3. mass spectrum of k isotopes the mass determination of 4119 k + isotope in penning trap mass spectrometry is achieved by the excitation of axial motions of same charge state of 3919 k +and 4119 k +ions by driving rf field at the pure cyclotron frequencies fc (3919 k + ) and fc(4119 k+ ) respectively as the magnetic field is known. as the mass of most abundant isotope m(3919 k+ ) = 38.963707amu is well known, and hence the mass of less abundant isotope m(4119 k+ ) can be determined. the pure cyclotron frequencies of fc (3919 k + ) and fc(4119 k+ ) from figure 4 are 98.426156 khz and 93.624975 khz respectively. the mass of ion 4119 k + of potassium isotope is given by [6] fc (3919 k + ) fc(4119 k+ ) = m(4119 k+ ) m(3919 k+ ) (26) ⇒ m(4119 k+ ) = fc (3919 k + ) fc(4119 k+ ) m(3919 k+ ) = 98.426156 × 103 93.624975 × 103 ×38.963707 × 1.66 × 10−27 (27) ∴ m(4119 k+ ) = 67.996595 × 10 −27kg = 40.9618amu (28) the mass of 4119 k + calculated using equation (27) is 40.9618amu as presented in table 3. 5. conclusion the mass resolving powers of 40ca+, 42ca+, 44ca+ are 794.0675, 789.60086 and 900.089 respectively. the ions of isobars [28(co)]+, [(28n2)]+ and [28(c2h4)]+ are identified in mass spectrum which correspond to time of flights of 762.27882 ns , 762.43137 ns and 762.77432 ns respectively. the pure cyclotron frequencies 184 dyavappa / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 180–185 185 table 3. masses of potassium isotopes calculated from mass spectrum of potassium ions ions of potassium isotopes interchange cyclotron frequency values mass (amu) 39 19 k + 98.426156 khz 38.963707 41 19 k + 93.624975 khz 40.9618 figure 4. time of flight detection of cyclotron resonance of isotopes of potassium ions 3919 k +and 4119 k + at magnetic field 0.25t by rf excitation from 90-105 khz drawn by using mass spectrometry data base of ions 3919 k + and 4119 k +from motional resonance spectrum are 98.426156 khz and 93.624975 khz respectively and hence the mass of ion of less abundant potassium isotope 4119 k + is determined to be 40.9618 amu. acknowledgments we thank the referees for the positive enlightening comments and suggestions, which have greatly helped us in making improvements to this paper. references [1] k. blaum, yu. n. novikov & g. werth, “penning traps as a versatile tool for precise experiments in fundamental physics”, contemporary physics, 51 (2010) 149. [2] a. pelander, p. decker, c. baessmann & i. ojanperä, “evaluation of a high resolving power time-of-flight mass spectrometer for drug analysis in terms of resolving power and acquisition rate”, journal of the american society for mass spectrometry, 22 (2011) 379-385. [3] w. a. m. wilfried & r. a. c. correa, interpretation of ms-ms mass spectra of drugs and pesticides, wiley series on mass spectrometry, wiley. [4] time-of-flight mass spectrometry, wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/time-of-flight_mass_spectrometry [5] mass analyzer time of flight, https://phys.libretexts.org [6] f. wenander, “charge breeding of radioactive ions with ebis and ebit”, jinst 5 (2010) c10004. [7] s. k. singh, electricity and magnetism, http://cnx.org/content/col10909/1.13/, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/, 122 (2009) [8] f. herfurth, j. dilling, a. kellerbauer, g. bollen, s. henry, h. j. kluge, e. lamour, d. lunney, r. b. moore, c. scheidenberger, s. schwarz, g. sikler & j. szerypo, “a linear radiofrequency ion trap for accumulation, bunching, and emittance improvement of radioactive ion beams”, arxiv:nucl-ex/0011021 (2000) [9] m. mukherjee, d. beck, k. blaum, g. bollen, j. dilling, s. george, f. herfurth, a. herlert, a. kellerbauer, h. j. kluge, s. schwarz, l. schweikhard & c. yazidjian, “isoltrap: an on-line penning trap for mass spectrometry on short-lived nuclides”, eur. phys. j. a 35 (2008) 31. [10] s. f. boulyga, “calcium isotope analysis by mass spectrometry”, mass spectrometry reviews, 29 (2010) 685. [11] y. ishida, m. wada, y. matsuo, i. tanihata, a. casares, & h. wollnik, “a time-of-flight mass spectrometer to resolve isobars”, nucl. instr. and meth. in phys. res. b 219-220 (2004) 468. [12] a. finlay, integration of a multi reflection time of flight isobar separator into the titan experiment at triumf, m.sc. thesis, the university of british columbia (2017). 185 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 1–6 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences original research analysis of a stochastic optimal control for pension funds and application to investments in lower middle-income countries tolulope latundea,∗, opeyemi odunayo esana, joseph oluwaseun richarda, damilola deborah darea adepartment of mathematics, federal university, oye-ekiti, nigeria abstract one of the major problems faced in the management of pension funds and plan is how to allocate and control the future flow of contribution likewise the proportion of portfolio value and investments in risky assets. this work considers the management of a pension plan by means of a stochastic dynamic programming model based on merton’s model. the model is analysed such that the conditions of optimal contribution and investment in risky assets are determined and sensitized. the case study of nigeria, ghana, kenya is considered for various periods in the model simulation. thus, the volatility condition obtained is used to estimate the efficiency of some important parameters of the model. keywords: pension, stochastic, control, risky asset, parameters article history : received: 26 november 2019 received in revised form: 01 january 2020 accepted for publication: 18 january 2020 published: 19 january 2020 c©2020 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: b. j. falaye 1. introduction pension is described as a sum of money paid regularly to a person who has come to the end of his normal working life, or an annuity paid regularly as a benefit due to his retirement (who no longer work because of age, disablement etc.). a pension plan is a method for a prospective retiree to transfer part of his or her current income stream towards a retirement income. pension plans are classified into two categories: the defined benefit (db) and defined contribution(dc) scheme. the db pension plan is mostly preferred by pension members due to his ability to bear the risk to the pension fund manager, while on the other hand dc pension fund plan on the other hand, is more popularly preferred by the pension fund managers due to its ability to transfer the risk to the pension fund members. the ∗corresponding author tel. no: +2348032801624 email address: tolulope.latunde@fuoye.edu.ng (tolulope latunde) last payment (benefit) given to the retiree is based on how the investment performed. in dc, the contributions are said to be fixed and the benefits depend on profits generated on the benefits of assets. the risk obtained from the fund management is born by recipients. it is not at all like the defined benefit plan whereby the benefits are typically identified with last salary cadre and the risk associated with financing is supposed by the sponsoring agent. the utilization of classical instruments as portfolio theory is reviewed [1-3]. the world bank has historically classified every economy as low, middle, or high income. it now further specifies countries as having low-, lower middle-, upper-middle -, or highincome economies. the world bank uses gross national income (gni) per capita, in current u.s. dollars converted by the atlas method of a three-year moving average of exchange rates,as the basis for this classification. it views gni as a broad measure and the single best indicator of economic capacity and progress. the world bank used to refer to low-income and 1 latunde et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 1–6 2 middle-income economies as developing economies; in 2016, it chose to drop the term from its vocabulary, citing a lack of specificity. instead, they now refer to countries by their region, income, and lending status. the classification of countries is determined by two factors: a country gni per capita, which can change with economic growth, inflation, exchange rates, and population. revisions to national accounts methods and data can also influence gni per capita. classification threshold: the thresholds are adjusted for inflation annually using the special drawing right (sdr) deflator. mics have a combined population of five billion, or over 70% of the world’s seven billion people, hosting 73% of the world’s economically disadvantaged. representing about one-third of global gdp, middle-income countries (mics) are a major engine of global economic growth. three major countries namely: nigeria, ghana and kenya would furthermore be considered as a case study. looking at the report which classifies nigeria as a lowerincome country it says in sub-saharan africa, middle-income countries (mics) – with a gross domestic income (gdi) per capita between us$1,026 and us$12,475 – are divided into upper-middle-income countries (umis) and lower middle-income countries (lmics). it is noted that nigeria falls under lowermiddle-income countries. as a nation, nigeria is a high-income country and is very rich, however, when the earnings of its average citizens is considered, it could be seen as a low-income one and this is because a large percentage of its population is poor. nigeria is indisputably a low-income country, the larger percentage of citizenry and invariably the workforce earn around 60$ per month at minimum which may not be sufficient to cater for basic needs. ghana, at a per capita income of about $1,820, is an mic, but this classification masks wide gaps in infrastructural and human development. ghana’s position is at the lowest ebb of the lower-middle-income countries, what this means is that the country has only but transited by a small margin from a low-income to a middle-income economy status. many development indicators are still in the state of a low-income country, yet to reflect ghana’s new status as an mic. while it is agreed that the mics are a very diverse group by size, population, income and development levels, ghana’s current position is too precarious for comfort. rather than becoming complacent, government and ghanaian at large must use ghana’s lower-middle-income status as launchpad to propel the economy to the next level. african countries like angola, gabon, and botswana have already risen to upper-middle-income status and share membership with the likes of malaysia and south africa. such rising must be ghana’s aspiration. kenya is the economic, financial, and transport hub of east africa. kenya’s real gdp growth has averaged over 5% for the last decade. since 2014, kenya has been ranked as a lower middle-income country because its per capita gdp crossed a world bank threshold. while kenya has a growing entrepreneurial middle class and steady growth, its economic development has been impaired by weak governance and corruption. although reliable numbers are hard to find, unemployment and underemployment are extremely high, and could be near 40% of the population. in 2013, the country adopted a devolved system of government with the creation of 47 counties, and is in the process of devolving state revenues and responsibilities to the counties. agriculture remains the backbone of the kenyan economy, contributing one-third of gdp. about 75% of kenya’s population of roughly 48.5 million work at least part-time in the agricultural sector, including livestock and pastoral activities. over 75% of agricultural output is from small-scale, rain-fed farming or livestock production. tourism also holds a significant place in kenya’s economy. in spite of political turmoil throughout the second half of 2017, tourism was up 20%, showcasing the strength of this sector. inadequate infrastructure continues to hamper kenya’s efforts to improve its annual growth so that it can meaningfully address poverty and unemployment. kenya has also successfully raised capital in the global bond market issuing its first sovereign bond offering in mid-2014, with a second occurring in february 2018. however, there is a need to consider the utilisation of pension funds allocation of these mics on assets such that the wealth of the countries can be optimized. the dynamic model can be used to calculate optimal asset allocation as it also takes change in the climate investment such as change in expected risk and returns, this model is also important for managing pension fund asset.the theory of risk and return is practically referred to as the income that was established in addition to any change in the market price of the investment. carton articulated that returns are very core to any pension funds since it was shared among several members to the normal contributions [4]. stochastic model is considered because it allows us to investigate fully the dynamics of the fund through time, the analysis and control of pension fund dynamics are getting increasingly important as members start to pay more attention to the security of promised benefit and as sponsoring employers become more concerned about the timing and stability of cash flows and this method. merton pioneered the stochastic optimal control for solving continuous problems in asset management [2]. the hamilton-jacobi-bellman (hjb) equation is a common method used by many kinds of research in solving problems from the dynamic programming under the real-world probability measure, [5]. several authors have laid down analysis related to the stochastic control approach such as using stochastic dynamic programming to analyse the financial risk in a defined contribution (dc) pension scheme under gaussian interest rate models by attempting is to find an optimal investment strategy, [6-11]. likewise, several types of research have worked on utilising the mathematical approach in solving problems associated with pension funds management, [11-14]. however, some experts have carried out researches on the sensitivity analysis to ascertain the behaviour of parameters in the formulation of the model such as in control problem of management of assets, transportation problems, pension schemes and so on. [15-18] thus, we investigate herein the application of the dynamic model for pension fund as optimization system that will ensure appropriate standard of living before and after retirement 2 latunde et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 1–6 3 by discovering its explicit solutions using parameter sensitivity analysis and illustrating the solutions by utilizing a process which is reformed to an asset-liability model (alm) as in [3]. 2. model formulation the dynamic model for pension fund management is reviewed herein and analysed [3]. the following variables and parameters used represented in tables 1 2 are functions of time t. parameters r, φ, σ, g, i ,µ are constant. table 1: definition of variables variables definition xt wealth(portfolio market value) pt pension payments ct contributions ht investment in the risky asset at market value of the risky asset. table 2: definition of parameters µ contribution growth rate φ risk premium (positive) r risk free rate g pension growth rate σ volatility of the risky asset i discount rate source: nigeria, ghana and kenya national pension commission (pencom), 2016-2017 annual reports. the two types of pension funds aggregated pension fund in this work where their growth rate g and µ respectively we have: dpt = gpt dct = µct (1) we consider a situation of two types of assets consisting: a riskfree asset with return, r; and a risky asset with price at which supports the brownian motion, [3]. risk-free rate is assumed constant; considering (c∗,h∗) as the policy of optimal control and xm to represent the maximum wealth, we shall look into the two types of pension funds (benefit and contribution) of the financial management that forms the aggregated pension fund dat/at = (φ + r)dt + σdwt (2) where r > 0 and diffusion σ > 0 are constant, wt represents the standard brownian motion defined. suppose contributors do not wish to settle for higher contributions either now or in the nearest period which as its effect on their discount rate. we dominated the psychological discount rate i, under the above conditions and assumptions, a reasoning pension fund manager will be willing to minimize: v = ∫ ∞ 0 ex p(−i s)c2s d s (3) but the optimal policy has to fulfil the given constraints: -payments of pensionpt -value of xt then we try to obtain the policy (ct,ht) where e(v) is minimized under the given constraints. given that ct represents the contribution and pt represents the pensions paid per time (assuming continuous discounts). the variable which is represented by x(t), t ≥ 0, is the adapted process that represents the aggregate of the wealth or the value of pension fund at time t. it is supposed that the activities start on the pension fund at period where t = 0 with wealth x0 ≥ 0. the wealth process is described by the equation: dxt = ht xt dat at + (1 + ht)xtrdt + (ct − pt)dt (4) the first term of the equation on the right is due to the risky asset and the second is due to the riskless asset and third represents the flow with respect to the balance of subscriptions (contributions) and payment of pensions (benefit). the above equation can be re-written by substituting equation (2) into (4) dxt = [rxt + ht xt + ct pt]dt + ht xtdwt (5) and assumption is made that 0 = in f ( e−itc2 + v′t + (rx + φhx + c − p)v ′ x + gpv ′ p + 1 2 v′′x,x x 2h2σ2 ) (6) using the equations above we have: 2r − i −φ2/σ2 > 0 (7) suppose i = r. this assumption becomes r −φ2/σ2 > 0 ≡ ω (8) by solving equation (1) (5) we obtain a solution 2r − i − φ2/σ2 > 0 , that is,by a sufficient high porfolio volatility (σ > φ/ √ r). suppose v(t,x,p) represents the value function of the formulated problem, the with bellman’s equation, we have 0 = in f ( eitc2 + v′t + (rx + φhx + cp)v ′ x + gpv ′ p + 1 2 v′′x,x x 2h2σ2 ) (9) x > 0 and h > 0 been a constraints, since the polynomial function of h and c in the bracket is satisfied by the optimal policy (h∗,c∗). φxv′x + v ′′ x,x x 2hσ2 = 0 (10) 2eitc + v′x = 0 (11) 3 latunde et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 1–6 4 table 3: numerical values relative with respective countries country period r φ σ g ω nigeria 2016-2017 10.14 6.77 × 105 6.12 × 105 12.0 8.9163 ghana 2016-2017 21.46 2.12 × 107 6.39 × 107 15.7 21.3499 kenya 2016-2017 8.51 2.30 × 107 3.16 × 107 10.2 7.9802 table 4: risk free rate r vs volatility condition ω r ω 5 3.7763 10 8.7763 15 13.7763 20 17.7763 that is to say h∗ = φv′x v′′x,x xσ2 (12) c∗ = − v′x 2e−it (13) substituting the (11) and (12) in equation (8) gives: − 1 4 ei tv′2x + v ′ t + (rx − p)v ′ x + gpv ′ p − φ2 2σ2 v′2x v′′x,x = 0 (14) suppose v (t, x, p) = e−it f(x, p) (15) thus, the equation that satisfies f becomes − 1 4 f′2x + (rx − p)f ′ x + gpf ′ p − φ2 2σ2 f′x2 f′′x,x = 0 (16) equation (16) is homogeneous at variable y = x/p for f(y). let f(x, p) = p2 f (x/p) (17) then the differential equation satisfying f is given by − 1 4 f ′2 + (2g − i) f + ((r − g)y − 1) f ′ − φ2 2σ2 f ′2 f ′′ = 0 (18) we derive the solution by solving problem of the form: f (k) = ak2 + bk + c (19) identify a, b and c and find f (k) = (2r − i − φ2 σ2 )(y − 1 r − a )2 (20) we obtain the final value function by substituting equation (17) into equation (15), i.e., f into v, and by conjecture : v (t, x, p) = e−it ( 2r − i −φ2/σ2 )( x − p/(r − g) )2 (21) table 5: risk premium φ vs the portfolio volatility condition ω φ ω 1.0 × 105 10.1133 2.0 × 105 10.0332 3.0 × 105 9.8997 4.0 × 105 9.7128 table 6: volatility of the risky asset σ vs the portfolio volatility condition ω σ ω 1.0 × 106 9.6817 2.0 × 106 10.0254 3.0 × 106 10.0890 4.0 × 106 10.1114 this domain xm ≤ x shows the optimal policy to be zero contribution and there exists in the portfolio, no risky asset. by (10), (11) and (18), an optimal policy expression is given: h∗ = {(2r−i−φ2/σ2)(xm−x) 0 ifx ≤ xmifxm ≤ x (22) c∗ = {(2r−β−λ2/σ2)(xm−x) 0 ifx ≤ xmif xm ≤ x (23) the condition σ > φ √ r attest the constraints ( they have been applied, by [7] in the context of dc pension schemes) on h and c to be satisfied. 3. numerical simulations world bank classifies nigeria, ghana and kenya amongst others as lower-middle-income countries in africa. as a result, we select the three counties to utilise the pension data for the model verification and analysis which was obtained via maple software. we utilize the recent records of national pension commission(pencom) for each country such as their inflation, stock market prices, and interest rates. we also consider the volatility of the risky asset, risk-free rate, pension growth rate, risk premium and the volatility condition. tables 3-6 represent the computational results derived from the available data. 4. discussion the portfolio volatility 2r i (φ/σ)2 > 0 need not to be met, since the investments do not achieve a convincing returnto-risk ratio. 4 latunde et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 1–6 5 figure 1: graph of the volatility of risk-free rate r against volatility condition ω figure 2: graph of risk premium φ against volatility condition ω figure 3: graph of the volatility of the risky asset σ against volatility condition ω however, by using the nigeria pension portfolio as a case study, the behaviour of some parameters in the model formulation is examined such that the effect of changes and estimation on each parameter on the derived volatility condition is determined and represented in the figures 1 3 below plotted using excel. in this work, we applied a dynamic model of pension management to real-life situations where a volatility condition was obtained alongside the optimal controls to determine the behaviours of the parameters of the model. the behaviour of some parameters of the model such that the effect of changes of the estimation of the values of each parameter on the derived volatility condition is determined and represented using tables and graphs. from figure 1, we determined that the higher the volatility of the risk-free rate r, the higher the volatility condition ω. also from figure 2, we determined that the lower the risk premium φ, the higher the volatility condition ω. from figure 3, we also determined that the higher the volatility of the risky asset σ, the higher the volatility condition ω. hence, we can verify that the volatility condition ω implies that the risk premium can be justified by high volatility. this justifies some logical reasoning aiding decision making in pension management. 5. conclusion in this work, we applied a dynamic model of pension management to real-life situations where a volatility condition was obtained alongside the optimal controls to determine the behaviours of the parameters of the model. this justifies a logical some logical reasoning aiding decision making in pension management. in future works, stochastic analysis of such models can be carried out considering a wider range of data depending on countries from different continents. likewise, a more analytic approach of the sensitivity analysis can be considered using more sophisticated software in solving and representing data and graphs of the new results. references 1. r. c. merton “lifetime portfolio selection under uncertainty: the continuous time case”, review of economics and statistics, 51 (1969) 247. 2. r. c. “merton optimal consumption and portfolio rules in a continuous time model”,journal of economic theory 42 (1971) 373. 3. j. f. boulier, e. trussant & d. florens “a dynamic model for pension funds management”, proceedings of the 5th afir international colloquium 1 (1995) 361. 4. b. carton, measuring organizational performance:an exploratory study, a dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty of the university of georgia, 2004. 5. m. assellaou, hamilton jacobi bellman approach for some applied optimal control problems, mathematics ensta paris tech, 2015. 6. t. e. duncan & b. pasik-duncan “a direct method for solving stochastic problems”, communications in information systems 12 (2012) 1. 7. e. vigna & s. haberman “optimal investment strategy for defined contribution pension schemes”, insurance: mathematics and economics 28 (2001) 233. 5 latunde et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 1–6 6 8. p. battocchio & f. menoncin “optimal pension management in a stochastic framework”, insurance: mathematics and economics 34 (2004) 79. 9. f. menoncin & e. vigna “mean-variance target-based optimisation for defined contribution pension schemes in a stochastic framework”, insurance: mathematics and economics 76 (2017) 172. 10. a. cairns & g. parker “stochastic pension fund modelling”,insurance mathematics and economics 21 (2000) 43. 11. b. o. osu “the price of asset-liability control under tail conditional expectation with no transaction cost”, british journal of mathematics and computer science 1 (2011) 129. 12. a. cairns, d. blake & k. dowd “stochastic lifestyling: optimal dynamic asset allocation for defined-contribution pension plans”, journal of economic dynamic and control 30 (2006) 843. 13. g. deelstra, m. grasselli, & k. pierre-françois “optimal investment strategies in the presence of a minimum guarantee”, insurance: mathematics and economics 33 (2003) 189. 14. r. gerrard, s. haberman & e. vigna “optimal investment choices post retirement in a dened contribution pension scheme”, insurance: mathematics and economics 35 (2004) 321. 15. m. latkovic, & i. liker “sensitivity analysis of accumulated savings in a defined contribution pension system”, financial theory and practice 33 (2000) 431. 16. t. latunde, o. m. bamigbola & y. o. aderinto, “sensitivity of parameters in an optimal control model of the electric power generating system”, ilorin journal of computer science and information technology (iljcsit) 1 (2016) 54. 17. t. latunde & o. m. bamigbola “parameter estimation and sensitivity analysis of an optimal control model for capital asset management”, advances in fuzzy systems, (2018) 1. https//doi.org/10.1155/2018/4756520 18. t. latunde, j. o. richard, o. o. esan & d. d. dare “sensitivity of parameters in the approach of linear programming to a transportation problem of an optimal control model for capital asset management”, journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences 1 (2019) 116. 6 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1160 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences physico-chemical and trace metal analysis in groundwater of nagapattinam region in nagapattinam district of tamilnadu state c. gopia,∗, edward anand ea, a. charlesa, c. manivannanb, s. ponsadai lakshmia, a. josea, m. muthiyanc adepartment of science and humanities, e.g.s. pillay engineering college, nagapattinam, tamil nadu, india. bdepartment of chemistry, puducherry technological university, puducherry, india. c research scholar, department of chemistry, e.g.s. pillay arts & science college, nagapattinam, india. abstract the aim of the present work is to find the quality of water in and around the nagapattinam region and geochemical study of water and its chemical composition with qualitative and quantitatively assessed from the period of post monsoon ( january) in the year 2020. therefore, ten underground water sample were taken from different areas in nagapattinam region and analysed for the following qualities such as color, odour, temperature, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solid, hydrogen ion concentration, calcium, magnesium, chloride, potassium, sodium, nitrate, and sulphate and trace metals like manganese, lead, chromium, copper, iron, arsenic, cadmium and zinc. the physico chemical parameters indicate the quality of ground water varies from bore well to bore well. higher values of any parameter in a borehole indicate that the water is not fit for drinking. therefore, the public is advised that the groundwater source in the study area should be monitored before it is used for domestic and drinking water purposes and that the government should adopt some treatment technology in the current study regions to minimize the hardness and salinity for provide safe water to the public. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2023.1160 keywords: nagapattinam, ground water, monsoon, physico-chemical parameters article history : received: 31 october 2022 received in revised form: 05 january 2023 accepted for publication: 10 january 2023 published: 12 march 2023 c© 2023 the author(s). published by the nigerian society of physical sciences under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and doi. communicated by: dr. k. sakthipandi 1. introduction groundwater plays an important role in the ecological functions of various ecosystems. due to human activities, the groundwater system provides proper circulation for water recirculation; water is being abused and contaminated in ordinary ∗corresponding author tel. no: +91 9994648947 email address: gopi@egspec.org (c. gopi ) conceivable. this pollution causes water quality to decline. half of the groundwater used in metropolitan areas in developing countries comes from wells and boreholes, and many in india rely on these resources. contamination of heavy metals with its surrounding could be a major world concern, as a result of toxicity and threat to human life and ecosystem [1]. heavy metals are superimposed with water system from artificial and natural sources [2]. water quality is more important than quantity in any water. groundwater’s physical and chemi1 c. gopi et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1160 2 cal qualities support its use as a source of water for municipal, agricultural, and domestic purposes [3]. nagapattinam district is a part of the south indian state of tamil nadu, forming parts of the cauvery river basins and vennar sub-basins. geographically, the district lies between latitudes 10◦46′16′′ and longitudes 79◦50′50′′78 as shown in figure 1. from june to september starts south west monsoon and north east monsoon begins from october till january. low rain fall observed in southwest period [4] from march to may summer start and end. it is one of the state’s fastest growing cities, rapid urbanization and industry. groundwater supplies have been put under a lot of strain as a result of urbanization. in the major part of the state, depth of the water level in pre-monsoon may 2019 is 2-5 m bgl and post monsoon january 2020 is greater than 2-5 m bgl shown in figure 2. 2. materials and methods in the post-monsoon period of 2020, water samples were taken from ten sample points in nagapattinam and the surrounding area (january) in the depth of 40 ft. apha [5] was used to collect and analyze the samples. for drinking water, all of the settlements in the research region rely on groundwater. during the collecting and handling of the samples, all precautions were taken. polyethylene containers were used to collect groundwater samples. the ph, electrical conductivity was determined on the spot using digital equipments after sampling. water samples were analyzed for chemical parameters such total dissolved solid, electrical conductivity, hydrogen ion concentration, total hardness, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, nitrate, phosphate, sulfate and trace metals like iron, manganese, chromium, copper, lead, zinc and cadmium. figure 1: location map of study area 3. results and discussion table 1 lists the locations of ground water sampling stations in the research region. the analytical results of physical and chemical parameters of ground water were compared to the world health organizations 1985 standard guideline values for drinking and public health objectives table 2. figure 2: peizometric surface data for pre monsoon and post monsoon seasons table 1: details of ground water sampling stations in the study area s/n sampling stations sample id source of water 1 kadambanoor s1 bore well 2 sengamangalam s2 bore well 3 palaiyur s3 bore well 4 boothangudi s4 bore well 5 nagoore s5 bore well 6 nagapattinam s6 bore well 7 sikkal s7 bore well 8 pappakovil s8 bore well 9 north poigainallur s9 bore well 10 south poigainallur s10 bore well table 2: who and bis standard of drinking water parameters who (48) (2011) bis 2012 (49) study area samples permissible limit permissible limit min-max (mg/l) ph 6.5-8.5 6.5-8.5 6.5-8.7 ec 500-1500 590-1100 tds 500-1500 500-2000 538-956 th 100-500 200-600 246-722 calcium 75-200 75-200 110-532 magnesium 30-150 30 66-103 magnesium 30-150 30 66-103 sodium 50-200 86-180 potassium 10-dec 0.98-3.08 chloride 250-600 250-1000 154-386 bi carbonate 200-500 241-624 sulphate 250-400 200-400 53-89 phosphate 1.1-3.8 nitrate 45 14-19 3.1. ph and electrical conductivity ph is a measurement of a solution’s acidity or felicity. it is defined as the co (h+) hydrogen ion activity coefficient, which 2 c. gopi et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1160 3 table 3: physico-chemical data of drinking water quality parameters of groundwater samples sample ph ec ca2+ mg2+ na+ k+ cl− hco−3 so 2− 4 no − 3 po 3− 4 tds th sar s-1 6.8 600 350 96 180 1.1 289 256 82 14 1.1 742 615 53 s-2 7.8 700 270 82 155 1.37 352 289 78 15 3.2 853 262 56.9 s-3 7.3 850 327 103 114 1.27 262 456 73 15 2.8 924 551 61.6 s-4 8.7 590 220 92 126 0.98 275 241 89 16 3.1 950 246 59.4 s-5 6.5 1100 233 71 86 1.63 386 250 84 19 3.8 920 316 48.4 s-6 7.3 863 310 72 165 2.08 352 624 85 17 3.4 781 444 45.9 s-7 6.6 846 352 102 131 1.91 240 375 53 18 3.2 732 492 40.7 s-8 8.6 978 110 66 132 1.91 258 425 67 16 2.2 538 258 33.6 s-9 6.7 1005 402 75 172 3.08 154 562 72 19 2.1 676 535 35.6 s-10 7.5 630 532 98 124 1.64 356 342 83 19 2.6 956 722 50.3 mini. 6.5 590 110 66 86 0.98 154 241 53 14 1.1 538 246 33.6 maxi. 8.7 1100 532 103 180 3.08 386 624 89 19 3.8 956 722 61.6 table 4: correlation coefficient values between the water quality parameters of groundwater samples in the study area during monsoon 2020 correlation ca++ mg++ na+ k+ cl− hco−3 so 2− 4 po 3− 4 no − 3 ph ec tds ca++ 1 mg++ 0.106 1 na+ -0.374 -0.07 1 k+ 0.0131 -0.29 0.497 1 cl− -0.032 -0.11 -0.35 -0.68 1 hco−3 -0.087 -0.31 0.367 0.573 -0.37 1 so2−4 -0.445 -0.17 0.002 -0.24 0.556 -0.24 1 po3−4 -0.251 -0.17 -0.6 -0.53 0.481 0.001 0.007 1 no−3 0.228 -0.23 -0.33 0.41 -0.01 0.231 -0.11 0.386 1 ph -0.03 -0.26 -0.03 -0.14 0.121 -0.11 0.45 -0.06 -0.4 1 ec 0.219 -0.63 -0.31 0.293 -0.17 0.434 -0.35 0.303 0.487 -0.32 1 tds 0.204 -0.05 -0.48 -0.62 0.537 -0.42 0.57 0.467 0.078 0.044 -0.39 1 can only be calculated theoretically and cannot be measured empirically. the ph scale is a relative scale. it is relative to a set of standard solution which ph is established by international agreement. the ph level varied from 6.5 to 8.7. the maximum value found at s-4 and minimum value is mainly basic in nature [6]. the variation of electrical conductivity is 590 to 1100 µs/cm .in the minimum value found at s-4 and maximum value found at s-5 is within the desirable limit 3.2. total dissolved solids total dissolved solids (tds) indicate the salinity behavior of ground water sample. tds values varied from 538 to 956. if tds is more than 500 mg/l it is not suitable for drinking [7, 8, 9]. in the present study tds values are higher than the prescribed limit given by who. the tds concentration “found to be in above permissible limit may be due to the leaching of various pollutants into the ground water which can decrease the portability and this may results gastrointestinal irritation in human and also have laxative effect. high level of total dissolved solids may aesthetically be unsatisfactory for bathing and washing purposes” [10]. the tds variation indicates a low concentration at s-8 and high concentration at s-10. tds indicates that there is a low concentration of soluble salt in groundwater that is safe to drink. [11, 12, 13]. 3.3. total hardness the total hardness values are observed in the range of 246 to 722 mg/l post monsoon of 2020. total hardness values are within the maximum permissible limit of world health organization in all the sample station except s-1 and s-10. this may be due to presence of bicarbonates, chloride and sulphates of ca and mg present in the water. the total hardness values are observed in the range of 246 to 722 mg/l post monsoon of 2020. total hardness values are within the maximum permissible limit of world health organization in all the sample station except s-1 and s-10. this may be due to presence of bicarbonates, chloride and sulphates of ca and mg present in the water. 3.4. chloride chloride ion is one the anion present in water and waste water as inorganic compound but chlorine in drinking water does not create harmful even at higher concentration it is harmless. if the concentration exceeds the maximum permissible limit it produces cathartic effect in the samples chlorine ranges from 154 mg/l to 386 mg/l. lower the concentration at s-9 and higher concentration at s-5. as a result, it has a high concentration in groundwater, where temperatures are high and rainfall is low. the porosity and permeability of the soil also play a role in raising the concentration of chlorides [10]. 3 c. gopi et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1160 4 3.5. nitrate concentration of nitrogen in groundwater in the range of 14 to 46 mg/l. it shows the site s-3, s-9 and s-10 are found higher concentration and other sites having lower concentration. but who limit for drinking water standard is 45 mg/l. nitrate concentration higher than this limit unfit for drinking .the present amount of concentration is mainly due to agricultural activities. the usage of larger quantity of nitrogen containing fertilizer in the land which may cause leaching from the root of the plants, soil and accumulate in water. 3.6. sulphate in adults, water containing 1000 mg/l magnesium sulphate serves as a purgative. (bhagavathi perumal and thamarai [14, 15]. sulphate occurring in water due to the municipal and industrial activity nearby discharge. also human activity is one of the major anthropogenic attribute to runoff and rainfall. concentration of sulphate varies from 53 mg/l to 89 mg/l. low concentration observed at s-7 and high concentration s-4. the maximum permissible limit of sulphate in water is 400 mg/l. 3.7. phosphate due to the activities of agriculture and anthropogenic increase the phosphate content in water [16]. the phosphate concentration observed in the groundwater samples from the study area varied from below detection level of 1.1 mg/l. phosphate found moderately low at many locations. 3.8. calcium and magnesium the desirable quantity of calcium is 75mg/l. the ca ionic concentration found low as 110 mg/l in sample station s-8 (532 mg/l at s-10) was observed high concentration but the permissible limit of calcium for water 200 mg/l. except s-8 all other samples show above permissible limit. due to low dissolution of magnesium the concentration is less in ground water than calcium [17]. the magnesium concentration is ranges from 66 to 103 mg/l where higher assessment found at s-3 and lower value found at sample station s-8. the acceptable limit of magnesium in water is 150mg/l. 3.9. sodium and potassium there is no guideline proposed for potassium ion but the concentration of sodium is ranges from 86 to 180 mg/l. s-9 and s-6 are found in maximum and minimum concentration respectively also, the concentration of sodium in ground water influences more in agricultural activity. 3.10. iron iron is the essential element for the organism. it occurs naturally in the environment as its ore like hematite. it acts as the central metal atom in the hemoglobin and transport the oxygen in the blood through organs. the deficiency of iron create anemia. the prescribed limit of iron content in drinking water is 0.30 mg/l by who. in the present study area, the maximum value is 0.26 and minimum value is 0.01.the iron content of the entire sample found below detection limit (bdl). 3.11. manganese manganese is the most abundant metals recover from earth crust in the form of oxides and hydroxides. it behaves as trace element and toxic metal due to the industrial activity, soil erosion, volcanic eruption, and human activity which increase the contaminant in ground water which change the odor and taste of the water also deposit within the pipes may break or form black precipitate. the allowable limit of manganese in ground water is 0.4 mg/l but in the present study area the maximum value is 0.08 and minimum value is 0. the manganese content of the entire sample found below detection limit. all the samples found below permissible limit. 3.12. chromium chromium is one of the most abundant heavy metal in nature it occur in the combined state but it exist as trivalent as well as hexavalent in nature as trace. it acts as removal of glucose from blood. but hexavalent chromium causes allergic reaction on human. tannin and paint industry discharge most of the chromium in ground. who has prescribed 0.05mg/l as prescribed limit. present study all the samples found below detection limit (bdl). 3.13. lead lead is a toxic heavy metal which is present in the natural environment but due to the human and industrial activity the concentration of lead increases day by day. it passes to environment through the vehicular exhaust and may causes serious health problem to child hood below six years. it also causes blood pressure, kidney damage [18]. in this study all the samples are found below the detection level. 3.14. copper copper is one of the common heavy metal found in environment. it enters into groundwater through agricultural wastes, pesticides; industrial waste and it create corrosion on pipes. it is the essential element for human health but high concentration copper in drinking water give liver and kidney damage. the acceptable limit of copper in ground water is 2 mg/l as prescribed by who. in the present study area the maximum value is 0.04 and minimum value is 0.01. the copper content of the entire sample found below detection limit (bdl). 3.15. zinc zinc is an essential trace element. it enters into water on location ore are found. lack of zinc in drinking water results slow growth and diarrhea in children, wounds not heal fastly, suppress the immune system with treating the cold and infection in ear, also preventing low respiratory infections. it may be found in excess due to industrial activity, galvanic industry, and battery production industry. from this is observed to avoid larger quantities of nitrogenous and phosphate fertilizer in agricultural lands. this creates the awareness towards excess use of pesticide [19]. the adverse effect of zinc toxicity is stomach aches; vomiting, fever and diarrhea. all of the samples in this investigation were found to be under the who’s permitted level of 3 mg/l. 4 c. gopi et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1160 5 3.16. cadmium cadmium is the commonly found metal in the world as ores of carbonate, sulphide and zinc. it naturally occurs in environment from the fertilizer, polluted ground water and sewage sludge, mining and effluents from industry. anemia, bronchitis are the adverse effect shown when cadmium concentration higher than the permissible limit. who has prescribed 0.003mg/l as the permissible limit. in the current study sample are found below detection level (bdl). 4. statistical studies correlation studies correlation coefficient is the mutual relationship between the two factors. the direct correlation exists when increase in the value of one parameter is associated with other parameter. the positive correlation observed only when increase in one parameter causes the increase in the other parameter vice versa” [20]. the correlated coefficients between varieties of water quality parameters are measured using the table 4. the correlation co-efficient ‘r’ was calculated using the equation r = n (σxy) − (σx) (σy)√[ nσx2 − (σx)2 ][ nσy2 − (σy)2 ] (1) the value of the correlation coefficient (r) ranges between +1 and -1. if the value ranges from +0.8 to 1.0 and -0.8 to -1.0 has characteristic the parameter is strongly, the value +0.5 to 0.8 and -0.5 to -0.8 has the characteristic the parameter is moderately and the value ranges from +0.00 to 0.5 and -0.00 to -0.5.(13) as the characteristic the parameter is weakly. the strong positive correlation of tds (0.537), (0.57) with chloride and sulphite. weak correlation of tds (0.24), (0.467), (0.0078) and (0.044) with calcium, phosphate, nitrate and ph. the correlation coefficient of ec with calcium, potassium, bicarbonate, phosphate, nitrate. ph is weakly correlated with sulphate (0.45). the correlation coefficient of nitrate is positively correlated with calcium, potassium (0.41) and phosphate. phosphate is weakly correlated with chloride (0.481).bicarbonate and sulphates are positively correlated with sodium. potassium (0.131) and magnesium (0.106) are strongly correlated with calcium. from the result most of the ion positively correlated with no3-. this may be due to increase in agriculture activity, animal, human and poor drainage waste. 5. conclusion groundwater in and around nagapattinam, nagapattinam district, is firm, fresh, and alkaline in character, according to physicochemical investigations. the parameters like, magnesium, sodium, phosphate, sulphate, potassium, electrical conductivity, nitrate, total dissolved solids (tds), and chloride results within the allowable limit. water chemistry signifies that higher ec and tds shown in nearby costal region prescribe saline water traces. almost most of the parameters showed higher values like calcium, ph, total hardness. higher values of total hardness and ph indicate saline water intrusion in the particular area. s1, s3, s9 and s10 location requires some treatment for minimization of those parameters. it may be due to increase in prominent people habits and the pollutants may leach inside the ground water. the majority of parameters were reported less than the allowable limit. the low concentration of ions in the sample does not give any adverse effect for utilize the water for house hold and drinking purposes. except s1, s3, s9 and s10 all other sample in the present region suitable for drinking purposes. trace metal contamination in the present study area showed that s1 to s10 below the permissible limit. statistical application carried out by using the correlation analysis indicates that ec, dissolved solids, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chlorine, nitrate and phosphate are the dominant ions in the study area due to the leaching of fertilizer impact [21]. the physicochemical parameters found in the entire study indicate that the quality of ground water differs from bore well to bore well. any parameter with a higher value in a borehole indicates that the water is unfit to drink [22].therefore, the public is advised that the groundwater source in the study area should be monitored before it is used for domestic and drinking water purposes and that the government should adopt some treatment technology in the current study region to minimize the hardness and salinity for provide safe water to the public references [1] g. selvarajan, s .punitha, “estimation of physico-chemical parameters of ground water in kilvelur taluk, nagapattinam district, tamilnadu, india”, int. res j environmental sci. 7 (2018) 37. 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[20] s. siddha, paulami sahu, “assessment of groundwater potential of gandhinagar region, gujarat”, j. geological society 1 (2018) 91. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-018-0824-y [21] k. o. sodeinde, “waste glass : an excellent adsorbent for crystal violet dye ,pb2+,and cd2+ heavy metals ion decontamination from waste water”, j.nigerian society of physical sciences 3 (2021) 261,https://doi.org/10.46481/jnsps.2021.261 [22] s. p. lakshmi, “pollution status of ground water resources through hydrochemical characteristics a case study from southern india”, j. nigerian society of physical sciences 4 (2022) 751, https://doi.org/10.46481/jnsps.2022.751 6 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1081 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences investigation of point refractivity gradient and geoclimatic factor at 70 m altitude in yenagoa, nigeria y. b. lawala,∗, e. t. omotosob adepartment of physics, university of africa, toru-orua, bayelsa state bdepartment of physics, federal university of technology, akure, ondo state abstract the quality of services provided via inter-terrestrial radio communication links such as gsm networks, wide area network (wan), radio and tv broadcasts is largely influenced by some meteorological parameters such as temperature, pressure and humidity. proper knowledge of these parameters, specifically at microwave antenna heights (about 70m) is important in order to maintain an effective line-of-sight (los) link even during the worst weather conditions. the geoclimatic factor is an important quantity that must be considered in the design of terrestrial links for effective wireless communication. this work utilized satellite data from the european center for medium-range weather forecasts (ecmwf) to compute the point refractivity gradient and geoclimatic factor for yenagoa and its environs. the research was necessitated by the paucity of research on this subject matter for yenegoa. the results of the research show that point refractivity gradient and geoclimatic factor in the study area vary with season. the average point refractivity gradient and geoclimatic factor at 70 m above the ground level are:136.433 n-unit/km and 6.638633e-05 respectively. this implies that radiowaves propagating in this region at the said altitude is most likely to be super refractive in both rain and clear air atmospheric conditions. rain or worst condition refers to the period when atmospheric components such as hydrometeor, lithometeor, aerosol have significant effects on propagated radio signals. clear-air conditions means when maximum possible signal is received such that the most threatening atmospheric components (rain drops) have negligible effects on propagated signal. the results will be useful for radio engineers in the design and configuration of inter-terrestrial microwave links in yenagoa and its environs for optimum quality of service. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2023.1081 keywords: gsm, wan, inter-terrestrial, microwave, geoclimatic factor, refractivity gradient article history : received: 22 september 2022 received in revised form: 27 december 2022 accepted for publication: 07 january 2023 published: 27 january 2023 c© 2023 the author(s). published by the nigerian society of physical sciences under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and doi. communicated by: w. a. yahya 1. introduction the condition of the atmosphere is very important for proper planning of terrestrial radio links, navigation and remote sensing installations like radar [1]. the quality of a radio signal and the extent to which it travels within ∗corresponding author tel. no: +2348032412347 email address: lawalyusuf.b@gmail.com (y. b. lawal ) a particular medium are determined by some atmospheric weather parameters which dictate the medium’s refractive index. temperature, pressure, and humidity are the major atmospheric parameters that determine the refractive index in the troposphere [2]. temporal and spatial variations in these parameters have a great effect on the propagation conditions. radio point refractivity gradient and geoclimatic factors are major quantities whose values must be taken into consideration when designing inter-terrestrial radio links. these quantities 1 y. b. lawal & e. t. omotoso / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1081 2 are solely a function of water vapor pressure, temperature, and pressure which are the said atmospheric parameters. precise estimation of refractivity gradient and geoclimatic factor are highly essential in order to determine the multipath fade depth of a communication link [3]. fading is a phenomenon whereby there is a gradual drop in the signal strength of a radio wave as it propagates through the atmosphere. the signal is gradually reduced in the atmosphere because of the various obstacles such as hydrometeors, litheometeors, etc. it encounters. the gradual drop in radio signal results in a fractional power of the transmitted signal reaching a target receiving antenna. multipath fading is a major impairment problem in wireless communication systems such as wireless sensors, mobile telephony, radar systems, tv/radio broadcast etc [3, 4]. the effects of the clear-air fading mechanism due to extreme refractive layers in the atmosphere include, but are not limited to beam spreading, antenna decoupling, surface multipath, and atmospheric multipath [5]. to achieve a seamless inter-terrestrial communication link within a locality, there is a need to carry out accurate estimation of refractivity gradient and geoclimatic factor values. a few research works have been carried out to determine refractivity gradient and geoclimatic factors in some areas in nigeria as presented in table 1. unfortunately, none has attended to the computation of these local parameters in yenagoa except olla and oluwafemi (2018) [6] which predicted them using spatial interpolation. the result is adjudged to be grossly unreliable because only six spatial data points were used generate k-map of nigeria. geoclimatic factor is an important parameter in the planning and design of inter-terrestrial radio links. accurate estimation of geoclimatic factor within a blanket of altitude aids in the identification of worst month condition. thus, leading to proper adjustment of propagation parameters to minimize fade depth margin. the spatial and temporal variability of geoclimatic factor has made it a parameter of interest for local radio engineers. geoclimatic factor is a function of refractivity gradient. consequently, refractivity gradient is a variable that depends on refractivity, a scale-up term for refractive index. according to itu-r, equation (1) expresses the relationship between refractivity n and refractive index n [10]. n = (n − 1) × 106 (1) the value of refractivity gradient determines the degree of curvature of radio signal propagating in the atmosphere for a particular range of altitude. the relationship between refractivity and altitude in the first kilometer above the ground level is linear [11, 12, 13]. for instance, if refractivity n1 is measured at an altitude h1 (km) and another value n2 is obtained at a higher altitude h2 (km) which are less than or equal to 1 km, then the refractivity gradient dn/dh is given by equation (2) [13]. this equation is always negative due to a decrease in the value of refractivity n as altitude increases. dn dh = n2 − n1 h2 − h1 (2) the degree of curvature of radio signals is generally classified into four categories based on the value of refractivity gradient for a given height range [14, 15]. a radio signal is said to be normally refracted if the refractivity gradient is −40 n/km, otherwise, it is abnormally refracted according to equations (3a)(3d) [16]. sub-refraction; ∂n ∂h >−40 n/km (3a) standard refraction; ∂n ∂h = −40 n/km (3b) super refraction;−157n/km < ∂n ∂h <−40 n/km (3c) ducting; ∂n ∂h <−157n/km (3d) figure 1: common classification of atmospheric refraction conditions [17] a sub-refracted radio signal is one with a very large refractivity gradient such that the radio path bends towards the earth but with a curvature less than that of standard refraction as illustrated in figure 1. super refraction is a condition in which the rays bend more rapidly towards the earth when compared with normal refraction. ducting is an extreme case of super refraction in which the degree of curvature of radio signals exceeds that of the earth’s surface curvature. during this condition radio signals especially from radar, may hit the earth surface and suffer multiple reflections instead of hitting the intended target. although ducting may be of great advantage for long-distance non-line-of-sight transmission, such transmitters must be equipped with sufficient transmitting power. 2 y. b. lawal & e. t. omotoso / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1081 3 table 1: reports of previous studies on determination of geoclimatic factors previous studies methodology k-factor for nearest station k-factor for yenagoa remarks etokebe et al., (2016) [7] nimet data was employed to determine g and k at 65m height for calabar. 6.537e05 (calabar) nil emmanuel et al., (2018) [8] ecmwf data was employed to determine g and k at 100m height for 17 stations excluding yenagoa 2.39e04 (port harcourt) nil neither g nor k was computed for yenagoa olla and oluwafemi (2018)[6] nimet data was employed to determine g and k at 65m height for 6 stations excluding yenagoa. the results were used to generate k-map for nigeria 2.791e04 2.791e04 six (6) data points are insufficient to generate data map of nigeria by interpolation and extrapolation techniques oluwafemi and olla (2021)[9] nimet data was employed to determine g and k at 65m height for 6 stations excluding yenagoa. 2.39e04 (port harcourt) nil a propagating radio wave, as shown in figure 1, may miss its target if the actual refractivity gradient within the site is not taken into consideration. 2. methodology 2.1. research location this research work evaluates the necessary point refractivity gradient and geoclimatic factor for the propagation of tropospheric radio waves in yenagoa and its environment. the study area is yenagoa, the capital of bayelsa state, a coastal city in the south-south geo political zone of nigeria. yenagoa is bounded between latitude 4.90 – 4.92◦ n and longitude 6.07 – 6.27◦ e. about 65% of the entire state is covered by water from the atlantic ocean, while the area covered by land is about 15 metres above mean sea level [18, 19]. it is characterized by two climatic seasons: dry and wet seasons. generally, rainfall is experienced in all months of the year in the niger delta region of nigeria. december, january, february and march which are the months with least amount of rainfall make up the dry season [20, 21, 22]. the land mass witnesses a frequent high volume of annual rainfall due to its proximity to the atlantic ocean. this accounts for the reason why attenuation due to rain remains a major threat to radio signals, especially during the rainy season. this research focuses on the determination of radio refractivity gradient and geoclimatic factor which are localized radio propagation parameters. 2.2. data acquisition and computational analysis ten years (2009-2018) monthly meteorological data of yenagoa containing air temperature, relative humidity, pressure and dew point temperature at ground level and 70 m above were retrieved from the archive of the european center for mediumrange weather forecast (ecmwf) [23]. the ecmwf erainterim satellite has a grid and temporal resolutions of 0.75◦ by 0.75◦ lat/long and 24 hours respectively [24]. the values of relative humidity at the two levels were converted to water vapor pressure, e, by using equation (4) while the refractivity was calculated using equation (5) [25]. the data analysis was carried out using microsoft excel software while sorting of the refractivity gradients was accomplished using the necessary empirical equations for determining normal and abnormal refractions (sub-refraction, super-refraction, and ducting). the necessary empirical equations and conditions for the classification of radio refractions in the troposphere are indicated in equations (3a)-(3d). the surface and point refractivities n at 70 m above the ground surface were computed using equation (4) [26]. n = 77.6p t + 3.73 × 105 e t 2 (4) e = h × 6.1121 exp ( 17.502t t+240.97 ) 100 , (5) where p = atmospheric pressure (hpa), t = temperature in degree celsius (◦c), e = water vapour pressure (hpa) defined by equation (5) [27], h = relative humidity (100 %) and t = absolute temperature (k). the refractivity gradients were calculated using equation (2), where n1 is the refractivity at the ground surface (h1), n2 is the refractivity at 70 m height (h2). h1 is the ground surface height (i.e 0 m) and h2 is 70 m. the itu-r recommended formula for computing geoclimatic factor k is given in equation (6) [10, 28, 29] k = 10−4.6−0.0027dn1, (6) where dn1 is the point refractivity gradient, a simple notation representing dndh , the subject of equation (2). the monthly, seasonal, and annual variations of k were studied based on available data. statistical analysis was also carried out to deduce the prevailing type of refraction in the study area and give appropriate recommendations. 3 y. b. lawal & e. t. omotoso / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1081 4 3. results and discussion 3.1. monthly variation of point refractivity gradient the monthly point refractivity gradients for all the months between 2009 and 2018 inclusive were computed and presented in figure 2. according to the classifications of atmospheric refractions in equations (3a)-(3d), it was observed that the prevailing propagation conditions are super-refraction and ducting. similar conditions were reported by [12] for the same station. the results, as presented in figure 2, indicate that refractivity is generally high during the rainy months while low values are predominant in the dry months. the trend of the refractivity gradients shows that the monthly variation has the shape of a stretched letter “m” with double peaks annually. the first peak was observed between may and june which signifies the intense period of the rainy season in the coastal region as reported by [7, 30, 31]. the dip in august could be attributed to the famous august-break which results in a low refractivity gradient due to a decrease in rainfall [31, 32]. the second peak occurred in september which signifies the resumption of frequent rainfall after the august break. figure 2: annual variation of point refractivity gradient 4. seasonal variation of refractivity gradient and kfactor the seasonal variation of refractivity gradient and geoclimatic factor were studied based on the computed monthly values. figure 2 depicts that each month exhibits a unique trend over the years of study. for instance, there is a consistent gradual decrease in the refractivity gradient from january to march of every year. the unique nature of each month informed the decision to average the refractivity gradient values of the corresponding months for all the years. table 2 and figure 3 present the monthly mean of the refractivity gradients from 2009 to 2018. the figure revealed the variation of the refractivity gradient over the two seasons. refractivity gradient rises gradually at the onset of the rainy season specifically from march and becomes fairly steady at a mean value of -68.27 n-units/km between may and july. this is the maximum average refractivity gradient for the entire study period. there is a slight fall in august due to rainfall seizure table 2: monthly average point refractivity gradient and k-factor for yenagoa (2009-2018) months refractivity gradient (n-unit/km) k-factor (k) january -161.604 6.86011e-05 february -227.353 0.000103241 march -214.234 9.51548e-05 april -139.13 5.96557e-05 may -70.0804 3.88344e-05 june -67.9087 3.83137e-05 july -68.2645 3.83985e-05 august -87.6277 4.33106e-05 september -75.8705 4.02578e-05 october -84.3443 4.24355e-05 november -230.899 0.000105542 december -209.879 9.26135e-05 annual average -136.433 6.38633e-05 figure 3: monthly average point refractivity gradient for yenagoa (20092018) associated with this month. the slight fall observed during the august-break is due to the movement of inter-tropical discontinuity (itd) between the northern and southern parts of nigeria. generally, the itd reaches its maximum northward position in august translating to a low amount of precipitation in the south [32]. hence, the refractivity gradient dropped to 87.63 n-units/km. the surge between september and october is due to the resumption of frequent rainfall which signifies the end of rainy seasons in the coastal region. the sharp decline between october and november is occasioned by the cessation of the rainy season. it was observed that the refractivity gradient reduces significantly from -84.34 n-units/km in october to -230.90 n-units/km in november. the month of january is commonly characterized by intense harmattan which causes lower humidity and temperature compared with previous months [33]. this accounts for the slight increase to -161.6 n-units/km in january, followed by a continuous reduction in humidity due to severe solar radiation between february and june [34]. the overall average refractivity gradient during the rainy and dry seasons stands at -75.68 n-units/km and -197.18 n-units/km, respectively. the geoclimatic factor which is an exponential function of 4 y. b. lawal & e. t. omotoso / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1081 5 figure 4: monthly average geoclimatic factor for bayelsa (2009-2018) the point refractivity gradient exhibit a similar trend but in the inverse order. high values prevail during the dry season while low values were dominant during the rainy season as depicted in figure 4. the months of november, february, and march recorded maximum monthly means of 1.06e-04, 1.03e-04, and 9.53e-05, respectively. on the contrary, low values of 3.83e05, 3.84e-05, and 3.88e-05 were recorded in june, july, and may, respectively. the mean values during the rainy and dry seasons are 4.03e-05 and 8.75e-05. the overall annual average point refractivity gradient and geoclimatic factor are 136.43 n-units/km and 6.39e-05, respectively. these results are closely in agreement with the values obtained for calabar by etokebe et. al., (2016) [7]. calabar is also a coastal region in southern nigeria and shares the same climatic features as yenagoa [35]. the results also align closely with the work of [9] which obtained an average geoclimatic factor of 2.39e4 for port harcourt, another coastal city located about 94 km away from yenagoa. 5. conclusion the monthly point 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[35] o. j. olaniran & g. n. sumner, “a study of climatic variability in nigeria based on the onset, retreat, and length of the rainy season”, international journal of climatology 9 (1989) 253. 6 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 95–102 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences original research synthesis, characterization and molecular docking studies of mn (ii) complex of sulfathiazole i. e. otuokerea,∗, j. g. ohwimua, k.c. amadia, c. o. alisab, f. c. nwadirea, o. u. igwea, a. a. okoyeagua, c. m. ngwua adepartment of chemistry, michael okpara university of agriculture, umudike, nigeria bdepartment of chemistry, federal university of technology owerri, nigeria abstract sulfathiazole (sftz) is an antibacterial drug that contains organosulfur compound. it is used as a short-acting sulfa drug. the metal complexes of sulfa-drug have gained considerable importance due to their pronounced biological activity. the sulfa-drugs have received great attentions because of their therapeutic applications against bacterial infections. mn(ii) complex of sulfathiazole was synthesized by reaction of sulfathiazole with mncl2 ·4h2o. the mn (ii) complex was characterized based on uv, ir, 1h nmr spectroscopy and x-ray powder diffraction. the electronic spectrum of the ligand showed intra charge transfer which were assigned to the chromophores present in the ligand, while that of the complex suggested intra ligand charge transfer (ilct) and ligand to metal charge transfer (lmct). in the ir spectrum of sulfathiazole the n −h stretch of s o2 n h appeared at 3255.23cm−1. in the ir spectrum of the metal complex this band was absent. this suggested the deprotonation of the n − h of s o2 n h during complexation reaction. this showed that sulfathiazole acted as a monodentade ligand. 1h nmr spectrum of [mn(sftz)] complex showed the involvement of nitrogen atom of s o2 n h. the crystal structure of [mn(sftz)] complex belongs to monoclinic system, space group p1, with cell parameters of a = 4.519 å, b = 8.704 å, c = 12.608 å, v = 493.5 å 3 , β = 95.69◦. molecular docking suggested that the ligand/complex binded effectively with the e.coli and s.aureus because their global binding energies were negative. the binding interactions of ligand/complex with e. coli and s. aureus were predicted. molecular docking predicted the feasibility of the biochemical reactions before experimental investigation. it was concluded that sulfathiazole behaved as a monodentate ligand towards mn (ii) ion. the binding energy and interaction of [mn(sftz)] with e.coli and s. aureus have also shown that inhibition of the bacterial species are feasible. the mechanism of action of [mn(sftz)] with e. coli and s. aureus is now well understood. keywords: sulfathiazole, spectra bacteria, complex, docking article history : received: 15 june 2019 received in revised form: 01 september 2019 accepted for publication: 02 september 2019 published: 13 october 2019 c©2019 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: w. a. yahya 1. introduction sulfathiazole (figure 1) was the first therapeutic agents used systematically for the cure and prevention of bacterial infections. furthermore, sulfadrugs and their metal complexes, pos∗corresponding author tel. no: +2348065297631 email address: ifeanyiotuokere@gmail.com (i. e. otuokere ) sess many applications as diuretic, antiglaucoma or antiepileptic drugs, among others. sulpha drugs show important biological activity e.g mechanism of action is based on the competitive antagonism of paba (p-aminobenzoic acid) and the sulfanilamide [1, 2]. it has been reported that the activity of the metal complex is much better than the ligand alone [3, 4]. studies on their metal chelates have much physiological and pharmacological relevance because the metal chelates of sulfadrugs have 95 otuokere et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 95–102 96 been found to be more bacteriostatic than the drugs themselves [5, 6]. the role of metal ions in living systems has been well established in recent years. the use of transition metal complexes as medicinal compounds has become more and more prominent. these complexes offer a great diversity in their action; they do not only have anti-cancer properties but have also been used as anti-inflammatory, anti-infective and anti-diabetic compounds [7]. metal ions play pivotal roles in many biological processes, and the study of the roles of these metal ions in biological systems falls into the rapidly developing interdisciplinary field known as bioinorganic chemistry. when compared to other branches of natural sciences, bioinorganic chemistry seems to be a young discipline. however, there is a copious amount of information on the effects of metals on biological systems. for instance, the toxicities of metal ions such as mercury, lead and chromium on the environment have been well publicized [8, 9]. metal complexes containing the sulphonamide group has found importance because of their applications as biological, biochemical, analytical, antimicrobial, anticancer, antibacterial, antifungal and antitumor activity [10, 11, 12]. they also find application as antibiotics, anti-inflammatory agents and in the industry as anticorrosion agents [13-17]. molecular complexes of sulfonamides have been reported [18]. syntheses, characterization, thermal and antimicrobial studies of binuclear metal complexes of sulfa-guanidine schiff bases have been reported [19]. the metal complexes of sulfaguanidine were assessed to be more potent than the free ligand [19]. it is in view of this pharmacological importance of sulphonamide that we have reported the synthesis, characterization and molecular docking studies of mn-sulphathiazole. figure 1: structure of sulfathiazole 2. material and methods all chemicals and reagent used in this experimental work were of analytical grade. pure sulfathiazole, and mncl2 ·4h2o salt were all imported from sigma–aldrich laboratories. the solvents are ethanol, methanol, acetone, chloroform, sodium hydroxide, benzene and dimethyl sulfoxide. synthesis of [mn(sftz)]: the complex was prepared following a reported procedure [21]. mn (ii) salt solution was prepared by dissolving 3.96 g(0.02 mol) mncl2 ·4h2o in 25 ml of distilled water. the solution of the metal salt was added slowly with stirring in a separate 20 ml of distilled water containing 5.1 g of sulfathiazole (0.02 mol) at room temperature maintaining the ph between 6.0 6.5 by adding dilute solution of koh. the synthesis was carried out with stirring at room temperature. after 1 hour, the complex separated out. the complexes were washed well with distilled water, recrystallized, filtered and finally dried in vacuum and weighed and melting point recorded. melting points of the complex was determined using mpa160 melting point apparatus. atomic absorption spectroscopy was carried out on duck-2010 spectrometer (duck instrumental company) [20]. infrared spectrum was collected on perkin elmer paragon 1000 ft-ir spectrophotometer (spectrum bx) equipped with cesium iodide window (4000 − 350cm−1) in k br pellets. the uv-visible spectrum was obtained on a perkin elmer (lambda 25) spectrometer (200−800 nm) using distilled water as solvent. the 1 h nuclear magnetic resonance (nmr) spectra were obtained using varian 400 mhz unity inova, using dmso as solvent. in the crystallographic studies, appropriate amounts of the crystal was collected and deposited on bruker d8 diffractometer operating in transmission mode usin germanium monochromated cukα1 radiation, λ = 1.5406 å, linear position-sensitive detector covering 12◦ in 2θ, 2θ mode range 3.5◦ 70◦, step size 0.017◦ and 17 h data collection time. fox software was used for structure determination and refinement. molecular docking: the three-dimensional structure of escherichia coli and staphylococcus aureus and were obtained from the protein data bank, pdb 1e91 and 1stn respectively. the protein structures were subjected to a refinement protocol using molegro molecular viewer. molecular docking was performed using patchdock server: an automatic server for molecular docking [22]. refinement was done in firedock server: an automatic server for fast interaction refinement in molecular docking and processed with molegro molecular viewer [23-26]. 3. results and discussion crystallographic data and structure refinement parameters for [mn(sftz)] is given in table 1, whereas the powdered xray diffraction is shown in figure 2 figure 2: powdered x-ray diffraction of [mn(sftz)]. the crystal structure of [mn(sftz)] complex belongs to monoclinic system, space group p1, with cell parameters of a = 4.519 å, b = 8.704 å, c = 12.608 å, v = 493.5 å 3 , β = 95.69◦. elemental and physical properties of sulfathiazole and its metal complex are shown in table 2 the elemental analysis of sulfathiazole and its mn(i i) complex showed that the experimental values are in agreement with the calculated values the colour of the new product suggested the formation of complex because transition metal complexes 96 otuokere et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 95–102 97 table 1: crystal data and structure refinement for sulfathiazole and its (mn(ii) complex parameters [mn(sftz)] temperature (k) 298 wavelength (å) 0.71073 crystal system monoclinic space group p 1 a(å) 4.519 b(å) 8.704 c(å) 12.608 α(◦) 90 β(◦) 95.69 γ(◦) 90 volume (å 3 ) 493.51 (1.0v) table 2: elemental and physical properties of sftz and [mn(sftz)] ligand/complex % mn colour melting point yield (%) found ◦c (calculated) sftz — white 202 – 202.5 — [mn(s ft z)] 17.50 pink 141 142 86 (17.77) are coloured. the change in melting point also indicated the formation of new complex. the infrared spectra data of sulfathiazole and its mn(i i) complex are presented in table 3 figure 3: ir spectrum of sulfathiazole [21]. figure 4: ir spectrum of [mn(sftz)]. a comparison of ir spectrum of sftz and that of the complex was made (figures 3 and 4). the infrared spectrum of sftz showed a broad band at 3354.00 and 3321.00 cm−1 [21]. this band was assigned n − h stretch of the primary amine due to asymmetric and symmetric stretching vibrations of the two n − h bonds. in the ir spectra of the mn(i i) complex, this vibration frequency remained unchanged. this suggested that n h2 was not involved in complexation. vibration frequency 1323.00 cm−1 and 1140.00 cm−1 were assigned to be vas(o=s=o) and vs(o=s=o) in sftz. in the complex, these frequencies showed up at 1319.79 and 1138.39 cm−1 in [mn(sftz)]. it is evident that sulfonyl group was not involved in coordination to mn. in sftz spectrum c − n stretching vibration was observed at 1497.00 cm−1. in the spectrum of the complex, these functional group was observed at 1494.05 cm−1 [mn(sftz)]. this observation suggest that coordination did not occurred through c − n in [mn(sft)]. the n − h stretch of s o2 n h appeared at 3255.23 cm−1 in the free ligand. in the ir spectrum of the metal complex this band was absent. this suggested the deprotonation of the n−h of s o2 n h during complexation reaction. the uv spectral data of sulfathiazole and its mn(i i) complex are presented in table 4, while the spectra are present in figures 5 and 6. figure 5: uv-vis spectrum of sulfathiazole. the uv-vis spectrum of sftz showed a band centered at 269 nm. it was assigned π − π∗ due to intra-ligand charge 97 otuokere et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 95–102 98 table 3: infrared spectral data of sulfathiazole and its mn(i i) complex ligand/complex vas(o=s=o) vs(o=s=o) v (n h) v (cn) (n − h) (cm−1) (cm−1) (cm−1) (cm−1) (cm−1) (primary amine) (s o2 n h) sftz 1323.00 1140.00 3354.00, 3321.00 1497.00 3255.23 [mn(s ft z)] 1319.79 1136.39 3350.32, 3320.10 1494.05 absent table 4: the uv spectral data of sulfathiazole and its complex. ligand/metal complex λmax(nm) assignment sft 269 π−π∗(ilct) [mn(s ft z)] 270 π−π∗(ilct) 230 lmct figure 6: uv-vis spectrum of [mn(sftz)]. transfer (ilct).the uv-vis spectrum of [mn(sftz)] showed a band centered at 270 nm which has been assigned ilct due to π−π∗. the chromophores that may exhibit this transition are s=o and c=n. a sharp peak centered at 230 nm suggested ligand to metal charge transfer (lmct). the 1 h − n mr spectral data of sulfathiazole and its mn(i i) complex are presented in table 5. the spectra are shown in figures 7 and 8. figure 7: 1 hn mr spectrum of sulfathiazole [21]. in the 1 hn mr spectrum of sftz, the aromatic protons appeared at 6.51 and 7.43 ppm while the thiazole protons are observed between 6.71 and 7.18 ppm [21]. nh2 protons were observed at 5.80 ppm. in the spectrum of the metal complex, these chemical shifts remained relatively unchanged. in the hnmr spectrum of sftz, the hydrogen that appeared as a singlet at 12.4 ppm is no longer observed in the spectra of the metal complex. this is attributed to the loss of hydrogen atom of figure 8: 1 hn mr spectrum of [mn(sftz)]. the (o2s − n − h) group of sftz when coordination occurred through the nitrogen to the metal centre. based on the uv, ir, 1 hn mr spectra and x-ray powder diffraction, the structure (figure 9) has been proposed for [mn(sftz)]. figure 9: proposed structure of [mn(sftz)]. the solutions tables of the molecular docking are shown in tables 6 9. the crystal structure of the e. coli rna degradosome component enolase and s. aureus nuclease are shown in figures 10 and 11 respectively. the crystal structure of e. coli contains four protein chains (a, b, c and d) and 506 water molecules. the crystal structure of s. aureus nuclease is made up of one protein chain (a) and 83 water molecules. the molecular docking and molecular interactions of sulfathiazole with e. coli are presented in figures 12a and 12b. the molecular docking and molecular interactions of [mn(sftz)] with e. coli are presented in figures 13a and 13b. the molecular docking and molecular interactions of sulfathiazole with s. aureus 98 otuokere et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 95–102 99 table 5: 1 h − n mr spectral data of sulfathiazole and its complex. ligand/ thiazole protons o2s − n − h n h aromatic complex (δ ppm) (δ ppm) (δ ppm) (δ ppm) sft 6.71 7.18 12.4 5.80 6.51-7.43 [mn(s ft z)] 7.02 -7.45 absent 5.80 6.51-7.43 nuclease are presented in figures 14a and 14b. . the molecular docking and molecular interactions of [mn(sftz)] with s. aureus nuclease are presented in figures 15a and 15b. figure 10: crystal structure of e. coli rna degradosome component enolase. figure 11: crystal structure of s. aureus nuclease. figure 12: (a) crystal structure of e. coli rna degradosome component enolase docked with sulfathiazole. (b) molecular interactions of sulfathiazole with e. coli rna degradosome component enolase. the best ranking in table 6 is solution 2 with global energy -46.74 kcal/mol. this suggested that sulfathiazole has the figure 13: (a) crystal structure of e. coli rna degradosome component enolase docked with [mn(sftz)]. (b) molecular interactions of [mn(sftz)] with e. coli rna degradosome component enolase. figure 14: (a) crystal structure of s. aureus nuclease docked with sulfathiazole. (b) molecular interactions of sulfathiazole with s. aureus nuclease. figure 15: (a) crystal structure of s. aureus nuclease docked with [mn(sftz)]. (b) molecular interactions of [mn(sftz)] with s. aureus nuclease. ability to inhibit e. coli. the attractive vander waals and atomic contact energy (ace) showed negative values. these suggested that sulfathiazole docked effectively with e. coli. the molecular interactions (figure 12b) show that e. coli formed hydrogen bonding with sulfathiazole using ala 247(c) and glu 250(c). steric interaction between e. coli and sulfathiazole were observed with gly 156(c), glu 157(c), asn 161(c), ala 260(c), asn 162(c), val 163(c), and asp 164(c). the best global energy in table 7 is -40.08 kcal/mol (so99 otuokere et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 95–102 100 table 6: solution table of sftz docked with e. coli(vdw = vanderwaals; ace = atomic contact energy). rank solution global attractive repulsive ace number energy vdw vdw (kcal/mol) (kcal/mol) (kcal/mol) (kcal/mol) 1 2 -46.74 -15.12 1.68 -16.11 2 5 -39.59 -14.83 1.49 -12.46 3 9 -34.11 -12.29 1.08 -10.99 4 10 -25.97 -13.63 0.99 -4.88 5 6 -21.88 -13.34 3.23 -3.65 6 1 -21.72 -12.16 0.20 -2.46 7 4 -17.18 -13.71 3.19 0.16 8 7 -11.34 -8.06 2.10 -2.04 9 3 -5.73 -12.05 18.51 -2.15 10 8 3.31 -12.71 29.59 -1.56 table 7: solution table of [mn(sftz)] docked with e. coli(vdw = vanderwaals; ace = atomic contact energy). rank solution global attractive repulsive ace number energy vdw vdw (kcal/mol) (kcal/mol) (kcal/mol) (kcal/mol) 1 9 -40.08 -11.96 3.61 -15.77 2 4 -38.68 -14.27 2.68 -12.57 3 1 -35.93 -13.63 2.29 -11.48 4 6 -33.85 -11.60 1.10 -11.54 5 8 -29.70 -11.47 1.62 -9.17 6 10 -29.18 -9.28 0.71 -10.35 7 3 -20.15 -10.26 1.42 -5.76 8 5 -19.49 -10.86 3.63 -6.83 9 7 -18.03 -12.44 4.59 -2.38 10 2 -10.31 -13.92 8.90 1.35 table 8: solution table of sftz docked with s. aureus (vdw = vanderwaals; ace = atomic contact energy). rank solution global attractive repulsive ace number energy vdw vdw (kcal/mol) (kcal/mol) (kcal/mol) (kcal/mol) 1 1 -25.35 -11.53 3.66 -7.77 2 9 -24.36 -13.36 1.42 -5.00 3 2 -21.31 -9.73 2.95 -6.32 4 6 -19.93 -8.76 1.77 -7.08 5 3 -19.27 -6.79 0.61 -7.54 6 8 -18.63 -11.33 1.99 -3.87 7 7 -16.25 -9.00 2.49 -5.05 8 10 -10.07 -5.26 2.43 -3.60 9 5 -9.98 -8.36 5.39 -4.11 10 4 -9.65 -5.51 2.56 -4.53 100 otuokere et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 95–102 101 table 9: solution table of [mn(sftz)] docked with s. aureus (vdw = vanderwaals; ace = atomic contact energy). rank solution global attractive repulsive ace number energy vdw vdw (kcal/mol) (kcal/mol) (kcal/mol) (kcal/mol) 1 4 -23.56 -9.86 4.80 -9.09 2 8 -23.48 -10.23 1.83 -7.94 3 1 -22.65 -11.19 4.93 -8.21 4 5 -16.39 -9.69 1.59 -3.65 5 9 -13.64 -6.72 4.14 -6.44 6 2 -13.17 -6.45 5.68 -5.97 7 6 -11.25 -7.38 2.10 -3.20 8 7 -7.27 -4.41 2.60 -4.43 9 10 -5.71 -4.97 2.29 -1.96 10 3 0.59 -11.04 38.87 -9.47 lution 9). this suggested that [mn(sftz)] has the ability to inhibit e. coli. the attractive vander waals and atomic contact energy (ace) were also predicted. their negative value predicted effective binding. the molecular interactions (figure 13b) showed that e. coli formed hydrogen bonding with [mn(sftz)] through gly 166(b) and hoh 208(b). steric interactions between [mn(sftz)] and e. coli occured with his 158(b), ala 247(b), ser 249(b), gln 166(b) and asp 316(b). the best ranking in table 8 is solution 1 with global energy -25.35 kcal/mol. this suggested that sulfathiazole has the ability to inhibit s. aureus. the attractive vander waals and atomic contact energy (ace) showed negative values. these suggested that sulfathiazole docked effectively with s. aureus. the molecular interactions (figure 14b) showed that s. aureus formed hydrogen bonding with sulfathiazole using hoh 225(a) and hoh 291(a). steric interaction between s. aureus and sulfathiazole were observed with gln 80, lys 116, tyr 115 and pro 117. the best ranking in table 9 is solution 4 with global energy 23.56 kcal/mol. this suggested that [mn(sftz)] has the ability to inhibit s. aureus. the attractive vander waals and atomic contact energy (ace) showed negative values. these suggested that [mn(sftz)] docked effectively with s. aureus. the molecular interactions (figure 15b) show that s. aureus formed hydrogen bonding with [mn(sftz)] using hoh 295(a), hoh 242(a) and glu 52. steric interaction between s. aureus and [mn(sftz)] were observed with pro 42, lys 110, tyr 41, glu 43 and glu 52. 4. conclusion complex of manganese ion with sulfathiazole was successfully synthesized. the colour, ir, uv 1 h nmr spectra and xray powder diffraction suggested that new products were formed. this also shows that sulfathiazole can be used to remove toxic metals from the environment or from the biological system. this is because they can be complexed with sulfathiazole. molecular docking study predicted the binding energies and interactions between the compounds and bacterial strains. it helped us to understand the mechanism of action of the proposed complex. a thorough investigation should be carried out to find out whether the synthesized drugs can be safely used as a metal based anti-bacterial drug for the treatment of bacterial infections. we also recommend toxicology test for the complexes. acknowledgments we thank the referees for the positive enlightening comments and suggestions, which have greatly helped us in making improvements to this paper. references [1] g. m. h. golzar, “synthesis and characterisation of cobalt complex of sulfathiazole with acetic acid”, j. saudi chemical society 17 (2013) 253. 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[26] m. zacharias “accounting for conformational changes during proteinprotein docking”, current opin structural biology 20 (2010) 180. 102 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1094 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences effects of hybrid exchange correlation functional (vwdf3) on the structural, elastic, and electronic properties of transition metal dichalogenides s. a. yamusaa, a. shaarib, i. isahc, u. b. ibrahimd, s. i. kunyac, s. abdulkarimd, y. s. itase,∗, i. m. alsalamhf a department of physics, federal college of education zaria, p.m.b 1041, zaria, kaduna state, nigeria b department of physics, faculty of science, universiti teknologi malaysia c department of science laboratory technology, jigawa state polytechnic, dutse, jigwa state nigeria d faculty of science, physics department kano university of science and technology, wudil, kano, nigeria e department of physics, bauchi state university, gadau, p.m.b. 65 bauchi, nigeria f physics department, faculty of science, university of hail, saudi arabia abstract in this research, the effects of van der waals forces on the structural, elastic, electronic, and optical properties of bulk transition metals dichalcogenides (tmds) were studied using a novel exchange-correlation functional, vdw-df3. this new functional tries to correct the hidden van der waals problems which are not reported by the previous exchange functionals. molybdenum dichalcogenide, mox2 (x = s, se, te) was chosen as a representative transition metal dichalcogenide to compare the performance of the newly designed functional with the other two popular exchange-correlation functional; pbe and rvv10. from the results so far obtained, the analysis of the structural properties generally revealed better performance by vdw-df3 via the provision of information on lattice parameters very closer to the experimental value. for example, the lattice constant obtained by vdw-df3 was 3.161 å which is very close to 3.163 å and 3.160 å experimental and theoretical values respectively. calculations of the electronic properties revealed good performance by vdw-df3 functional. furthermore, new electronic features were revealed for mox2 (x = s, se, te). in terms of optical properties, pbe functional demonstrates lower absorption than vdw-df3, as such it can be reported that vdw-df3 improves photon absorption by tmds. however, our results also revealed that vdw-df3 performed well for mos2 than for mose2 and mote2 because of the lower density observed for the s atom in mos2. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2022.1094 keywords: van der waals, pbe, hexagonal, vdw-df3, dichalcogenides. article history : received: 29 september 2022 received in revised form: 21 november 2022 accepted for publication: 02 december 2022 published: 14 january 2023 c© 2023 the author(s). published by the nigerian society of physical sciences under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and doi. communicated by: taoreed owolabi ∗corresponding author tel. no: +2348069316888 email address: yitas@basug.edu.ng ( y. s. itas ) 1. introduction the study of transition metal dichalcogenides has grown in popularity as a condensed matter physics research area and as a potential resource for a range of applications that could 1 s. a. yamusa et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1094 2 affect scientific and high-tech advancement. dft explanations on how electrons in the many-body systems interact with each other depending on the so-called approximations of the exchange-correlation (xc) functional [1]. moreover, much of the successes in dft came from the fact that these functions often produce accurate results. however, there are some situations where failures are reported by many of these functional [2]. therefore, there is a need to understand the accurate xc functional to adequately describe the behavior of the many-body electronic system. one good example of failure by xc is the inability to fully describe a long-range electron interaction also called dispersion forces. van der waals problem by local density approximation (lda) and perdew-burke-ernzerh (pbe) exchange functional remains a challenge that needs urgent improvement [3] the problem of lack of dispersion forces otherwise referred to as van der waals (vdw) forces, is one of the most disturbing problems in dft. therefore it becomes one of the most traded topics in condensed matter physics and material science. it can be understood by the fact that over 800 dispersion-based dft studies were reported in 2011 compared to fewer than 80 in the whole of the 1990s [4]. recent studies have revealed that lda exhibits overestimations of the lattice constants for a and c of 0.4 % and 5.2 %, and gga underestimates c by 4 % while overestimating a by 0.58 %, respectively. this problem persisted in tmds, especially in terms of their mechanical, electronic, and optical characteristics [5]. in this research, a full demonstration of the effects of van der waals forces on the mechanical, electronic, and optical properties of tmds was carried out with mox2 (x = s, se, and te). transition metal dichalcogenides are types of materials that can be metallic or semiconducting [6]. the semiconducting tmds represent the layered materials [7], they can also be classified as direct or indirect energy band gap materials. for example, mos2, mose2, ws2, and wse2 are direct band gap semiconductors. in this study mos2, mose2 and mote2 were considered. molybdenum dichalcogenides mox2 (x = s, se, and te) in the most stable phase 2h-mx2 belong to the space group p63/mmc (194), it has a hexagonal crystal structure with wyckoff positions of 2c and 4f with z coordination value of 0.3779. literature studies revealed that the study of the effect of van der waals forces on this material using the new exchange functional vdw-df3 has not been conducted. although mos2 has been reported as good material for hydrogen storage [8], there are need to explore the potentials of other di-chalcogenides such as mose2 and mote2. based on the obtained results, vdw-df3 may demonstrate promising results on the electronic and optical properties of tmds. table 1 demonstrates the results on the effect of the pre-existing exchange functional with the experimental values. reports from table 1, revealed that there are still more problems to solve regarding the effect of van der waals, for example, the obtained value for the lattice parameter with pbe is 3.680 å, that of rvv10 is 2.186 å which is far away from the experimental value of 3.163 å obtained. therefore there is a need to use better exchange functional such as vdw-df3 for better improvement in the next generations’ sustainability science and technology to pave way for optoelectronic applications. 2. research method the three materials were first optimized using three selected exchange-correlation functional (pbe, rvv10, and vdw-df3) by setting the brillouin zone sample 12 × 12 × 3 monkhorst pack k-mesh and 800 ev plane wave cut-off energy. the optimization was performed till the total energy and force converged to 10−3 ev, this is true for all three materials (mos2, mose2, and mote2). the calculations were performed via ab initio density functional theory (dft) using plane-wave basis as implemented in the quantum-espresso package, this includes the optimization, and determination of equilibrium lattice parameters, and electronic band gaps. an auxiliary package to the quantum espresso thermo_pw [1] was also used in the calculation of the elastic constants and optical properties. to make an accurate comparison, kohn-sham equations were applied by implementing the dft ab initio quantum computing framework within the perdiew-burke-emzahope (pbe) exchange functional [9], rvv10 and our novel vdw-df3 functional. calculations were performed using a non-spin polarized dft to save computational costs. to ensure accurate results in this study, tmds were appropriately relaxed to appropriate geometries. for all three systems, the length and the height were chosen as 12.03 å each. the chiral/translation vectors were constructed such that the maximum force, stress, and displacements were set at 0.05 ev/å each. 3. results and discussion 3.1. structural and elastic properties the equilibrium lattice parameters for the three systems were determined by fitting energy volume in the standard equation of the state. this can also be obtained by polynomial fit to the energy-volume data [10]. the lattice parameter can be determined from equilibrium volume as: a0 = ( v k )1/3 (1) where k is the ratio c/a for the materials mox2 (x = s, se, and te). the crytallogrphic structure of mos2, mose2 and mote2 are presented in figure 1. the lattice parameters were calculated such that the three systems can be viewed as having a hexagonal p6_3/mmc symmetry with a lattice constant of 3.66 å. the mo-s and s-s bond lengths are 2.415 å and 3.131 å respectively which agrees with the available literature [11]. in the case of mose2, the bond lengths of mo-se and se-se atoms were 2.424 å and 3.113 å, respectively. to obtain significant results from our calculations, 2 s. a. yamusa et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1094 3 figure 1: crystal structure of 2h-mx2: (a) unit cell, (b) top view lattice parameters of mote2 were also studied, these were ensured to be 2.423 å and 3.116 å respectively. to further understand the vdw-df3 effects, we calculated the formation energy based on the lattice parameters earlier reported [12, 13]. the results are presented in table 2. the result predicted the output of the effects of van der waals under pbe, rvv10, and the novel vdw-df3 exchange functional. table 1 presented the result of the calculated equilibrium lattice parameter of molybdenum chalcogenide mox2 for the three exchange-correlation functional (pbe, rvv10, and vdw-df3) compared to the available experimental and theoretical results. table 1: the calculated lattice parameters with the three functional are compared with the available experimental and theoretical results pbe (å) rvv10 (å) vdwdf3 (å) theor. results [15] expt. ref. a(å) 3.680 2.186 3.161 3.163 3.160 [14] mos2 c(å) 13.37 13.394 12.296 12.442 12.290 [16] a(å) 2.314 3.523 3.293 3.295 3.288 [17] mose2 c(å) 13.001 13.036 12.918 13.088 12.920 [18] a(å) 3.874 3.489 3.551 3.617 3.520 [19] mote2 c(å) 13.906 13.965 13.817 14.261 13.970 [11] it can be seen that the vdw-df3 successfully describe accurately the lattice parameter of the three systems with only 1 % error. this shows that the functional performed excellently in the determination of the lattice parameters of a bulk mox2. molybdenum chalcogenide mox2 (x = s, se, te) is a hexagonal crystal with 2h-mox2 as the most stable phase. for this type of crystal, there are only five independent elastic constants. the five elastic constants were used to check the stability of the optimized structure using the born stability criteria [20] and to determine the mechanical properties of the materials for the three correlation functional. the calculated properties were compared with the available literature both experimentally and theoretically [21, 22, 23], which is presented in table 2. the born stability criteria were checked using equations (2) (4 [24]. c11 > |c12| (2) 2c213 < c33 (c11 + c12) (3) c44, c66 > 0, (4) where c66 = (c11 − c12) /2 and ci j are the five independent elastic constants for the hexagonal materials. as presented in table 2, vdw-df3 revealed high mechanical stability for all systems. therefore it can be reported that vdw-df3 xc functional significantly improves correction to van der waals problem in tmds. 3.2. electronic properties the electronic band structures of the molybdenum chalcogenides mox2 (x = s, se, te) were calculated along the high symmetry point of the brillouin zone by following the kpaths γ − m − k − γ for all the three systems. results of the three xc functional (pbe, rvv10 and vdw-df3) were obtained as presented in figure 2. the valence band maximum (vbm) and conduction band minimum (cbm) located at γ and between γ − k, respectively, were used to determine the band gaps as shown in table 3. to further explain the efficiency of vdw-df3 xc functional, the electronic band structure and density of states were calculated for mos2, mose2 and mote2 systems, the results presented in figure 2 show that mos2 demonstrated band gap of 0.79 ev, mose 2 revealed 0.88 ev and mote2 was found to be 0.67 ev. this results showed significant improvement in narrowing the band gap of tmds by vdw-df3 xc functional which brought them to new applications for optoelectronics [25]. therefore vdw-df3 xc functional make significant contribution towards turning tmds from wide gap to narrow gap semiconductors. in terms the partial density of states (pdos), calculations were performed to determine contributions by different s, p, d, f orbitals, the results are illustrated in figure 2 (b, d and f). to further elaborate on the nature of the band gap of the three systems, the total density of state (tdos) and partial density of state for the mos2, mose2, and mote2, are illustrated in figure 2. in terms of mos2 (figure 2(b)), the lower valance bands at -6.95 to 0.28 ev are composed mainly of mo4d states and s-3p states, zero states were seen from 0.28 to 0.58 ev. the conduction bands are mainly due to mo-4d and s-3p states located at 0.68 to 3.92 ev, there are lower contributions above 4.002 ev up to the conduction bands. for mose2 (figure 2(d)), the valance bands are composed of mo-4d and se-4p states located at -5.99 to 0.24 ev, the width 0.47 ev to 0.0.36 ev is the fermi level of zero states and above 0.35 ev is mainly composed of mo-4d and se-4p states for conduction bands. for mote2, valance band contribution starts from the energy range of -5.69 to 0 ev mainly by mo-4d te-5p states, fermi level was show from 0 ev to 0.2 ev, and the conduction bands contribution is the energy range above 0.74 ev mainly by mo-4d and te-5p. it can beseen that vdw-df3 was able to 3 s. a. yamusa et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1094 4 table 2: elastic constants in gpa, bulk modulus b in gpa, young modulus e in gpa, and shear modulus g in gpa for three functional for mox2, (x = s, se, and te) material funct. c11 c12 c13 c33 c44 b g e b/g σ pbe 214.39 51.92 13.43 55.27 17.73 57.860 97.784 40.13 1.442 0.218 mos2 rvv10 218.01 53.89 18.86 69.27 4.48 65.303 73.342 27.933 2.338 0.313 vdw-df3 94.21 76.71 25.85 305.07 5.00 79.171 50.102 17.964 4.407 0.395 pbe 78.34 64.68 46.85 403.90 2.36 83.32 83.698 47.07 1.046 5.001 mose2 rvv10 88.32 68.71 53.27 387.93 3.53 88.38 89.207 50.233 1.118 4.994 vdw-df3 87.94 69.88 47.15 459.24 4.31 91.39 91.845 58.691 1.495 4.361 pbe 116.84 30.71 36.83 111.78 25.16 61.577 85.590 33.741 1.825 0.268 mote2 rvv10 119.70 33.14 20.33 69.05 26.98 48.538 82.769 34.039 1.426 0.216 vdw-df3 122.44 31.08 13.33 54.48 27.91 42.193 82.021 34.873 1.210 0.176 figure 2: electronic band structure and density of state of mos2 (a) and (b), mose2 (c) and (d), and (e) and (f) for mote2 using three the fuctionals table 3: the energy gap of mos2, mose2, and mote2 with the three exchangecorrelation functionals system pbe (ev) rvv10 (ev) vdw-df3 (ev) ref. mos2 0.84 0.85 0.79 this work mose2 0.84 0.75 0.88 this work mote2 0.73 0.67 0.67 this work figure out all orbitals contributions as against pbe and rvv10 xc functionals. 3.3. optical properties the optical properties of mos2, mose2, and mote2 bulk crystals with polarization along x-direction (in-plane) are calculated using independent particle approximation by solving time-dependent density-functional theory (tddft) and linear response technique [3], using the sternheimer approach within thermo_ pw code [1], a proprietary branch of the quantum espresso project [4]. the calculated real and imaginary parts of frequency-dependent microscopic dielectric function in the energy range of 0 to 21 ev were plotted. the imaginary parts of the dielectric function of mos2 (figure 4), mose2 (figure 5), and mote2 (figure 6) were obtained from interband transition for the parallel and perpendicular direction of the electric field as computed from equation (3) [5], however, the real part of the frequency-dependent dielectric function was obtained from kramers-kroning relation as shown in equation (6) [2]: �2(ω) = 2πe2 ω�0 σκ,ν,c ∥∥∥∥λ̄. 〈ψck|u.r|ψνk〉∥∥∥∥2 δ (eck − eνk − e) . (5) where λ̄ is the polarization vector of light and the integral is over the brillouin zone, u, ω, e, ψck, ψ ν k are the polarization vector of the incident electric field, frequency of light, the electronic charge, and conduction and valance band wave function at k, respectively. �1(ω) = 1 + 2 π p ∫ ∞ 0 ω′�2(ω′) ω′2 −ω2 dω′, (6) where p denotes the integral’s principle value. the computed real and imaginary dielectric functions of mos2, mose2, and 4 s. a. yamusa et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1094 5 figure 3: real and imaginary dielectric functions for mos2 with respect to the (a) pbe (b) rvv10 and (c) vdw-df3 functionals figure 4: real and imaginary dielectric functions for mose2 with respect to the (d) pbe (e) rvv10 and (f) vdw-df3 functionals mote2 within the three functionals are plotted in figures 3, 4 and 5, respectively. the result shows that the interband transition due to mo-4d and s-3p, se-4p, and te-5p states move to lower energies from mos2, mose2, and mote2, respectively. both mos2, mose2 and mote2 materials show anisotropy [8] in the energy range from 0 to 7.5 ev and isotropy at higher 5 s. a. yamusa et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1094 6 figure 5: real and imaginary dielectric functions for mote2 with respect to the (a) pbe (b) rvv10 and (c) vdw-df3 functionals energy. to further confirm the band gap in the three systems, a bound state can be seen at 2.0 ev, 1.1 ev and 1.2 ev for pbe, rvv10 and vdw-df3 functional respectively, the results obtained by vdw-df3 was found to be in good agreement with previous theoretical results [15]. similar results were also obtained for mose2, mote2, these were presented in figures 4 and 5, respectively. to describe optical absorption, the imaginary dielectrics for all systems were studied. favourable results were obtained by vdw-df3 functional, for example higher optical absorptions were observed for mos2 (figure 3c) at 22.5 cm−1 which corresponds to 2.80 ev, this is the absorption in the visible range, other functionals only demonstrated absorption in the infra-red range, which significantly underestimates the absorption characteristcs of tmds. 4. conclusion to conclude this work, results so far obtained brought out new hidden properties of tmds which failed to be reported by pbe and rvv10 functionals. calculation of the elastic properties revealed that tmds are more stable with vdw-dft3, higher moduli of elasticity such as young’s moduli, shear moduli and bulk moduli were significantly improved with well agreement with theoretical results. from the results of electronic properties, it revealed that bulk tmds can be turned from being a wide gap semi conductors to being a narrow gap semiconductors, it also shows that d’orbital majorly contributed to narrowing the band gap in all the sysyems. higher optical absorption are also repoted by vdw-df3, this brought the systems under study as potential candidates for optoelectronics [25]. acknowledgement the authors acknowledge dr. abdu barde college of vocational and technical study, department of science and laboratory technology, dutse, jigwa state, and the university of technology malaysia for financial support, facilities, and services of high-performance computing on this research work. references [1] i. g. kaplan, modern state of the conventional dft method studies and the limits following from the quantum state of the system and its total spin. density functional theory-recent advances, new perspectives and applications, intechopen, (2022). 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[25] e. e. etim, m. e. khan, o. e. godwin, & g. o. ogofotha, “quantum chemical studies on c4h4n2 isomeric molecular species”, journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences 3 (2021) 429. 7 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 218–227 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences original research numerical algorithms for direct solution of fourth order ordinary differential equations j. o. kuboye, o. r. elusakin∗, o. f. quadri department of mathematics, federal university oye-ekiti, oye-ekiti, nigeria abstract this paper examines the derivation of hybrid numerical algorithms with step length(k) of five for solving fourth order initial value problems of ordinary differential equations directly. in developing the methods, interpolation and collocation techniques are considered. approximated power series is used as interpolating polynomial and its fourth derivative as the collocating equation. these equations are solved using gaussianelimination approach in finding the unknown variables a j, j=0,...,10 which are substituted into basis function to give continuous implicit scheme. the discrete schemes and its derivatives that form the block are obtained by evaluating continuous implicit scheme at non-interpolating points. the developed methods are of order seven and the results generated when the methods were applied to fourth order initial value problems compared favourably with existing methods. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2020.100 keywords: interpolation, collocation, block methods, fourth order, ordinary differential equations article history : received: 07 may 2020 received in revised form: 10 august 2020 accepted for publication: 15 august 2020 published: 01 november 2020 c©2020 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: f. y. eguda 1. introduction the general fourth order initial value problem of ordinary differential equations of the form yiv = f (x, y(x), y′(x), y′′(x), y′′′(x)), y(x0) = y1, y ′(x0) = y2, y ′′(x0) = y3 (1) is considered in this article. in the past, solving fourth order ordinary differential equations (odes) requires reducing ∗corresponding author tel. no: +23480xxxx572 email address: opeyemielusakin21@gmail.com (o. r. elusakin ) the differentials to systems of first order odes and approximate numerical method for the first order would be used to solve the system. this approach is been attached with lots of setbacks which include: computational burden, lots of human effort, complexity in developing computer code which affects the accuracy of the method in terms of error. this was extensively discussed by researchers like awoyemi [1], fatunla [2] and lambert [3]. due to several disadvantages found in reduction method, the direct method of solving odes of higher order was developed by lots of scholars which include akeremale et al. [4], abolarin et al. [5], kuboye et. al [6], omar & kuboye [7], adeyefa [8], abdullahi et al. [9], adeniyi & mohammed [10], olabode [11], adesanya et al.[12], omar & suleiman [13] 218 kuboye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 218–227 219 and familua & omole [14]. specifically, numerical methods for solving equation (1) were proposed by omar and kuboye[15], areo and omole[16] and mohammed[17]. these current methods solved directly equation (1) but its accuracy in terms of error can still be improved. therefore, this paper examines the derivation and implementation of the efficient numerical algorithm for solving fourth order ordinary differential equations directly and it focuses on improving the accuracy of the existing methods. 2. methodology this section considers derivation of block methods for direct solution of fourth order odes. 2.1. derivation of first block method(fbm) power series approximate solution of the form y(x) = k+5∑ j=0 a j x j (2) is used as interpolating polynomial where k=5.the fourth derivative of equation(2) gives: yiv(x) = k+5∑ j=4 j( j − 1)( j − 2)( j − 3)a j x j−4 (3) equation (2) is interpolated at x = xn+i, i = 0(1)2 and 5 2 and equation (3) is collocated at x = xn+i, i = 0(1)5 and 5 2 . interpolation and collocation equations are combined together to give a non-linear system of equations of the form: k+5∑ j=0 a j x j n+i = yn+i k+5∑ j=4 j( j − 1)( j − 2)( j − 3)a j x j−4 n+i = fn+i (4) the unknown variables a′j s in (4) are gotten with the use of gaussian elimination approach which are substituted into equation (2) and this yields a continuous implicit scheme of the form k−3∑ j=0 α j(t)yn+ j + α 5 2 yn+ 52 = h 4 k∑ j=0 β j(t) fn+ j + h 4λ 5 2 fn+ 52 (5) where t = x−xn+k−1h  α0(t) α1(t) α2(t) α 5 2 (t)  =  −9 5 −27 10 −13 10 −1 5 8 34 3 5 2 3 −18 45 2 17 2 1 64 5 208 15 24 5 8 15   t0 t1 t2 t3  (6) 219 kuboye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 218–227 220  β0(t) β1(t) β2(t) β 5 2 (t) β3(t) β4(t) β5(t)  = t  t0 t1 t2 t3 t5 t6 t7 t8 t9 t10  (7) where t =  297000 290304000 404694 290304000 75279 290304000 −102185 290304000 72576 290304000 36288 290304000 −2880 290304000 −7200 290304000 −2080 290304000 −192 290304000 3441528 11612160 5154498 11612160 2433933 11612160 323717 11612160 32256 11612160 15232 11612160 −1728 11612160 −3072 11612160 −800 11612160 −64 11612160 6797304 5806080 10732194 5806080 5745021 5806080 1207573 5806080 −145152 5806080 −6048 5806080 10944 5806080 12384 5806080 2720 5806080 192 5806080 560520 2268000 690174 2268000 419859 2268000 267195 2268000 −129024 2268000 −46592 2268000 11520 2268000 9600 2268000 1920 2268000 128 2268000 1716984 5806080 3760866 5806080 3494877 5806080 153384 5806080 −290304 5806080 −72576 5806080 27072 5806080 16704 5806080 3040 5806080 192 5806080 187272 11612160 129150 11612160 −353709 11612160 −650629 11612160 −169344 11612160 −3136 11612160 20160 11612160 7392 11612160 1120 11612160 64 11612160 428760 290304000 508266 290304000 −76719 290304000 −322779 290304000 290304 290304000 266112 290304000 118080 290304000 2880 290304000 3680 290304000 192 290304000  the coefficient of first and higher derivatives of (5) give α′0(t) α′1(t) α′2(t) α′5 2 (t)  =  27 10 26 10 −6 10 34 3 30 3 6 3 45 2 34 2 −6 2 208 15 144 15 124 15  1 h (8) 220 kuboye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 218–227 221  β′0 β′1 β′2 β′5 2 β′3(t) β′4(t) β′5(t)  = s  t0 t1 t2 t4 t5 t6 t7 t8 t9  (9) where s =  −134898 96768000 −50186 96768000 102185 96768000 −120960 96768000 −72576 96768000 6720 96768000 19200 96768000 6240 96768000 640 96768000 5154498 11612160 4867866 11612160 971151 11612160 161280 11612160 91392 11612160 −12096 11612160 −24576 11612160 −7200 11612160 −640 11612160 3577398 1935360 3830014 1935360 1207573 1935360 −241920 1935360 −120960 1935360 25536 1935360 33024 1935360 8160 1935360 640 1935360 690174 2268000 839718 2268000 801585 2268000 −645120 2268000 −2795520 2268000 80640 2268000 76800 2268000 17280 2268000 1280 2268000 1253622 1935360 2329918 1935360 1533845 1935360 −483840 1935360 −145152 1935360 63168 1935360 44544 1935360 9120 1935360 640 1935360 −129150 11612160 707418 11612160 1951887 11612160 846720 11612160 18816 11612160 −141120 11612160 −59136 11612160 −10080 11612160 −640 11612160 169422 96768000 −51146 96768000 −322775 96768000 4838405 96768000 532224 96768000 275520 96768000 76800 96768000 11040 96768000 640 96768000   α′′0 (t) α′′1 (t) α′′2 (t) α′′5 2 (t)  =  13 5h2 −6 5h2 10 h2 4 h2 17 h2 −6 h2 48 5h2 16 5h2   t0 t1  (10) 221 kuboye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 218–227 222  β′′0 (t) β′′1 (t) β′′2 (t) β′′5 2 (t) β′′3 (t) β′′4 (t) β′′5 (t)  = u  t0 t1 t3 t4 t5 t6 t7 t8  (11) where u =  −25093 48384000 102185 48384000 −241920 48384000 −181440 48384000 20160 48384000 67200 48384000 24960 48384000 2880 48384000 811311 1935360 323717 1935360 107520 1935360 76160 1935360 −12096 1935360 −28672 1935360 −9600 1935360 −960 1935360 1915007 967680 1207573 967680 −483840 967680 −302400 967680 76608 967680 11558 967680 32640 967680 2880 967680 139953 378000 267195 378000 −430080 378000 −232960 378000 80640 378000 89600 378000 23040 378000 1920 378000 1164959 967680 1533845 967680 −967680 967680 −362880 967680 18950 967680 155904 967680 36480 967680 2880 967680 117903 1935360 650629 1935360 564480 1935360 15680 1935360 −141120 1935360 −68992 1935360 −13440 1935360 −960 1935360 −25573 48384000 −322775 48384000 967680 48384000 1330560 48384000 826560 48384000 268800 48384000 44160 48384000 2880 48384000   α′′′0 (t) α′′′1 (t) α′′′2 (t) α′′′5 2 (t)  =  −6 5 4 −6 16 5  t0 (12)  β′′′0 (t) β′′′1 (t) β′′′2 (t) β′′′5 2 (t) β′′′3 (t) β′′′4 (t) β′′′5 (t)  = v  t0 t2 t3 t4 t5 t6 t7  (13) 222 kuboye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 218–227 223 where v =  20437 9676800 −14515 9676800 −145152 9676800 20160 9676800 80640 9676800 3494 9676800 4608 9676800 323717 967680 322560 967680 304640 967680 −60480 967680 −172032 967680 −67200 967680 −7680 967680 1207573 967680 −1451520 967680 −1209600 967680 383040 967680 69350 967680 228480 967680 23040 967680 −53439 75600 258048 75600 186368 75600 −80640 75600 −107520 75600 −32256 75600 −3072 75600 1533845 967680 −2903040 967680 −1451520 967680 947520 967680 935424 967680 255360 967680 23040 967680 650629 1935360 1935360 1693440 62720 1935360 −705600 1935360 −413952 1935360 −94080 1935360 −7680 1935360 −64555 9676800 580608 9676800 1064448 9676800 826560 9676800 322560 9676800 61824 9676800 4608 9676800  discrete schemes and its derivatives are derived by evaluating (5) as well as its derivatives at grid points and non-grid points which are used to form the block yn+1 yn+2 yn+ 52 yn+3 yn+4 yn+5  =  1 1 1 1 1 1  [ yn ] +  1 2 5 2 3 4 5  [ hy′n ] +  1 2 2 25 8 9 2 8 25 2  [ h2y′′n ] +  1 6 4 3 125 48 9 2 32 3 125 6  [ h3y′′′n ] + h4  0 0 0 0 0 579232268000 0 0 0 0 0 1967670875 0 0 0 0 0 1075412518579456 0 0 0 0 0 5850956000 0 0 0 0 0 18534470875 0 0 0 0 0 478759072   fn−4 fn−3 fn− 52 fn−2 fn−1 fn  + h4  413 10368 −8977 90720 9292 70875 −2279 36288 29 3780 −6593 9072000 428 567 −122 81 140288 70875 −2672 2835 4 35 764 70875 33640625 18579456 −30109375 9289728 89375 20736 −19109375 9289728 171875 688128 −437875 18579456 16137 4480 3267 560 6948 875 −243 64 207 448 −4887 112000 28928 2835 −7936 567 1441792 70875 −27136 2835 32 27 −7936 70875 1609375 72576 −484375 18144 23500 567 −671875 36288 15625 6048 −2375 10368   fn+1 fn+2 fn+ 52 fn+3 fn+4 fn+5  (14) 2.2. derivation of second block method(sbm) equation(2) is interpolated at x = xn+i, i = 0(1)2 and 9 4 and equation(3) is collocated at x = xn+i, i = 0(1)5 and 9 4 . the same steps used in deriving the first block method are also employed and this produces the block method 223 kuboye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 218–227 224  yn+1 yn+2 yn+ 94 yn+3 yn+4 yn+5  = [ yn ] +  1 2 9 4 3 4 5  [ hy′n ] +  1 2 2 81 32 9 2 8 25 2  [ h2y′′n ] +  1 6 4 3 243 128 9 2 32 3 125 6  [ h3y′′′n ] + h4  0 0 0 0 0 690432721600 0 0 0 0 0 1169642525 0 0 0 0 0 11919084392936012800 0 0 0 0 0 57935600 0 0 0 0 0 220168505 0 0 0 0 0 568625108864   fn−4 fn−3 fn−94 fn−2 fn−1 fn  + h4  76921 1814400 −1139 6480 594688 3274425 −6749 181440 7421 1270080 −11717 19958400 11248 14175 −7558 2835 8978432 3274425 −1576 2835 344 3969 −1352 155925 3705501897 2936012800 −169057287 41943040 229379121 55193600 −247763043 293601280 540947889 4110417920 −425211849 32296140800 84159 22400 −2349 224 148224 13475 −5031 2240 1377 3920 −8667 246400 150272 14175 −10496 405 8388608 297675 −15872 2835 17888 19845 −256 2835 1668125 72576 −115625 2268 7520000 130977 −378125 36288 509375 254016 −147625 798336   fn+1 fn+2 fn+ 94 fn+3 fn+4 fn+5  (15) 3. analysis of the method properties of the methods are examined in this section. 3.1. order of block methods in finding the order of the block methods,the method proposed by lambert[3] is employed whereby taylor series expansion are used in expanding the y and f-functions and by further comparing the coefficients of h,this gives the block methods to be of order [7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7]t . 3.2. zero-stability a linear multi-step method is said to be zero-stable if the roots rs, s=1,2,..., n(grid and non grid points) of the first characteristics polynomial defined by p(r) = det(ra ′ − b ′ ) satisfy |rs| < 1 and the root |r| = 1 having multiplicity not exceeding one.(lambert [3]) where a ′ =  1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  224 kuboye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 218–227 225 , b ′ =  0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  therefore r=0,0,0,0,0,1. hence the zero-stability of first block method is confirmed which is also applied to the second block method. 3.3. convergence according to awoyemi[1], equation(5) converges if it is zero-stable and consistent.this implies that the developed methods converged. 4. test problems the following fourth order initial value problems[i.v.p] are solved in order to examine the accuracy of the methods problem 1: yiv = x, y(0) = 0, y ′ (0) = 1, y ′′ (0) = y ′′′ = 0, h = 0.1 e xactsolution : y(x) = x 5 120 + x source: mohammed[17] problem 2: yiv − y = 0, y(0) = 1, y ′ (0) = 0, y ′′ (0) = −2, y ′′′ (0) = 0, h = 1320 e xactsolution : y(x) = −14 e x − 1 4 e −x + 32 cos(x) source: areo and omole[16] problem 3: yiv = (y ′ )2 − yy ′′′ − 4x2 + ex(1 − 4x + x2), y(0) = 1, y ′ (0) = 1, y ′′ (0) = 3, y ′′′ (0) = 1, h = 0.132 e xactsolution : y(x) = x2 + ex source: familua and omole [14] the following acronyms are used in the tables below es exact solution cs computed solution fbm – first block method 225 kuboye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 218–227 226 sbm – second block method eim[17] error in mohammed[17] eiao[16]error in areo and omole[16] eiok [15]error in omar and kuboye[15] eifbm error in first block method eisbm error in second block method eifo [14] error in familua and omole [14] table 1. es and cs of fbm for problem 1 x es cs 0.1 0.100000083333333340 0.100000083333333340 0.2 0.200002666666666690 0.200002666666666690 0.3 0.300020250000000040 0.300020250000000040 0.4 0.400085333333333350 0.400085333333333400 0.5 0.500260416666666650 0.500260416666666760 0.6 0.600647999999999960 0.600648000000000070 0.7 0.701400583333333330 0.701400583333333550 0.8 0.802730666666666700 0.802730666666666700 0.9 0.904920750000000050 0.904920750000000160 1.0 1.008333333333333300 1.008333333333333500 table 2. es and cs of sbm for problem 1 x es cs 0.1 0.100000083333333340 0.100000083333333340 0.2 0.200002666666666690 0.200002666666666690 0.3 0.300020250000000040 0.300020250000000100 0.4 0.400085333333333350 0.400085333333333400 0.5 0.500260416666666650 0.500260416666666650 0.6 0.600647999999999960 0.600648000000000070 0.7 0.701400583333333330 0.701400583333333220 0.8 0.802730666666666700 0.802730666666666810 0.9 0.904920750000000050 0.904920750000000160 1.0 1.008333333333333300 1.008333333333333300 5. discussion of results in tables 1 and 2, exact and computed solutions of fbm and sbm for solving problem 1 are shown. table 3 reveals the efficiency of these block methods (eisbm and eisbm) as compared favourably with eim[17] and eiok[15]. furthermore, exact and computed solutions of the newly developed block table 3. comparison of eifbm and eisbm with eim[17] and eiok[15] for solving problem 1 x eifbm eisbm eim(2010) eiok(2016) 0.1 0.0000000e+00 0.0000000e+00 7.000024e-10 1.002087e-12 0.2 0.0000000e+00 0.0000000e+00 8.9999912-10 0.000000e+00 0.3 0.0000000e+00 5.5511151e-17 2.599993e-09 0.000000e+00 0.4 5.5511151e-17 5.5511151e-17 5.100033e-09 0.000000e+00 0.5 1.1102230e-16 0.0000000e+00 7.799979e-09 1.002087e-12 0.6 1.1102230e-16 1.1102230e-16 1.180009e-08 2.755907e-12 0.7 2.2204460e-16 1.1102230e-16 1.180009e-08 3.507306e-12 0.8 0.0000000e+00 1.1102230e-16 1.410006e-08 3.507306e-12 0.9 1.1102230e-16 1.1102230e-16 1.880000e-08 4.175549e-12 1.0 2.2204460e-16 0.0000000e+00 1.008335e-08 4.759970e-12 table 4. es and cs of fbm for problem 2 x es cs 0.0031250 1.000009765628973500 1.000009765628973700 0.0062500 1.000039062563578400 1.000039062563578400 0.0093750 1.000087890946866900 1.000087890946867100 0.0125000 1.000156251017263000 1.000156251017263500 0.0156250 1.000244143108567400 1.000244143108567400 0.0187500 1.000351567649961900 1.000351567649962400 0.0218750 1.000478525166021100 1.000478525166021300 0.0250000 1.000625016276719800 1.000625016276719600 0.0281250 1.000791041697446400 1.000791041697446800 0.0312500 1.000976602239017000 1.000976602239017000 table 5. es and cs of sbm for problem 2 x es cs 0.0031250 1.000009765628973500 1.000009765628973900 0.0062500 1.000039062563578400 1.000039062563578400 0.0093750 1.000087890946866900 1.000087890946866900 0.0125000 1.000156251017263000 1.000156251017263500 0.0156250 1.000244143108567400 1.000244143108567100 0.0187500 1.000351567649961900 1.000351567649962100 0.0218750 1.000478525166021100 1.000478525166021100 0.0250000 1.000625016276719800 1.000625016276719600 0.0281250 1.000791041697446400 1.000791041697445900 0.0312500 1.000976602239017000 1.000976602239017200 table 6. comparison of eifbm and eisbm with eiao[16] for solving problem 2 x eifbm eisbm eiao (2015) 0.0031250 2.2204460e-016 4.4408921e-016 4.440892e-16 0.0062500 0.0000000e+000 0.0000000e+000 2.176037e-14 0.0093750 2.2204460e-016 0.0000000e+000 .771916e-13 0.0125000 4.4408921e-016 4.4408921e-016 7.666090e-13 0.0156250 0.0000000e+000 2.2204460e-016 2.367773e-12 0.0187500 4.4408921e-016 2.2204460e-016 5.932477e-12 0.0218750 2.2204460e-016 0.0000000e+000 1.287681e-11 0.0250000 2.2204460e-016 2.2204460e-016 2.517841e-11 0.0281250 4.4408921e-016 4.4408921e-016 4.546752e-11 0.0312500 0.0000000e+000 2.2204460e-016 7.712331e-11 ’ table 7. es and cs of fbm for problem 3 x es cs 0.103125 1.119264744787591900 1.119264744969084200 0.206250 1.271599493198048500 1.271599504741302500 0.306250 1.452110907065013100 1.452111029006491400 0.406250 1.666216862500122800 1.666217515460942200 0.506250 1.915347109920916500 1.915349507140536000 0.603125 2.191581593606204900 2.191588302867649500 0.703125 2.514440293333696500 2.514456732090109900 0.803125 2.877516387746607200 2.877551937602963200 0.903125 3.282936158805099100 3.283006004031709900 1.003125 3.733049511495175400 3.733176679391747100 226 kuboye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 218–227 227 table 8. es and cs of sbm for problem 3 x es cs 0.103125 1.119264744787591900 1.119264744966372600 0.206250 1.271599493198048500 1.271599504536039800 0.306250 1.452110907065013100 1.452111026692671300 0.406250 1.666216862500122800 1.666217502634746300 0.506250 1.915347109920916500 1.915349459022614800 0.603125 2.191581593606204900 2.191588166231517800 0.703125 2.514440293333696500 2.514456393591375100 0.803125 2.877516387746607200 2.880551715825508700 0.903125 3.282936158805099100 3.283004543615038400 1.003125 3.733049511495175400 3.733174005515217600 table 9. comparison of eifbm and eisbm with eifo [14] for solving problem 3 x eifbm eisbm eifo[14] 0.103125 1.8149238e-010 1.7878077e-010 9.02145880e-10 0.206250 1.1543254e-008 1.1337991e-008 1.216821428e-09 0.306250 1.2194148e-007 1.1962766e-007 1.21681228e-09 0.406250 6.5296082e-007 6.4013462e-007 1.713796095e-09 0.506250 2.3972196e-006 2.3491017e-006 1.481970916e-08 0.603125 6.7092614e-006 6.5726253e-006 3.058338503e-08 0.703125 1.6438756e-005 1.6100258e-005 4.941858156e-08 0.803125 3.5549856e-005 3.5007632e-005 7.128679089e-08 0.903125 6.9845227e-005 6.8384810e-005 1.058773080e-07 1.003125 1.2716790e-004 1.2449402e-004 1.445520074e-07 methods for the solution of problems 2 and 3 are demonstrated in tables 4, 5, 7 and 8. these methods outperform method proposed by areo and omole [16] in terms of accuracy. in addition, the performance of these methods in solving problem 3 is not encouraging as the accuracy is lower when the comparison is made with eifo [14]. however, the capability of these methods in solving the nonlinear equation is established in table 9. finally, it is evident in tables 3, 6 and 9 that sbm is better than fbm in solving fourth order odes. 6. conclusion in this paper, new numerical algorithms for solving fourth order initial value problems of odes via multistep collocation approach were developed. the use of approximated power series as a basis function and its fourth derivatives as collocating equation were considered. the derived methods are efficient in the solution of fourth order odes as depicted in tables 3, 6 and 9. the accuracy of these numerical models is found better compared with some of the existing methods in terms of error. hence, fbm and sbm are viable numerical methods for solving fourth order initial value problems. acknowledgments we thank the referees and editor for the creative comments in making improvements to this paper. references [1] d. a. awoyemi, “class of continuous methods for general second order initial value problems in ordinary differential equations”, international journal of computer mathematics 72 (2009) 29. 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[15] j. o. kuboye & z. omar, “new zero-stable block method for direct solution of fourth order ordinary differential equation”, indian journal of science and technology 8 (2015) 1. [16] e. a. areo & e. o. omole, “half-step symmetric continuous hybrids block method for the numerical solutions of fourth order ordinary differential equations”, archives of applied science research 7 (2015) 39. [17] u. mohammed, “a six step block method for solution of fourth order ordinary differential equations”, the pacific journal of science and technology 11 (2010) 259. 227 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 209–215 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences implementation of modified differential evolution algorithm for hybrid renewable energy system g. r. venkatakrishnana,∗, r. rengaraja, k. k. sathishb, r. k. dinesha, t. nishantha adepartment of electrical and electronics engineering, sri sivasubramaniya nadar college of engineering, kalavakkam, chennai bdepartment of chemical engineering, sri sivasubramaniya nadar college of engineering, kalavakkam, chennai abstract a hybrid renewable energy system, which could provide a reliable energy alternative for conventional battery systems is implemented in this paper. the primary requirement is that the hybrid energy system should be cost-effective while meeting the energy demand. the hybrid system is implemented to a area located in uttarakhand, india using solar photovoltaic cells to supply power during hot and humid conditions and using wind turbine generators to supply power during windy conditions. the wind turbine generators and photovoltaic cells are used in a combined manner along with the diesel generators as in case if it fails to meet the demand. in order to meet the requirements, modified differential evolution (de) algorithm is being implemented. moreover, the effectiveness of the performance is evaluated by comparing the results obtained from modified de with other optimization algorithms. in comparison with other optimization algorithms, results indicate that the implementation of the modified de algorithm helps in obtaining the best cost effective solution for the system along with meeting the energy demand. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2021.240 keywords: hybrid systems, evolutionary algorithms, renewable energy, differential evolution article history : received: 28 may 2021 received in revised form: 22 june 2021 accepted for publication: 18 july 2021 published: 29 august 2021 c©2021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: e. etim 1. introduction complexity and size of the power system is increasing day by day, owing to increasing population and demand of electricity. hence, a continuous and reliable supply of electricity is the most important requirement of industries and other fields. in the modern integrated power system, due to unaccommodating requirements various challenging problems are imposed on the electrical utilities. thus, a proper planning of the power system using the optimal operation technique is required at a ∗corresponding author tel. no: email address: venkatakrishnangr@ssn.edu.in (g. r. venkatakrishnan ) high level. the power system when it is optimally operated determines the best system state by considering all kinds of constraints to which it is subjected. the different considerations by which the power system can be operated optimally are either the economics of operation or system security or emission of fossil fuel plant. since this consideration makes a conflict over one another, a compromise between these is required to operate the power system optimally. among the different consideration, the ideology of using the available power efficiently among the public and government, the economic analysis of power system has gained more importance when compared to others. hence the importance and the implementation of renewable energy resources come into existence. in order to save fossil fuels and to reduce the harmful greenhouse gasses emissions, re209 venkatakrishnan et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 209–215 210 newable energy resources must be exploited at a greater extent. hence, the sustainability of such a system will be questioned as these renewable resources are not found throughout the year around. therefore, it is better to implement a hybrid system in such a case where if one part of the system falls back, there are other resources to help meet the demand. now, we would have to have a proper optimization of the given resources to attain a maximum efficiency and at a minimum cost. although there a lot of iterative approaches in existence, the best way to optimize them would be the implementation of the evolutionary algorithms. the reasons for the implementations of the evolutionary algorithms than its counterparts as well as the advantages of the modified de algorithm over other algorithms are discussed as follows. abbaas azarpour et al have discussed the importance of renewable energy resources in their paper [1]. more emphasis is given over the ill-effects caused by these renewable energy resources in addition to their advantages over conventional sources of energy such as fossil fuels, etc. the effects caused by each renewable energy source are explained in this paper. the increasing usage of fossil fuels has lead to its depletion and thus the advantages of the usage of solar energy to countries that lie in the equator have been studied by ho soonmin[2,3]. the importance of wind energy was being highlighted by tarang agarwal et al[4]. the various issues and challenges faced by a country while installing a standalone wind turbine system was being put forward in this paper. the various issues includes grid related issues, design issues, location issues, and its impact on the environment. now, when all these renewable energy sources are considered individually, they have their drawbacks. for instance, the solar plants have certain disadvantages, such as high installation costs, and the peak output would not be obtained during the cloudy and windy days. the biomass plant’s maximum output reduces during the lower temperature—similarly, the wind turbines become faulty during very high or during very lowspeed applications. so, to relinquish the drawbacks of one of the sources, renewable resources are used in a combined manner. renewable resources when combined, for instance, if wind and solar plant combine, then during cloudy days, the wind turbine’s output increases. during the hot and humid climates, solar plants produce a peak output. thus, the drawback of one of the resources is compensated in the other while using hybrid renewable energy resources. various types including hybrid wind-solar energy system, hybrid wind-solar diesel energy system, hybrid wind-diesel energy system, hybrid solar-diesel energy system and various other hybrid systems are being discussed in [5]. a small brief summary about the various types are being discussed. then, small introductions about the various types of optimization algorithms that can be included in these systems are being summarized. the paper concludes by saying that with hybrid renewable energy systems, it is possible to achieve better results, at lower cost and hence save resources. the combination of wind as well as solar energy systems with battery as a backup source was being implemented to various test case systems in [6] and [7]. particle swarm optimization (pso) method was being implemented to achieve the power demand individually for every particular house from a hybrid renewable energy system was being implemented [8]. a hybrid renewable energy system (hres) combining pv, wind as well as biomass energy systems was being implemented [9]. based on minimal cost of energy, the optimal configuration for the hres system is obtained. the optimal solution is being obtained using genetic algorithm (ga) and pso and the end results were being tabulated. a new approach was being implemented to reduce the dependence on diesel generators by an optimal combination of the solar, and wind system with the backup of a battery storage system being implemented [10]. a comprehensive review consisting sizing and optimization of hybrid pv-wind energy system was being studied and discussed thoroughly by hadi nabipour-afrouzi et al [11]. conventional methods became less used owing to the fact that these methods face a lot of disadvantages when compared to the modern optimization algorithms. conventional methods were satisfactorily successful for purely continuous variable optimal power flow, whereas that is not the situation in for real life problems as there exists several discrete control variables. over the past few decades, many new evolutionary algorithms have been developed to overcome the conventional methods. different evolution (de) algorithm is one of the evolutionary algorithms which has been implemented in solving problems in different engineering fields. the de algorithm has been implemented to a standard ieee 30 system with 6 thermal plants and 2 wind farms [12]. in [13-21], de algorithm is used to optimize the parameters in different power system problems. but the success of de algorithm depends on the choice of parameters like population size np, mutation rate fand crossover rate crvaries its performance (searching accuracy and convergence speed). hence, in [22], an improved version of de algorithm is implemented to solve the above complex non-linear problems. in this paper, that modified de algorithm is being used to optimize the various parameters of the hres system in [23], and the objective function is to minimize the final system cost. it helps identify the best possible combination of the hybrid system components which meets the demand as well as possessing the minimum cost. the end results are a final tabulation comparing the results obtained from ga, pso and modified de. figure 1 depicts the block diagram of chosen system. 2. modelling of hybrid system 2.1. pv system the hourly power output of the pv array is calculated using eqn. (1) as follows: ptpv = fpv ∗ ypv ∗ ( it is ) (1) where, ptpv is the hourly power output of the pv array in kw, fpv is the pv derating factor, ypv is the pv array capacity in kw, it is the global solar radiation incident on the pv array and is is equal to 1 kw/m2 210 venkatakrishnan et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 209–215 211 figure 1. block diagram of hybrid system 2.2. wind turbine generator the wind turbine generator’s power output is calculated using eqn. (2) as v (h hub) v (h anem) = ( h hub h anem )α (2) where, h anemis the anemometer height in meter (m), h hubis the hub height in meters (m), v (h anem)is the speed of the wind at the anemometer height in meters per second (m/s),v (h hub) is the speed of the wind at the hub height in meters per second (m/s), and α is the power law exponent. once the wind speed is adjusted accordingly, the wind turbine’s output power is calculated using eqn. (3) as ptwt g =  0 0 ≤ v ≤ vcut−inand v ≥ vcut−out( a ∗ v3 ) + (b ∗ prated ) vcut−in ≤ v ≤ vrated prated vrated ≤ v ≤ vcut−out (3) where the constants a and b in the above formula are a given by the following equations a = prated( v3rated − v 3 cut−in ) (4) b = vcut−in( v3rated − v 3 cut−in ) (5) where vcut−in, vcut−out, and vrated are the cut in, cut out and rated speeds of the wind turbine generator respectively in m/s and prated gives the rated output power of the wind turbine generator unit in kw. 2.3. storage battery the storage battery is modeled using the following equation ptbatt = ∑ ptpv−actual + ∑ ptwt g−actual − loadt ηinv (6) where ηinv is the inverter efficiency, and load t is the load during the time unit, kw. the equation indicates the kw power flow through the battery system. the modes of operation of the battery are dependent on the battery’s state of charge (soc). the state of charge can be calculated using the following equation: s oct+1 = s oct [ 1 − ( σ 24 )] + ptbatt ∗ l (t) ∗ηbatt ebatt (7) where ηbatt represents the efficiency of the battery, σ gives the self discharge rate of the battery, l(t) is the length of tth time unit and ebatt is the energy rating of battery storage. in addition, the battery charging and the discharging operation is constrained by the following equations ptbatt.cmax ≤ p t batt ≤ p t batt.dmax (8) where ptbatt.cmax = (s ocmax − s oct) ∗ ebatt is the maximum battery charge power and ptbatt.dmax = (s oct − s ocmin) ∗ ebatt is the maximum battery discharge power 2.4. converter a converter helps in transferring power flow from the ac terminus to dc terminus. the efficiency of the inverter (ηinv), is assumed constant and is taken as 90%. the equation abiding the power flow within the converter is given by equation (9). ptinout = ( ptpv−actual + p t wt g−actual + p t batt ) ∗ηinv (9) pv modules selected is a 36 cell polycrystalline (pv-mf 100ec4) rated at 1kw. the wtg used is ampair 3kw, 48v dc type. the cut in, cut out and the rated speed of the wind turbines is given in table 2. the batteries are rated at 6v, 360 ah (2.16 kwh). thus 8 batteries of the mentioned rating are arranged in series to be capable of producing 17kwh of electricity. the dc bus voltage is fixed at 48v. a detailed overview of components is summarized as a table in [15]. 3. formulation of optimization function the objective function of the given hres system along with other constraints is given below: ct otal = min ∑ ni { ri ai ∗ r0(1 + r0) m (1 + r0) m − 1 + om ∗ ri ai } + costreliability,i (10) i = pv, wtg, batt, conv costreliability = cens ∗ eens (11) subject to: ∑ ptpv−actual + ∑ ptwt g−actual + ∑ ptbatt + ens t = loadt ηinv (12) 211 venkatakrishnan et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 209–215 212 figure 2. hourly load profile ≤ ni ≤ n s ocmin ≤ s oc ≤ s ocmax where ni represents the number of the ith component, ri gives the power output capacity of the ith component, ai gives the unit cost of the ith component(in rs/kwh), r0 is the annual interest rate of each component in percentage, m is component life time in years and om gives the running and service cost in percentage. eens is the expected energy not supplied(in kwh/year) and its cost is given by cens . ptpv−actual, p t wt g−actual, p t batt, ens t, loadt are the pv power, wind power, battery power, energy not supplied and system load respectively at any period t. n is the maximum number of the ith component. the value for cens is fixed at rs336/kwh. s ocmin and s ocmax are the minimum and maximum soc value of the storage battery respectively. its values are fixed at 40% and 100% respectively. 3.1. description of study area 3.1.1. location the brief description of the seven villages and its location which is considered in this paper is being summarized in a tabular format in [15]. 3.1.2. load profile on the basis of the energy requirements and the energy consumptions in the given research area, a year is divided into four seasons and its duration and peak energy requirements have been briefly discussed and converted into a tabular form in [15]. from the given data, a seasonal hourly load profile is randomly generated. the load data in figure 2. 3.1.3. solar radiation the solar radiation data for the study area has been taken from [23]. the total solar insolation for almora district is between 6.6kwh/m2/day and 3.39 kwh/m2/day and the insolation for all the months throughout the year has been tabulated in [15]. hourly solar radiations from the available data have been generated using a random reference profile. the calculated values are then plotted as shown in fig. 3. figure 3. hourly solar radiation profile figure 4. hourly wind speed data 3.1.4. wind potential the study area is said to have an average wind profile between 2 and 15 m/s. the wind speed data was measured at almora district was obtained from [23]. in [15], the mean monthly wind speed for the given study area has been taken from. hourly wind speeds from the available data have been synthesized using random reference values. the plot given in figure 4 gives the hourly wind speeds for the whole year around. 4. implementation of modified differential algorithm this section provides an overall view or the steps involved in the modified de algorithm which is proposed by authors in [23]. the different steps involved in the modified de algorithm is explained as follows: 4.1. initialization of parameter vectors xi,g is used to represent initial population vector which is initialized by x ji,g = x j min + rand ( x jmax − x j min ) , j = 1, 2, ..., d i = 1, 2, ...., n, (13) 212 venkatakrishnan et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 209–215 213 where the number of decision variables is given by d, x jmin and x jmax are the minimum and maximum value of the decision variable j. 4.2. mutation the mutation strategies implemented in this algorithm are: mi,g = xbest,g + f ( xv1,g − xv2,g ) (14) mi,g = xv1,g + f ( xv2,g − xv3,g ) (15) where v1,g , v2,g and v3,g are randomly generated exclusive integers within nsuch that v1,g , v2,g , v3,g , i. here, fis the mutation factor which lies between 0 and 1.2. xbest,g is the best individual target vector corresponding to best fitness value. 4.3. crossover in de, u ji,g is the trial vector which is produced using the following equation: u ji,g =  v j i,g x ji,g if rand ji ≤ cr or j = jrand otherwise (16) where cris the crossover rate between 0 and 1 and jrand is randomly chosen integer within d. 4.4. selection the selection scheme used in this algorithm is given by xi,g+1 = { ui,g xi,g if f ( ui,g ) ≤ f ( xi,g ) otherwise (17) where f ( ui,g ) and f ( xi,g ) are the fitness values of ui,g and xi,g . 4.5. terminating condition fixing the number of generations gmax as 100 is used as the stopping criterion in this algorithm. adaptation techniques for fand cris used in this algorithm to eliminate the disadvantage of randomly choosing it. 4.6. adaption techniques for mutation rate,f the self adaptation technique used in this algorithm is given by fg+1 =  max { lm, 1 − ∣∣∣∣ fmaxfmin ∣∣∣∣} max { lm, 1 − ∣∣∣∣ fminfmax ∣∣∣∣} if ∣∣∣∣ fmaxfmin ∣∣∣∣ < 1, otherwise, (18) where lm = 0.4, fminand fmaxare the minimum and maximum fitness values respectively. 4.7. adaptation technique for crossover rate, cr the self-adaptation scheme used in the depas algorithm is given by: cri,g+1 = { rand1 ci,g rand2 ≤ τ2 otherwise (19) in this algorithm, it is assumed thatτ2 = 0.1 a flowchart to explain the process of modified de is given in figure 5. 5. results the modified de algorithm is applied to the hres system problem in the almora district in uttarakhand using matlab. to analyze the betterment of the de algorithm, it is compared with pso and ga. the various control parameters involved in the three optimization algorithms are being summarized in table 1. the crossover rates in the ga are taken to be in the range between 0.6 and 1.0 whereas the mutation rates are taken to be less than 0.1. the acceleration constants in the pso is taken in such a manner that c2>c1 which is generally advantageous for complex nonlinear integral problems. the crossover rates and the mutation rates are first fixed at 0.5 for both respectively. then for every iteration, the constants are iterated and different values are obtained. the best optimized results are then obtained for the crossover rate and the mutation rate. the convergence characteristic for the three optimization algorithms namely ga, pso and modified de for the modeled hres system is shown in figure 6 respectively. the abscissa for the convergence plot gives the combined cost for all the components. the perpendicular axis gives the total number of iterations to reach the global minimum in each of the situations. since the computational time for the modified de algorithm is slightly higher than the rest of the algorithms, the number of iterations was limited to 600, whereas the numbers of iterations were extended up to 1000 for both pso as well as ga. a close look at the convergence characteristics indicates that the modified de produces faster results (obtaining the global minimum) when compared to other optimization algorithms. so although the computational time is slightly higher, the faster response helps reduce the computational complexity leading to less computer resource usage. the best optimal solutions from the three algorithms are briefed in table 2. 6. conclusion in this paper, an attempt has been made to implement the modified de algorithm for solving hybrid renewable energy systems problem. the developed methodology was tested for a remote society in uttarakhand, india and the obtained results were compared with those obtained from ga as well as with pso. results reveal that the modified de evolutionary algorithm outperforms the genetic algorithm as well as the particle swarm optimization algorithm. a hybrid system consisting of 6 1 kw pv panels, 8 3kw wtg, a 20kw converter and 10 battery strings each of 17kw produces the most optimal solution for the given study area. the developed objective function substantiates the capital cost along with the running and service cost as well as the lifetime of all the components while also including the force outage rate for the wind turbine generators and the soc condition for the battery. the system can be further extended by including multi – objective function for optimization by including the transmission and line losses in the system. it also can be extended to optimize time varying data. 213 venkatakrishnan et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 209–215 214 figure 5. flow chart of modified de algorithm table 1. control parameters for different algorithm s/n optimization technique n control parameters 1. genetic algorithm 20 pm = 0.07, pc = 0.85 2. particle swarm optimization 30 c1 = 2, c2 = 3 3. modified differential evolution 380 f = 0.5, cr = 0.5 table 2. results obtained from algorithms optimization algorithm no. pv panels no. wtg no. of battery strings converter (kw) optimized cost is rupees ga 8 7 11 20 737694.48 pso 8 7 10 20 713703.416 modified de 6 8 10 20 667960.321 figure 6. convergence characteristics of different algorithms acknowledgements the authors are very grateful to anonymous referees for their contributions and suggestions. references [1] a, azarpour, s. suhaimi, g. zahedi & a. bahadori, “a review on the drawbacks of renewable energy as a promising energy source of the future”, arabian journal for science and engineering 38 (2013) 317. 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[23] vivekananda parvatiya krishi anusandhan sansthan, indian council of agricultural research (icar) laboratory, almora, uttarakhand, india (2002). 215 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 20–26 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences perovskite tetragonality modeling for functional properties enhancement using newtonian search based support vector regression computational method peter chibuike okoyea, samuel ogochukwu azib, taoreed o. owolabia,∗ aphysics and electronics department, adekunle ajasin university, akungba akoko, 342111, ondo state, nigeria. bdepartment of physics, university of benin, benin city, edo state, nigeria. abstract tetragonality occurs as a result of stretching the crystal structural lattice of perovskite along one of its lattice vectors such that the three axes are mutually perpendicular with two of the axes having equal lengths. this tetragonality distortion easily triggers functional properties such as pyroelectricity, ferroelectricity, capacitance, and piezoelectricity among others, while synthesizing functional ceramics for a particular application. this work addresses and circumvents the challenges of experimental stress involved in functional ceramics synthesis by developing a newtonian search-based support vector regression (gsb-svr) model for perovskite tetragonality prediction using dopants concentration and ionic radii as the model predictors. the performance of the proposed gsb-svr model is compared with the existing kelvin & rick model and better performance of 35.82% improvement based on mean absolute percentage error (mape) and 36.44% improvement based on mean absolute error (mae) is obtained. the influence of lanthanides and zirconium incorporation on functional ceramics on the material tetragonality is also modeled by the developed gsb-svr model. the metal in the lanthanide series considered includes lanthanum (la), praseodymium (pr), neodymium (nd), and samarium (sm). the obtained variation in their tetragonality follows the same trend as their variation in atomic numbers. maximum distortion occurs between concentrations of 0.05 and 0.1, and each of the examined tetragonality distortions has a parabolic tetragonality distortion variation. titanium and zirconium dopants were incorporated into the crystal lattice structure of pb0.9ba0.1(zrxti1−x)o3 and pb0.9ba0.1(zrx−1tix)o3. the tetragonality distortion in pb0.9ba0.1(zrxti1−x)o3 was observed to be minimum while pb0.9ba0.1(zrx−1tix)o3 perovskite show maximum tetragonality distortion. the observed tetragonality distortion can be utilized to enhance the functional properties of perovskite. the precision of the developed model, its easily fetched predictors, and its pre-laboratory ability to effectively and efficiently model the perovskite tetragonality are of high importance in tailoring and enhancing functional properties of materials for desired applications. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2022.248 keywords: support vector regression; tetragonality; distortion; perovskite; newtonian based gravitational search algorithm. article history : received: 10 june 2021 received in revised form: 10 august 2021 accepted for publication: 09 december 2021 published: 28 february 2022 c©2022 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: s. j. adebiyi ∗corresponding author tel. no: +234(0)8067226208 email address: owolabitaoreedolakunle@gmail.com (taoreed o. owolabi ) 1. introduction the science of materials is basically centered on dealing with relationships between structure and property, with materials’ composition being an important processing parameter [1]. perovskites belong to a large structural family of com20 p. c. okoye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 20–26 21 pounds with crystal structures that are similar to calcium titanate (catio3). they are chemically represented as abx3, where a and b are cations with a having a larger atomic radius than b and x is an anion which can be an oxide or a halogen. the presence of (xb2a4) coordination, cuboctahedral coordination (ax12), and octahedral (bx6) coordination shells is defined by assuming that the number of bonds between cation-anion and anion-cation are equal in any particular structure of a given perovskite. [2]. perovskite compounds are extensively applied in modern devices because their variability in composition and structure produces several important properties such as ferroelectricity, superconductivity, piezoelectrics, pyroelectrics, and spin-dependent transport [3, 4, 5, 6]. these important functional properties of perovskite can be easily induced by tetragonality distortion. tetragonality occurs as a result of stretching a cubic lattice along one of its lattice vectors such that the three axes are mutually perpendicular and two of the axes have equal lengths. the tetragonal unit cell is characterized by a four-fold symmetry axis around which the atoms align with their initial positions by rotating the unit cell at an angle of 90◦. designing materials with special properties such as ferroelectrics, piezoelectrics, high-temperature superconductors, high-k capacitors, and pyroelectrics for many applications premises on the precise measurement of tetragonality distortion [6, 7]. this work aims to address the challenges associated with experimental stress in functional ceramics synthesis through the development of a newtonian search-based intelligent model that allows for the prediction of tetragonality in perovskites using dopants concentrations and ionic radii of the perovskite constituents as the model predictors. aside from the superiority of the proposed hybrid gravitational searched-based support vector regression (gsb-svr) model as compared with the existing model in the literature [1], the developed gsb-svr model can be implemented using easily fetched descriptors and foster pre-laboratory modeling. support vector regression (svr) is a mathematical learning theory derived from vapnik-chervonenskis theory of statistical learning [8]. svr makes use of a collection of training data that includes predictor variables and their respective experimental targets to adequately construct a predictive model. with the aid of only predictors, the strength of svr extends to prediction of future data. because this model does implement input data probabilistic distribution for obtaining exact data, it is referred to as a nonparametric process. using kernel function, the input data is reorganized and mapped into feature space where high precision modeling and simulation are performed. support vector regression (svr) gains wider applicability as a data mining algorithm to solve both linear and nonlinear problems [9]. hyper-parameters of the svr algorithm play crucial roles in actualizing a robust model as they are optimized using optimization algorithm that is based on newtonian mechanics. rashedi, nezamabadi-pour, and saryazdi [10] introduced gravitational search algorithm based on gravity in 2009. it is an algorithm that is inspired by newton’s second law of motion as well as the law of gravity. it relies on the universal assumption of recognizing three kinds of mass namely: active/ passive gravitational mass and inertial mass [11]. in gsa, every agent is considered to be an object and the mass of each agent determines the individual performance of that agent. each object possesses four pieces of information namely: passive/active gravitational mass, position, and inertial mass; all masses obey newton’s second law and the law of gravity [12]. gravitational force compels the objects to attract one another and also makes every object with a lighter mass to be attracted in the direction of objects with greater masses [10] which represents a more promising solution [13]. the performance of every object within the algorithm is measured based on its mass. better solutions are represented by heavier masses and they move more slowly than lighter masses [14]. 2. gravitational search algorithm gravitational search algorithm (gsa) is a type of swarm algorithm created from newton’s second law of motion and the law of gravity [10]. the basic mathematical principle of the gravitational principle is: f = g m1 m2 r2 . (1) f is force of gravitation, g is constant of gravitational, the masses of the objects are denoted by m1 and m2, and r is the separation between objects. in this algorithm, objects are considered as agents and every object’s performance is evaluated from their individual masses. the gravitational force makes objects to attract one another, forcing all objects to gravitate in the direction of objects with higher masses. this is because objects with heavy masses have better fitness values and provide better solutions to problems and their movement is not as fast as the objects with lighter masses [15]. each object in the gsa is identified by its position, its inertial mass (mii), active gravitational mass (mai), and passive gravitational mass (mpi). gsa search process starts by creating a population of n individuals at random in the search space. we begin the algorithm by defining the position of the jth agent as: x j = ( x1j . . . x d j . . . x n j ) for j = 1, 2, . . . , n (2) the space dimension of the problem is n and xdj illustrates agent’s jth position with dth dimension. force acting on mass j from mass k at a given time t is defined, according to newton’s gravitational theory, as: fdjk(t) = g(t) m j(t) × mk(t) r jk(t) + � ( xdk (t) − x d j (t) ) , (3) where mass of agent j is m j, mk is mass of agent k, g(t) is constant of gravitation at time t, � is a small constant and the euclidian distance r jk(t) between j and k agents is defined as: r jk(t) = ‖x j(t), xk(t)‖2 (4) in a d dimension, the sum of forces acting on j agent is assumed to a weighted sum of the dth component of forces of other agents calculated at random. 21 p. c. okoye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 20–26 22 the total force is given as: fdj (t) = n∑ k=1,k,i randk f d jk (5) randk is a random number in the interval [0, 1]. according to newton’s law of motion, the acceleration (adj (t)) of the agent j at time t in dth direction is defined by: adj (t) = fdj (t) mii(t) (6) where m is the inertial mass of the jth agent. the sum of an agent’s current velocity and current acceleration determines its next velocity, given, respectively, as: xdj (t + 1) = x d j (t) + v d j (t + 1) (7) vdj (t + 1) = rand j × v d t (t) + a d j (t) (8) where vdt (t) and x d j (t) represents the agent’s velocity and position respectively. rand is a uniform random variable in the interval [0, 1] and is used to give a randomized feature to the search. by reducing the randomly initialized constant of gravitation g with time, the search accuracy is controlled. this is to say that g is a function of time t and the initial value g is given as: g(t) = g(g0, t) (9) gravitational and inertial masses are computed using fitness evaluation. the efficiency of an agent in relation to the solution it represents is dependent on the heaviness of the mass of the agent. in other words, heavier masses will not move as fast as the lighter masses. the masses are updated using m j(t) = fit j(t) − wors(t) best(t) − worst(t) , (10) and mi(t) = m j(t)∑n k=1 mk(t) (11) with the following assumptions: mai = mpi = mii = mi, i = 1, 2, . . . n (12) where fit j(t) is the fitness value of agent j at time t, worst(t) and best(t) are defined as d in best(t) = min k∈1,...n fitk(t) (13) and worst(t) = max k∈1,...n fitk(t), (14) respectively, for a minimization problem addressed in this contribution. 2.1. support vector regression in 1995,vapnik and co-workers proposed the support vector machine (svm) [8] which is a tool obtained from statistical learning theory for carrying out classification and regression tasks. svm was initially developed for solving classification problems but it later evolved into solving regression problems [16]. several implementations of svm have been achieved in different areas of research after it was proposed [17, 18]. svm is therefore a universal term that can be subdivided into support vector classification (svc) and support vector regression (svr) [19]. svc employs only one slack variable while svr uses two slack variables. both svc and svr employ very similar algorithms, the difference is the number of slack variables and types of variables they predict. in general, linear regression with svr is defined as f (x,∝) = 〈w, x〉 + b (15) where w ∈ k and b ∈ r . svr algorithm’s main purpose is to find w and b in a way that � is not exceeded in every training dataset. to achieve this, vector w must be minimal and equation (15) must be flat. minimization of the euclidean norm ‖w‖2 by means of a transformation to a convex optimization problem is needed to flatten equation (15) as shown in equation (16) below. minimize 1 2 ‖w‖2 subject to  y j − 〈 w, x j 〉 − b ≤ �〈 w, x j 〉 + b − y j ≤ � (16) constraints that may prevent the possibility of the convex optimized problem in equation (16) are added by the introduction of slack variables (ξ j and ξ∗j ). new optimization problem is presented as minimize 1 2 ‖w‖2 + c j∑ j=1 ( ξ j + ξ ∗ j ) subject to  y j − 〈 w, x j 〉 − b ≤ � + ξ j〈 w, x j 〉 + b − y j ≤ � + ξ∗j ξ j,ξ ∗ j ≥ 0 (17) where c is regularization or penalty factor. performance generalization of svr model is determined by regularization factor c, the epsilon parameter �, and the kernel option, which are carefully selected user-defined parameters. the regularization factor balances the difference between complexity of model and error tolerance in training data, with greater errors being equivalent to lower values of c and vice versa. the number of support vectors in the insensitive zones is regulated by the epsilon parameter, while input data transformation to a feature space of higher dimension is governed by the kernel option [20]. this study used gravitational search algorithm to choose the parameters discussed above. 22 p. c. okoye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 20–26 23 3. methodology and the employed computational strategies this section contains the proposed hybrid model’s computational approach as well as an overview of the dataset used. 3.1. description of the dataset using experimental ionic radii data extracted from the literature [1], the proposed hybrid gravitational searched support vector regression (gsb-svr) model was developed. 3.2. computational details of the proposed hybrid model this research paper develops a robust model with optimal functionality resulting from the combination of gsa and svr algorithms. in this hybrid model, all the computational tasks were implemented on the matlab programming environment. before starting modeling and simulation, existing data was randomized in order to facilitate equal distribution of data points and a more effective computation when the data is split into 80% and 20% training and testing set respectively. with the help of the developed real svr algorithm codes, support vectors were created with existing training data points, and the generalization ability of the generated support vectors is corroborated by a testing set of data. gsa is aimed at finding the best hyper parameter values of svr for excellent generalization of the developed model when applied to a collection of data not used in the training process. the penalty or regularization factor (c), epsilon (�), and the kernel option (σ)) of the optimum kernel functions are the svr hyper-parameters optimized by gsa in each population. the search for optimal values of hyper-parameters starts with initialization of gsa agents which requires putting n agents in a search space, with each agent encoding svr hyper-parameters. following the initialization of the number of agents, every agent in the population was used to train svr algorithm with the training set of data, and their fitness was evaluated with the testing set of data. each agent’s mass was calculated using equation (11). equations (5) and (6) were used to compute the total gravitational force and acceleration of every agent. the computation of position and velocity of each agent was carried out and repeated until maximum iteration is reached using equations (7) and (8). as a result, hyper parameters of svr were optimized with gsa and the gsa-svr model was developed. the optimal hyper-parameter value obtained from an agent with the highest fitness value at maximum iteration is then used to train the gsa-svr model. the following are the procedures for the developed hybrid gsb-svr model. step i: randomization of data and partitioning: for even distribution and more efficient computation during modelling, the available data is randomized. the data is partitioned into two sets, 80% for training and 20% for testing. step ii: choose a kernel function from the listed options. step iii: gsa agent initialization: fill a search space with n agents while each agent encodes svr hyper-parameters. (penalty factor, epsilon and kernel option). compute each agent’s fitness in the following way: (a) train svr algorithm with each agent and a chosen kernel function. the number of svr trained algorithm is equal to the initial number of agents. using the training dataset, determine the performance measuring parameters (mean absolute percentage error (mape) and mean absolute error (mae)) for each trained algorithm. (b) compute mape and mae using the testing set of data to determine each trained algorithm’s generalization capacity. (c) compute the fitness of mape and mae for each agent, choose and save the trained algorithm with the minimum value. step iv: use equation (11) to estimate the mass of every agent with the assumptions contained in equation (12). step v: calculate the overall force of gravity and acceleration for each agent using equation (5) and equation (5). step vi: determine the velocity and position of the agent. that is vdj (t + 1) = rand j × v d t (t) + a d j (t) xdj (t + 1) = x d j (t) + v d j (t + 1) step vii: the velocity and position of the agents are updated until maximum iteration of 100 is attained. step viii: repeat step iii-step vii with a different kernel function. step ix: save the optimum kernel function and hyperparameters for future implementation. 4. results and discussion this section presents the outcomes of the developed gsbsvr model with inclusion of results of the implemented optimization algorithm. comparison of estimates of the developed gsb-svr with the existing model is also presented. 4.1. optimization of svr hyper-parameters optimization of svr hyper-parameters is presented in figure 1. the effect of the number of agents in enhancing exploration and exploitation capacities of newtonian optimization algorithm is presented in the figure. figure 1: convergence of gsb-svr model with number of iteration at different initial number of agent 23 p. c. okoye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 20–26 24 local convergence was attained when the number of the agent was set at ten. the local solution can be attributed to weak exploitation due to limited number of agents exploiting the search space. exploitation capacity becomes enhanced as the number of agents was increased to thirty while the search space is well explored at this value. increase in the number of agents above thirty results into high level of complexity within the search space since larger number of agents are exploring the search space and each agent experience strong gravitational pull which further weakens exploration and exploitation capacities of the algorithm. optimum hyper-parameters were attained when the number of agents exploring the space was set at thirty as presented in figure 1. other investigated factors influencing the optimization strength of the implemented population-based algorithm include the initial values of the gravitational constant, maximum number of iteration and parameter alpha that influences the gravitational pull between the agents. 4.2. comparison of the performance of the present and existing model performance comparisons between the present and existing (kelvin & rick) model are presented in figure 2 and figure 3, respectively on the basis of mean absolute percentage error (mape) and mean absolute error (mae). figure 2: comparison of the mean absolute percentage deviation of the developed gsb-svr model with existing kelvin & rick model [1]. figure 3: comparison of the mean absolute error of the developed gsb-svr model with existing kelvin & rick model [1]. on the basis of mape, the developed gsb-svr model has a better performance than the existing tolman & ubic model with 35.82% improvement in performance while 36.44% improvement in performance was attained while comparing the developed gsb-svr model with the existing kelvin & rick [1] model using mae as performance evaluator. the observed performance enhancement of the developed gsb-svr model over the existing model can be attributed to strong mathematical foundation of the implemented svr algorithm coupled with the excellent global solution searching capacity of the hybridized gravitational search algorithm. 5. investigating the influence of lanthanides on tetragonality of pb1−3xl2x(ti)o3 perovskite the significance of lanthanides inclusion on pb1−3xl2x(ti)o3 perovskite is presented in figure 4. the metal in the lanthanide series considered include lanthanum (la), praseodymium (pr), neodymium (nd) and samarium (sm). the obtained variation in the tetragonality of the investigated perovskite follows similar trend of the variation in atomic number as we move from lanthanum to samarium. the tetragonality distortion variation of each of the investigated tetragonality distortion shows a parabolic trend with maximum distortion between the concentrations of 0.05 to 0.1. this observed behavior of the tetragonality distortion coupled with the precision of the developed gsb-svr model strongly indicates the tendency of the developed model in enhancing functional properties of perovskite as can be easily induced by the tetragonality distortion. 24 p. c. okoye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 20–26 25 figure 4: influence of lanthanides (l)con tetragonality of pb1−3xl2x(ti)o3 perovskite . 6. influence of titanium dopants on the tetragonality distortion of pb0.9ba0.1(zrxti1−x)o3 perovskite incorporation of titanium and zirconium dopants into crystal lattice structure of pb0.9ba0.1(zrxti1−x)o3 and pb0.9ba0.1(zrx−1tix)o3 perovskites, respectively using the developed gsb-svr model is presented in figure 5. the tetragonality distortion in pb0.9ba0.1(zrxti1−x)o3 was observed to be minimum when pb0.9ba0.1(zrx−1tix)o3 perovskite suffers maximum tetragonality distortion. tetragonality in other perovskite compounds can be investigated using the developed model purposely to reveal the functional properties needed for a particular application. figure 5: effect of zirconium on tetragonality of pb0.9ba0.1(zrxti1−x)o3 perovskite. 7. conclusion this work presents hybrid gravitational search algorithm and support vector regression for modeling the tetragonality distortion of perovskite compounds using the ionic radii and the concentration of dopants as descriptors to the model. the performance of developed gsb-svr model is compared with the existing kelvin & rick model, the developed model is found to perform better than the existing model in terms of the measured absolute percentage error (mape) as well as mean absolute error (mae). the developed model was employed to establish the influence of lanthanides on tetragonality distortion of pb1−3xl2x(ti)o3 perovskite and the functional material shows maximum tetragonality for lanthanum concentration between 0.7 and 0.8. the significance of titanium and zirconium dopants on perovskite were also investigated for functional properties induction. the precision and accuracy demonstrated by developed model, easy accessibility of its descriptors as well as pre-laboratory ability to effectively and efficiently model the perovskite tetragonality are of high importance in tailoring and enhancing functional properties of materials for desired applications. references [1] k. r. tolman & r. ubic, “an empirical model for perovskite tetragonality”, j. alloys compd. 690 (2017) 825, doi: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2016.08.182. 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(2015) 70, doi: 10.1007/978-1-4302-5990-9. 26 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 406–413 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences characterization and evaluation of human health risk of heavy metals in tin mine tailings in selected area of plateau state, nigeria d. d. bwedea, r. a. wuanab, g. o. egahc,∗, a. u. itodob, e. ogahd, e. a. yerimac, a. i. ibrahimc adepartment of basic sciences, plateau state college of health technology zawan, nigeria bdepartment of chemistry federal university of agriculture makurdi, benue state, nigeria cdepartment of chemical sciences, federal university wukari, taraba state, nigeria ddepartment of chemistry university of jos, jos, plateau state, nigeria abstract tin mining tailings are unprocessed waste materials that overlie an ore which are displaced during mining activities. this research work is aimed at characterizing and evaluating the human health risk of heavy metals in tin mine tailings in zabot (s3) and tafan (s4) districts in barkin ladi local government area of plateau state, nigeria. the samples were characterized using edx-xrf and sem. the concentrations of seven heavy metals (pb, cr, as, ni, cd, cu and zn) were determined in s3 and s4. the results showed that cr, ni, cd, cu and zn were within the usepa permissible limits, except for pb and as with range of (270-300) mg/kg and (40-70) mg/kg respectively for both mining and control sites of s3 and s4. the sem results revealed small particles size with fine porous structure, and rough areas with varying sizes and pores distributed over the surface for s3 and s4 respectively. results of the risk assessment showed that the hazard quotient hq and hi values were greater than 1 indicating high risk. the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks associated with pb, zn, cd, cr, ni and as were evaluated for s3 and s4 for the three exposure pathway and it was found that the mining sites pose more risk than the control and the children were more exposed than the adults. the carcinogenicity of these samples were due to the high hazard quotient for ingestion and dermal exposure pathway. the rtotal results for as, cr, pb and ni for mining site s3 were found to be (1.39 × 102, 2.02 × 10−7, 3.30 × 103 and 8.17 × 10−8), and control site (3.42 × 103, 2.64 × 10−5, 38.30 × 101, 6.90 × 10−8) for as, cr, pb and ni respectively. from the rtotal results as and pb were more than the acceptable threshold, while cr and ni were below the threshold of 1×10−4. for the mining site s4, the rtotal were found to be (5.70×102, 1.82×10−7, 3.63×104 and 9.64×10−9), and the control (1.16×103, 1.71×10−7, 31.1×102 and 1.51×10−8) for as, cr, pb and ni respectively. from the results of the mining and control sites, as and pb rtotal were higher than the acceptable threshold, while cr and ni were below the threshold of 1 × 10−4. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2021.262 keywords: tailings, heavy metals, hazard index, carcinogenic risk and hazard quotient article history : received: 18 june 2021 received in revised form: 16 september 2021 accepted for publication: 17 september 2021 published: 29 november 2021 c©2021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: s. j. adebiyi ∗corresponding author tel. no: +2347061097995 email address: egah.godwin@yahoo.com (g. o. egah ) 1. introduction tin mining tailings are wastes fractions of an ore or mineral body which are discarded during mining operations without being processed. tin tailings contains both magnetic minerals 406 bwede et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 406–413 407 (iron ore, columbite) and non-magnetic minerals (cassiterite, monozite, zircon sand in large quantity and silica) [1]. they are used in preparation of fertilizer, animal feeds, refractory products, for building roads and backfilling of tailing storage facilities [2]. in the 1960s, nigeria was regarded as one of the world’s leading tin producing country, but production later decreased towards the end of the twentieth century. however, mining activities are still going on in these areas. apart from tin which is the primary target, tin mining generates tin tailings, which are by-product of the ore. the amount of tailings produced ranged from 90-98 % for copper ores and 20-50 % for other minerals [3]. some of the heavy metals found in contaminated tailings are pb, cr, as, zn, cd, cu, ni and hg [4, 5, 6]. heavy metal contamination and their human health threats are some of the serious environmental problems limiting mining activities [7, 8]. with the development of mining, smelting and other industrial activities, heavy metals are increasingly being found in the environment which can pose severe threats to humans and the environment. pollution by heavy metals such as lead (pb), chromium (cr), arsenic (as), nickel (ni), cadmium (cd), copper (cu) and zinc (zn), affects the quality of the ambient air, soil and water bodies which in turn threatens the life of both animals and humans through the food chain [2]. during mining activities huge waste tailing ponds are created which have a high environmental impact on the surrounding ecosystems and populations when used [9, 10]. in order to evaluate the risk posed by tin mine tailings activities to human health, there is need to assess the level of heavy metal pollution in these sites and the rate at which they affects human life. this is based on preliminary studies on waste properties, heavy metals concentration and their relation to the environment as they affect the individuals who participated in these tailings activities and the community [11]. human health risk assessment involves the evaluation of possible human health effect in the contaminated environmental media [12]. the health effect of contaminants on humans depends on the level of exposure, nature of the contaminants and vulnerability of the individual affected [13]. health effects may include risk of cancer, hypertension, acute foetus neurological disorders, organ dysfunction, respiratory difficulties, physical and mental disorder, reduced life expectancy and weakening of the body’s immune system [12]. therefore, this research is aimed at characterizing and evaluating the human health risk of heavy metals in tin mine tailings in zabot and tafan district both represented by s3 and s4 respectively in barkin ladi local government area, plateau state, nigeria. 2. research methodology 2.1. sample location and description this research work was carried out in zabot (s3) and tafan (s4) district of barkin ladi local government area of plateau state, nigeria. it is located between latitude 9051′30′′n and longitude 8048′00′′e. the state is located in the middle belt of nigeria, with an area of 30.91 km (11936 square mile). the state has a population of about three million people in estimate. the name plateau state was given because of its topography with wonderful rock formations. the height of the mountains ranges from 1,200 to 1,829 meters above sea level. mining and subsistence farming are the major occupation of its residents. the sampling locations and points are as shown in figure 1, using the geographical positioning system (gps) to locate zabot (s3) and tafan (s4). figure 1. gps map showing the sites of sample collection. 2.2. sampling collection and preparation the random sampling technique was applied for sample collection with little modification. two samples of 50 g each were taken from mining sites in zabot (s3) and tafan (s4) in barkin ladi local government area of plateau state, with their respective control. the tin mine tailings and soil samples were washed, dried and pulverized into the required particle sizes of 2 mm. pre-treatments which does not alter the chemical composition of the analytes were done to obtain the original concentration of the analyte found in the sample. 2.3. determination soil ph and temperature 1.0 g of soil sample from both mining and control sites were mixed with 100 cm3 of deionized water in 250 cm3 conical flask and stirred using a magnetic stirrer for 10 minutes. the temperature and ph were determined using hanna portable ph meter (model hi8043) and thermometer respectively. the readings were taken in triplicates and the average recorded accordingly. 407 bwede et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 406–413 408 2.4. sample characterization 2.4.1. elemental analysis the concentrations of the various heavy metals contained in the samples were determined using energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometer edx-xrf (minipal4). the xrf analysis was done directly on solid powdered specimen for accurate results with no risk of contamination. sample preparation involves milling of the sample to less than 75 µm in fraction. retsch rs 200 vibratory disk milling machine was used at 1500 min−1 motor speed for 5 minutes. the milled sample was collected in xrf cup and placed in the xrf spectrometer and analyzed for chemical composition. 2.4.2. determination of surface morphology the surface morphology of the tailings was determined using scanning electron microscope (sem-mve016477830). the sputter coater was operated in an argon atmosphere using a current of 6 ma for 3 minutes. 2.5. human health risk assessment parameters the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks were evaluated using the human health risk assessment model for dermal contact, ingestion and inhalation exposure pathways [13]. the health risk assessment is centered on the exposure factors and guidelines handbook of united states environmental protection agency (usepa) [14]. the average daily dose (add) via inhalation (addinh), ingestion (adding) and dermal contact (addderm) for both children and adults were evaluated using equations (1) (3) as adopted from qing et al., [13]. ingestion dose ding−s = cs × ingr × ef × ed × cf bw × at (1) inhalation dose (dinh−s) = cs × inhr × ef × ed bw × at × pef (2) dermal dose (dder−s) = cs × s a × s l × ef × ed × cf bw × at ,(3) where cs is the concentration of the analyte in the tailing from the exposure point (mg/kg), ingr tailing ingestion rate for the receptor (mg/d), inhr soil inhalation rate for the receptor (m3/d), ef exposure frequency (days/year), ed exposure duration (years), pef soil-to-air particulate emission factor (m3/kg), sa skin surface area available for exposure (cm2), sl soil-to-skin adherence factor (mg/cm2/event), bw timeaveraged body weight (kg), at average time of non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks (days) and abs dermal absorption factor (dimensionless). the hazard quotient, hazard index and total cancer risk were evaluated using equations (4) – (6) as adopted from man et al., [15]. the hazard quotient is given as: hq = d rfd , (4) where d = dose (ingestion, inhalation or dermal), rfd = reference dose. the hazard index hi is given as: hi = hqing + hqinh + hqderns (5) total cancer risk (rt) is given as: rt = d × s f, (6) where d = dose, sf=slope factor. risk characterization was considered separately for carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects [16, 17]. health risks were obtained by comparing the calculated hq, hi and rtotal values with recommended maximum values shown on table 1. 3. results and discussion 3.1. determination soil ph and temperature the results of the ph and temperature obtained from the study area are presented in table 2. the ph and temperature results of the samples are presented in table 2. the ph obtained from the mining and the control sites were (5.23, 5.11) and (7.48, 7.21) for zabot and tafan respectively. the ph results showed that the two mining sites were slightly acidic, while the control sites were slightly alkaline. the soil temperatures were within the range of 29 to 30◦c, which are suitable for plants growth [19]. 4. scanning electron microscopy of tin mines tailings the results of scanning electron microscopy (sem) for tin mine tailing site s3 and s4 are as shown in plates 1 (figure 2) and 2 (figure 3), respectively. figure 2. plate 1: the scanning electron microscope micrograph (sem) of zabot s3. result of s3 on plate 1, showed homogenous small size particles with fine porous structure. while results on plate 2 (s4), showed a micrograph with rough area having different irregular shapes of varying sizes and pores distributed over the surface. the more the number of pores the better the soil aeration [20, 21]. from the two results (plates 1 and 2), it can be seen that the s4 has more pores than the s3. 408 bwede et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 406–413 409 table 1. usepa reference doses for non carcinogens and slope factor for carcinogens source: [18] rf ding rf d/mg.kg−1.d−1 rf ddermal sfing sf/kg.d,mg−1 sfinh sfdermal as 3.00e-04 1.23e-04 1.50 e+00 1.51 e+00 3.66 e+00 cr 3.00e-03 2.86 e-05 6.00 e-05 4.2 e+01 cu 4.00 e-02 4.02 e-02 1.20 e-02 pb 1.40 e-03 3.52 e-03 5.25 e-05 8.50 e-03 ni 2.00 e-02 2.06 e-02 5.40 e-03 8.40 e-1 zn 3.00 e-01 3.00 e-01 6.00 e-02 hg 3.00 e-04 8.57 e-05 3.00 e-05 rfd=reference dose and sf=slope factor table 2. ph and temperature of tin mine tailings and control soil sample ph temperature ◦c tin mine site s3 5.23 30 control s3 7.48 29 tin mine site s4 5.11 29 control s4 7.21 30 figure 3. plate 2: the scanning electron microscope micrograph (sem) of tafan (s4). 4.1. heavy metal concentration in tin mine tailings and control sites the heavy metals concentrations of pb, cr, as, zn, cd, ni and cu in tin mine tailings and control sites are presented in table 3. the results on table 3, belong to the heavy metals concentrations of the tin mine tailings and the control site in zabot of barkin ladi local government area. these were determined using energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometer edxxrf (minipal4). the results showed that the heavy metals concentrations were within the usepa permissible limits of the soil, except for pb and as with range of (270-300) mg/kg and (40-70) mg/kg respectively, which are higher than the usepa permissible limits of 80 and 0.07 mg/kg for both pb and as respectively [22]. the high concentration of as and pb may be traceable to the tin mining activities, farming activities such as application of agricultural chemicals and atmospheric depositions by transport mechanism on the site [19]. this agrees with the work reported by bwede et al., [3]. the extreme concentration of as and pb may be via bioaccumulation in plant which then enters the food chain when these plants are consumed [22]. also, the concentrations of the heavy metals from the mining sites are significantly higher than the control sites which may be due to anthropogenic activities within the environment [23]. zn found in the area may be as a result of its natural abundance in the parent material [24]. this agrees with the work reported by banerjee [25], that iron oxides adsorb some quantities of zn in the lattice structure. 4.2. human health risk assessment of the site the human health risk assessment results for the non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic are shown in tables 4 7 for children and adult respectively. for the non-carcinogenic risk (tables 4 and 5), if the hazard quotient (hq) and hazard index (hi) are greater than 1, then adverse health effects may occur [15, 16]. also for carcinogenic risk level (table 6-7), total cancer risk (rtotal) values greater 1 × 10−4 represents elevated risks, rtotal less than 1 × 10−6 does not pose any significant health risk, and rtotal values between 1 × 10−4 and 1 × 10−3 are generally considered acceptable [26, 17]. 4.2.1. non-carcinogenic risk assessment (ncr) for s3 and s4 the results on tables 4 5, are the non-carcinogenic risk assessment of (pb, zn, cd, cr, ni and as) for s3 and s4. the three human exposure routes considered in this study were ingestion, inhalation and dermal exposure. for mining site s3, values of hq for ingestion and dermal for children are all greater than 1, except for inhalation which are all less than 1. according to huang et al., [16], hq and hi greater than 1 are indication of high cancer exposure risk, while values less than 1 indicates that there are no significant effects. therefore, since the ingestion and dermal values are greater than 1, they have high risk exposure. similar results were observed for adults, except for cr (1.69 × 10−1) which is less than 1 for ingestion. for the control (s3), the results of children for the three exposure pathways are greater than 1, except for cr, pb and ni with values (7.05 × 10−5, 1.32 × 10−4 and 0.60 × 10−6), respectively which are less than 1 indicating no risk [16]. similar results were observed for adults, except for ni (2.10 × 10−6) 409 bwede et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 406–413 410 table 3. heavy metals concentration in tin mine tailings and control samples in zabot, and tafan in barkin ladi local government area of plateau state, nigeria in (mg/kg) heavy metal tin mine tailing control usepa (2009) s3 s4 s3 s4 pb 300 1,900 280 270 80 cr 900 1,000 170 1,600 100,000 as 40 60 70 60 0.07 zn nd 200 bdl 180 23,000 cd nd nd bdl bdl 1.7 ni 210 50 70 79 1,600 cu nd nd bdl bdl 3,000 bdl: below detection limits table 4. human health risk assessment of non-carcinogenic hazard of heavy metals for zabot (s3) non carcinogenic hazards s3 group heavy metal hqing hqinh hqdern-s hi tin mine tailing from mine site children as 2.65×106 nc 2.19×105 2.87×106 cr 9.43×106 8.78×10−5 4.84×105 9.91×106 pb 1.9×107 1.67×10−4 5.83×105 1.95×107 ni 3.43×104 0.74×10−6 0.15×103 3.46×104 zn 7.73×104 2.33×10−7 4.43 7.73×103 sum 3.12×107 2.56×10−4 1.29×106 3.23×107 adult as 4.03×105 nc 4.46×104 4.48×105 cr 1.69×10−1 4.44×10−3 1.21×102 1.27×102 pb 2.91×106 0.86×10−4 1.17×105 3.02×106 ni 0.53×104 3.85×10−7 0.03×103 5.33×103 zn 1.18×103 1.06×10−7 8.87 1.19×103 sum 3.35×106 4.53×10−3 1.62×105 3.48×106 soil from agricultural farmland around mine site children as 2.03×106 nc 1.79×105 2.21×106 cr 7.86×106 7.05×10−5 4.02×104 7.72×106 pb 1.50×107 1.32×10−4 4.60×105 1.54×107 ni 2.76×104 0.60×10−6 0.12×103 2.77×104 zn 7.33×103 1.96×106 4.22×101 7.37×103 sum 2.49×107 1.96×106 6.79×105 2.54×107 adult as 3.37×105 nc 3.71×104 3.71×104 cr 0.68×103 5.56×103 0.51×105 5.72×104 pb 2.29×106 0.66×104 0.92×105 2.88×106 ni 4.22×103 2.10×10−6 0.02×103 4.24×103 zn 1.12×104 1.43×10−7 8.43×10−3 1.12×104 sum 2.64×106 1.22×104 1.80×105 2.99×106 nc: not calculated 410 bwede et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 406–413 411 table 5. human risk assessment of non-carcinogenic hazard of heavy metals in tafan (s4) non carcinogenic hazards s4 group heavy metal hqing hqinh hqdern−s hi tin mine tailing from mine site soil from agricultural farmland around mine site children as 1.80×10−8 2.70×101 2.19×104 2.87×106 cr 9.43×106 2.54×101 4.84×105 9.91×106 pb 1.9×107 1.67×104 5.83×105 1.95×107 ni 3.45×104 0.74×10−6 0.15×103 3.46×104 zn 7.73×104 2.33×107 4.43×101 7.73×103 sum 2.85×107 2.33×107 1.09×10−6 3.23×107 adult as 4.03×105 5.48×107 4.46×104 4.48×105 cr 5.63×101 7.24×103 1.21×102 1.27×102 pb 2.91×106 0.86×10−6 1.17×105 3.02×106 ni 0.53×104 3.85×107 0.03×103 5.33×103 zn 1.18×103 1.06×107 8.87×105 1.19×103 sum 3.32×106 1.45×108 1.62×105 3.47×106 children as 2.03×106 2.20×101 1.79×105 2.21×106 cr 7.86×106 2.11 4.02×104 7.72×106 pb 1.50×102 4.64×107 4.60×105 1.54×107 ni 5.51×102 2.76×104 0.12×103 2.77×104 zn 7.33×103 1.96×107 4.22×101 7.37×103 sum 2.49×107 6.60×107 6.79×105 2.32×107 adult as 3.37×105 nc 3.71×104 3.74×105 cr 2.03×103 5.56×103 0.51×105 5.72×104 pb 2.29×106 0.66×10−4 0.92×105 2.38×106 ni 4.22×103 2.10×106 0.02×103 4.24×103 zn 1.12×104 1.43×10−7 8.43×10−3 1.12×104 sum 2.65×106 2.11×106 1.80×105 2.83×106 nc: not calculated table 6. individual carcinogenic risk at the site zabot (s3) group heavy metal carcinogenic risk s3 rtotal ring−s rinh−s rdern−s tin mine tailings from mine site as 1.17 × 102 1.14 × 10−8 22.18 1.39 × 102 cr nc 1.64 × 10−7 nc 2.02 × 10−7 pb 3.30×103 nc nc 3.30 × 103 ni nc 8.17 × 10−8 nc 8.17 × 10−8 sum 3.41 × 103 2.57 × 10−3 22.18 16.41 × 106 soil from agricultural farmland around mine site as 7.61×102 2.12×10-8 1.60×101 3.42×103 cr nc 2.64×10−5 nc 2.64×10−5 pb 2.16 ×101 nc 1.67×101 38.30×101 ni nc 6.90×10−8 nc 6.90×10−8 sum 78.26×102 2.64×10−5 32.70×101 3.80×109 nc: not calculated 411 bwede et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 406–413 412 table 7. individual carcinogenic risk at the site zabot (s3) group heavy metal carcinogenic risk s3 rtotal ring−s rinh−s rdern−s tin mine tailings from mine site as 4.55×102 4.16×10−8 115.14 5.70×102 cr nc 1.82×10−7 nc 1.82×10−7 pb 3.63×104 nc nc 3.63×104 ni nc 9.64×10−9 nc 9.64×10−9 sum 36.76×103 2.33×10−4 115.14 9.64×109 soil from agricultural farmland around mine site as 1.14×103 3.46×10−8 2.4×101 1.16×103 cr 1.71×10−7 nc nc 1.71×10−7 pb 2.05×102 nc 106.11 31.1×102 ni nc 1.51×10−8 nc 1.51×10-8 sum 1.34×103 4.97×10−2 130.11×102 4.27×103 nc: not calculated and zn (1.43 × 10−7) that are less than 1 and pose no risk [16]. also, the hi values were all greater than 1, indicating significant effects. the summation of hq for ingestion in the mining and control sites are (3.12×107 and 3.35×106), and (2.49×107 and 2.64 × 106) for children and adults respectively. from the results, it is observed that the mining site poses higher risk than the control site, and the children are at higher risk than the adults due to their high values [27]. similar results were reported by ngole-jeme and fantke [28] for, studies on ecological and human health risks associated with abandoned gold mine tailings contaminated soil. the non-carcinogenic risk (ncr) results for tafan (s4) are presented in table 5. for mining site, the hq values for children were found to be greater than 1, except for as and ni with values (1.80×10−8 and 0.74×10−6) via ingestion and inhalation respectively. according to man et al., [15], hq greater than 1 is an indication of high risk exposure. for the adults, the hq were found to be greater than 1, except for pb with value 0.86×10−6 which is less than 1 indicating significant and no significant effect respectively [28]. for the control site (s4) results for children (table 5), it was observed that both the hq and hi values were all greater than 1 representing significant effects [16]. the adults result for as, cr, pb, ni and zn also showed that hq and hi values were all greater than 1, except for zn which has values of 1.43 × 10−7 and 8.43×10−3 for inhalation and dermal less than 1, indicating cancer and non-cancer risk respectively [15]. the summation of hq for ingestion in the mining and control sites are (2.85×107 and 3.32×106), and (2.49×107 and 2.65×106) for children and adults respectively. in terms of population group for ncrs, it is observed that the mining site pose more risk than the control site, and the children are at higher risk than the adults due to their high values [28]. from the results for the three different exposure pathways of metals for children and adults, the contribution of hq is in the order of ingestion greater than dermal and dermal greater than inhalation for as, cr, pb, ni and zn in the studied mining and control areas for s4. 4.2.2. carcinogenic risk assessment for s3 and s4 the carcinogenic risks associated with as, cr, pb and ni were evaluated as presented in table 6. from the s3 results, the rtotal for mining site were found to be (1.39 × 102, 2.02 × 10−7, 3.30×103 and 8.17×10−8), and control site (3.42×103, 2.64× 10−5, 38.30 × 101, 6.90 × 10−8) for as, cr, pb and ni respectively. for carcinogenic risk (table 6), total cancer risk (rtotal) values greater than 1×10−4 represents elevated risks, rtotal less than 1 × 10−6 represents no significant health risk, and rtotal values between 1 × 10−4 and 1 × 10−3 are generally considered acceptable [26, 17]. from the mining and control results, it was observed that the values of the rtotal for as and pb were more than the acceptable threshold, while cr and ni were below the threshold representing elevated risks and no significant health risk respectively [17]. similar results were observed by narsimha and haike [26] for, studies on distribution, contamination, and health risk assessment of heavy metals in surface soils from northern telangana, india. from results of the mining site s4 (table 7), the rtotal were found to be (5.70×102, 1.82×10−7, 3.63×104 and 9.64×10−9), and the control were found to be (1.16 × 103, 1.7110−7, 31.1 × 102 and 1.51 × 10−8) for as, cr, pb and ni, respectively. from the results of the mining and control sites, it is observed that the values for as and pb rtotal were higher than the acceptable threshold, while cr and ni were below the threshold. these results showed that as and pb pose elevated risks, while cr and ni does not pose any significant health risk [26, 17]. furthermore, values from the mining site indicate more pollution than the control. 5. conclusion the results of the analysis of this research work showed that both the mining and control sites in zabot and tafan in barkin ladi l.g.a and environs contains certain concentration of heavy metals (pb, ni, zn, cr, cd, as and cu) in different fractions. the surface morphology of the tin mine tailings through the use of scanning electron microscopy (sem) 412 bwede et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 406–413 413 technique revealed homogenous sized particles with fine porous structure, and rough area having different irregular shapes of varying sizes and pores distributed over the surface for both s3 and s4 respectively. from the hazard quotient (hq) and human health risk derived from carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic hazards for adults and children, it is observed that the mining site pose more risk than the control site, and children are at higher risk than the adults due to their high values. from the results for the three different exposure pathways of metals for children and adults, the contributions of hq are in the order of ingestion > dermal > inhalation for as, cr, pb, ni and zn in the studied mining and control areas for 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[27] c. s. qu, z. w. ma, j. yang, y. liu, j. bi & l. huang, “human exposure pathways of heavy metals in a lead-zinc mining area, jiangsu province”, china. plos one 7 (2012) 11 [28] v. m ngole-jeme & p. fantke, “ecological and human health risk associated with abounded gold mining contaminated soil”, review metal journal 42 (2017) 100. 413 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1137 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences robust m-estimators and machine learning algorithms for improving the predictive accuracy of seaweed contaminated big data o. j. ibidojaa,b, f. p. shanb, mukhtarc, j. sulaimand, m. k. m. alib,∗ a department of mathematics, federal university gusau, gusau, nigeria b school of mathematical sciences, universiti sains malaysia 11800 usm, penang, malaysia ci-cefory (local food innovation), universitas sultan ageng tirtayasa indonesia dschool of science and technology, universiti malaysia sabah, kota kinabalu, sabah, malaysia abstract a common problem in regression analysis using ordinary least squares (ols) is the effect of outliers or contaminated data on the estimates of the parameters. a robust method that is not sensitive to outliers and can handle contaminated data is needed. in this study, the objective is to determine the significant parameters that determine the moisture content of the seaweed after drying and develop a hybrid model to reduce the outliers. the data were collected with sensors from the v-groove hybrid solar drier (v-ghsd) at semporna, south-eastern coast of sabah, malaysia. after the second order interaction, we have 435 drying parameters, each parameter has 1914 observations. first, we used four machine learning algorithms, such as random forest, support vector machine, bagging and boosting to determine the significant parameters by selecting 15, 25, 35 and 45 parameters. second, we developed the hybrid model using robust methods such as m. bi-square, m. hampel and m. huber. the results show that there is a significant improvement in the reduction of the number of outliers and better prediction using hybrid model for the contaminated seaweed big data. for the highest variable importance of 45 significant drying parameters of seaweed, the hybrid model bagging m bi-square performs better because it has the lowest percentage of outliers of 4.08 %. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2023.1137 keywords: robust method, hybrid model, machine learning, outliers, big data. article history : received: 22 october 2022 received in revised form: 08 january 2023 accepted for publication: 08 january 2023 published: 04 february 2023 c© 2023 the author(s). published by the nigerian society of physical sciences under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and doi. communicated by: tolulope latunde 1. introduction the purpose of regression analysis is to study the relationship between two or more independent variables and a dependent variable. consider a multiple regression model: y = xβ + ε, (1) ∗corresponding author tel. no: +60 14-9543405 email address: majidkhanmajaharali@usm.my (m. k. m. ali ) where y is an n × 1 vector of response variables, x is known as the design matrix of order n × p, β is a p × 1 vector of unknown parameters and ε is an n × 1 vector of identically and independent distributed errors. the ordinary least squares (ols) is popularly used to estimate the unknown parameters in a regression model. according to [1, 2], the ordinary least squares (ols) estimator of β is 1 o. j. ibidoja et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1137 2 obtained as: β̂ = ( x ′ x )−1 x ′ y. (2) observations that deviate from the distribution’s general shape or pattern are called outliers [3]. the relationship between the observed and the dependent variable can be estimated by ols regression, by minimizing the sum of squares [4]. ols also has limitations when the assumptions are violated [5]. estimates from ols are not precise due to the high variances and covariances [6]. the presence of outliers in the data makes the ls estimator unstable, inefficient, and unreliable [7]. agricultural data has outliers because of factors that cannot be regulated, and these outliers will increase the standard errors [4, 8]. the presence of outliers affects the performance of ols, and a robust regression is used [9]. when modelling data using regression analysis, various assumptions are tested but these assumptions are violated. this model needs to be tested on the error structure for the necessary assumptions before prediction [10]. the researcher can transform the variables to fulfil the assumptions, but this cannot eradicate the outliers in the data that affect the forecast and estimate of the parameters [11]. data with outliers is common in the field of agriculture [11, 12]. to overcome this problem, robust estimators have been introduced. m-estimation is the most common method of robust regression, it was introduced by [13], it is a generality to the method of maximum likelihood estimation. before we used the robust methods to reduce the outliers, four machine learning algorithms such as random forest, support vector machine, boosting and bagging are used to select the significant parameters that determine the moisture content of the seaweed. the major contributions of this study are: i. to determine the significant parameters for the moisture content removal of seaweed during drying and reduce the number of outliers. ii. to propose a hybrid model that combines robust mestimators and machine learning models to improve the prediction accuracy. 2. flowchart of the study figure 1 shows the flowchart of the various stages in the study. 2.1. stage i this involves the inclusion of all possible models. n! (n − r)!r! + number of single factor, (3) where n is the number of single factors, r is the number of orders. equation (3) can be used to compute the total number of all possible models. figure 1: flowchart of the procedure for the hybrid model 2.2. stage ii test for the assumptions of linear regression. the residual vs fitted plot, normal q-q plot are kolmogorov-smirnov test are used to verify the assumptions. next, each machine learning model is used to select 15, 25, 35 and 45 highest important variables for optimization and easy comparison, to determine the moisture content removal of the seaweed after drying. we selected the number of variables because features selection can only provide the rank of important variables and does not tell us the number of significant factors [14]. similarly, there is no rule to decide the number of parameters to be included in a prediction model [15]. furthermore, the algorithms cannot tell us the number of significant variables except the ranks [16]. 2.3. stage iii after the selection of the significant parameters, the prediction is done and the validation metrics such as mape, sse, mse and r-square are computed. the outliers are also computed, and the robust method is introduced to build the hybrid model. 3. materials and methods 3.1. data description the data were collected from 8th april 2017 to 12th april 2017, between the hours of 8:00 am to 5:00 pm during the drying of seaweed by using v-groove hybrid solar drier (vghsd) at semporna, south-eastern coast of sabah, malaysia. there are 435 parameters after the inclusion of the second order interaction in this study. 3.2. machine learning algorithms machine learning can learn from data and use the algorithms to understand and forecast the future [17]. machine learning algorithms can be used to determine the rank of significant explanatory variables that contribute significantly to the response variable. these high-ranking variables selected using variable importance can reduce the training time, complexity 2 o. j. ibidoja et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1137 3 of the model and improve accuracy [18]. four machine learning algorithms such as random forest, support vector machine, bagging and boosting are used in this study, to determine the significant parameters that determine the moisture content removal of the seaweed. 3.2.1. random forest a random forest (rf) is a mixture of classification and regression trees (carts). it uses the highest number of votes (classification) or the mean forecasts (regression) of all the trees [19]. it uses the idea of bagging, and it is an ensemble learning method [20], [21]. if l is a learning set ,with a group of n pairs of features, with the output (x1, y1) , (x2, y2) , (x3, y3) . . . (xn, yn ) , if xi ∈ x and yi ∈ y . a class of p-features xi ( f or i = 1, 2, . . . , n) is a n × p matrix x,where the rows i = 1, 2, ..., n relates as xi, with columns j = 1, 2, 3, ..., p as x j. algorithm: for b = 1 to n 1. create a bootstrapped sample d∗b from the training set d. 2. grow the tree by using the m from the bootstrapped sample d∗b. for a specific mode i. select m variables randomly. ii. identify the top split variables and values. iii. divide a node using the top divided variables and values. replicate the steps 1–3 till the stopping conditions are satisfied. 3.2.2. suppor vector machine (svm) support vector machine can be used for regression and classification problems [22]. svm has the capacity to reveal nonlinear connections with kernel function [20, 23]. the svm was developed by cortes & vapnik [24]. a good tutorial and explanations were given by [25, 26]. in support vector regression, the � loss function is usually minimized. beyond this particular bound, a straightforward linear loss function is applied, and any loss less than � is set to zero: l� = f (x) = { 0, if |yi − f (xi) | < � yi − f (xi) − �|, otherwise (4) for instance, suppose f (x) is a linear function f (x) = β0 + xtiβ, then the loss function is given as n∑ i=1 max ( yi − x t iβ−β0 − �, 0 ) (5) the � is the tuning parameter and can be written as the constrained optimization problem: minimize 1 2 ‖β‖2 (6) subject to{ yi − xtiβ−β0 ≤ ε − ( yi − xtiβ−β0 ) ≤ ε . (7) if there are observations who do not lie within the ε band around that regression line,then there is no solution to the problem. the slack variables ζi and ζ∗i are used ,this allows the observations to fall outside the ε band around that regression line. minimize 1 2 ‖β‖2 + k n∑ i=1 ( ζi + ζ ∗ i ) (8) subject to yi − xtiβ−β0 ≤ ε + ζi − ( yi − xtiβ−β0 ) ≤ ε + ζ∗i ζi,ζ ∗ i ≥ 0 (9) 3.2.3. boosting boosting is used to improve the accuracy of algorithms [27]. boosting starts with an algorithm or method to discover the rough rules of thumb. it is called the “base” or “weak” learning algorithm many times. the base learning algorithm creates a new weak prediction rule each time it is called, and after many rounds, the boosting algorithm must merge these weak rules into a singular forecast rule that, ideally, will be significantly more precise than any of the weak rules [28]. suppose we have this model matrix x = [ x1, x2, . . . , xp ] �rn×p, outcomes variable vector y ∈ rn×1. the regression coefficients vector is given as β ∈ rp, the value of predicted for the outcome variable is denoted by xβ, and the residuals are denoted by ε = y − xβ. for regression purposes, least squares boosting (lsb(ε)) gives an accurate description of the data and regularization [27]. the algorithm for lsb(ε) is as follows: algorithm: lsb (ε) choose the rate of learning ε > 0 and iterations number n. define at β̂0 = 0, r̂0 = y, k = 0. 1. do this for 0 ≤ k ≤ n 2. establish the covariates ũ jk and jk as below: ûn = argmin u∈r  n∑ i=1 ( r̂ki − xinu )22 for n = 1, 2, 3, . . . , p, jk ∈ argmin 1≤n≤p n∑ i=1 ( r̂ki − xinũn )2 3. revise the present errors and regression coefficients as: r̂k+1 ← r̂k − ε̃u jk β̂k+1jk ← β̂ k jk + ε̃u jk and β̂ k+1 j ← β̂ k j , j , jk 3.2.4. bagging breiman [29] introduced bagging (bootstrap aggregating) to decrease the variance of classification and regression tree models. it is used to improve the present method and leads to an improvement in the accuracy. bagging is used as an intensive methods to enhance erratic estimation. for a high dimensional 3 o. j. ibidoja et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1137 4 data problems, bagging can be used to find a good model. suppose we have a feature ϕ (x,l) to predict y from x, if there is a training sequence {lk} consisting of n objects , from l distribution, the aim here is to use the {lk} to build a more accurate predictor than ϕ (x,l) as a specific training set predictor ϕ (x,l) [29]. if y is not discreet and we put ϕ (x,lk) with the mean of ϕ (x,lk) over k. we get continually many samples via the bootstrap { l(a) } , an from l, and form { ϕ ( x,l(a) )} . if y is continuous, then ϕa as ϕa (x) = averageϕa ( x,l(a) ) . the { l(a) } will form replicate datasets with m cases are randomly chosen from l and by applying replacement. each (ym, xm) can appear many times in a any specific l(a). the technique to construct ϕ is an important factor to know if bagging improves precision or reliability. theoretically bagging is described as follows: i. build a bootstrap sample l∗i =( y∗i , x ∗ i ) (i = 1, 2, 3, . . . , m) centred on an empirical distribution of these pairs li = (yi, xi) (i = 1, 2, 3, . . . , m). ii. use the plug-in principle to ascertain the bootstrapped predictor θ̂∗m (x); which is, θ̂ ∗ m (x) = gm ( l1, l2, l3, . . . , lm ) (x). iii. θ̂m;b (x) = e∗ [ θ̂∗m (x) ] means the bagged predictor. the bagging algorithm is as follows: input: data d = {(x1, y1) , (x2, y2) , (x3, y3) , . . . , (xm, ym)} ; learning algorithm base l; base learner’s numbers j. process: for j = 1, 2, . . . , j: bs j = bootstrap(d); %create the bootstrap sample from d θ j = l ( bs j ) % train the base learner θ j from the bootstrap sample end output: 1j ∑j j=1 θ j (x) % for regression studies 3.3. robust estimation method outliers are common with contaminated data and how to determine the observations is a challenge. a robust method can deal with the influence of outliers. contaminated data can be analyzed using robust estimation [6], [30, 31, 32]. a robust method is used to solve the problems of traditional methods because of these outliers. to know the best method for the robust estimation methods, m estimation methods m huber, m hampel and m bi-square are compared. the m-estimation method attempts to minimise that the function ρ (•) operates on the residual. m-estimators define: β̂m = argmin β n∑ i=1 ρ (ei (β)). (10) the ρ is ρ−type m-estimation. assume σ is known and the residuals approximate β be ei = yi −βt xi. the β in m-estimate minimizes the objective function: n∑ i=1 ρ { ei (β) σ } . (11) figure 2: (a) residuals vs fitted (b) residuals vs normal q-q the σ robustly estimate and the scale σ̃m in m-estimator has solution: 1 n n∑ i=1 ρ ( ei σ ) = 1 n n∑ i=1 ρ ( yi −βt xi σ ) = k, (12) where the β has the p×1 parameter vector, and then the function ψ yields:∑ i ψ (ei) ∂ei ∂βi , for j = 1, 2, . . . , p. (13) the function ψ (e) = ∂ρ(e) ∂(e) derivatives the influence function. 4 o. j. ibidoja et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1137 5 table 1: robust regression m-estimation description methods objective function weight function bi-square  k2 6 { 1 − [ 1 − ( e k )2]3} for |e| ≤ k k2 6 for |e| > k  [ 1 − ( e k )2]2 for |e| ≤ k 0 f or |e| > k huber { 1 2 e 2 for |e| ≤ k k |e| − 12 k 2 for |e| > k { 1 f or |e| ≤ k k |e| for |e| < k hampel  e2 2 , 0 < |e| < a a |e| − e 2 2 , b < |e| ≤ c −a 2(c−b) (c − e) 2 + a2 (b + c − a) , b < |e| ≤ c  1 f or 0 < |e| < a a |e| for b < |e| ≤ c a c |e|−1 c−b for b < |e| ≤ c table 2: kolmogorov-smirnov test for normality test statistic value p-value remarks 0.1641 2.2e-16 the residuals do not come from a normal distribution. then the weight function defines: w (e) = ψ (e) e , (14) where function ψ (e) states:∑ i w (ei) ei ∂ei ∂βi = 0, for j = 1, 2, . . . , p (15) and the object becomes to obtain the following iterated reweighted least square problem: min ∑ i w ( e(k−1)i ) e2i , (16) where k indicates the iterate number. table 1 shows the summary of the m estimators and their respective weight function. 4. results and discussion from the plot in figure 2a, the residuals vs fitted plot shows that there is no pattern since the residuals did not spread out. there is evidence of non-linearity and heterogeneity. figure 2b shows the normal q-q plot, the residuals are not normally distributed, this also supports the result of kolmogorov-smirnov test in table 2. the possible outliers are the observations 272 and 355. the observation 272 determine more the moisture content removal of the seaweed than the model predict. though, it is an extreme case, but still affect the moisture content removal. the observation 355 has a negative residual and determine less the moisture content removal of the seaweed than the model predicts. the normality assumption is checked with the kolmogorovsmirnov test for a two-taied test. from the results in table 2, the p-value =2.2e-16, which is less than 0.05, it means we have enough evidence to say that the residuals do not come from a normal distribution. this also explains why we have this type of qq plot in figure 2. the results in table 3 are the evaluation of each machine learning algorithm for 15, 25, 35 and 45 high ranking variables that determine the moisture content removal of the seaweed. based on the mean absolute percentage error (mape), mean squared error (mse), r2 and sum of squared error (sse), random forest outperforms support vector machine, bagging and boosting for the 15, 25, 35 and 45 significant parameters. this also confirms the results of [33], where random forest absolutely performed better than the other methods. random forest when 45 significant parameters that determine the moisture content of the seaweed were selected gave mape of 2.125891, mse of 7.330011, r2 of 0.9732063 and sse of 14029.64 gave the best performance. all the validation measures such as mape, mse, r-square and sse imply that significantly better results are obtained by random forest to the determine the moisture content removal of the seaweed. table 4 is the summary of the original model without using robust method and the hybrid models ,which combines machine learning models and robust estimation techniques. it also shows the number and percentage of outliers using 2-sigma limit.the percentage for the outliers is the number of observations outside the 2-sigma limit. it shows the percentage of outliers outside the 2-sigma limit for the original model without using robust method and the hybrid model. this sigma limit can improve the outputs quality and eliminate the source of deficiencies [34]. based on the results in table 4 for the original model, for 5 o. j. ibidoja et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1137 6 table 3: evaluation metrics for the 15, 25, 35 and 45 high-ranking important variables machine learning model high-ranking important variables selected high-ranking important variables selected mape mse r2 sse random forest 15 2.458969 9.910512 0.9637737 18968.72 25 2.337353 9.010273 0.9670644 17245.66 35 2.174667 7.790909 0.9715216 14911.80 45 2.125891 7.330011 0.9732063 14029.64 support vector machine 15 8.614626 45.25618 0.8347612 86620.32 25 7.980399 35.80985 0.8691446 68540.05 35 7.568951 34.00095 0.8757802 65077.81 45 7.351331 32.38644 0.8816661 61987.65 bagging 15 12.25897 74.29053 0.7284423 142192.10 25 9.778194 47.33173 0.8269861 90592.93 35 8.413645 36.41955 0.8668739 69707.02 45 8.151903 33.65611 0.8769752 64417.80 boosting 15 8.168942 142.4542 0.5310293 272657.30 25 8.697362 136.3236 0.5543729 260923.30 35 8.183671 140.1463 0.5368431 268240.10 45 8.203304 134.0864 0.5569358 256641.30 table 4: percentage of outliers outside 2 sigma limits for hybrid models machine learning model robust regression method 15 highest important variables 25 highest important variables 35 highest important variables 45 highest important variables µ± 2σ(%) µ± 2σ (%) µ± 2σ (%) µ± 2σ (%) random forest original 118(6.17) 113(5.90) 112(45.85) 118(6.17) m bi-square 118(6.17) 117(6.11) 75(3.92) 99(5.17) m hampel 72(3.76) 88(4.60) 92(4.81) 93(4.86) m huber 83(4.34) 90(4.70) 88(4.60) 102(5.33) support vector machine original 108(5.64) 98(5.12) 86(4.49) 87(4.55) m bi-square 64(3.34) 18(0.94) 84(4.39) 89(4.65) m hampel 66(3.45) 62(3.24) 85(4.44) 86(4.49) m huber 81(4.23) 83(4.34) 96(5.02) 99(5.17) bagging original 98(5.12) 96(5.02) 97(5.07) 84(4.39) m bi-square 126(6.58) 97(5.07) 95(4.96) 78(4.08) m hampel 101(5.28) 97(5.07) 90(4.70) 85(4.44) m huber 113(5.90) 99(5.17) 97(5.07) 89(4.65) boosting original 193(10.10) 168(8.78) 194(10.12) 194(10.12) m bi-square 77(4.02) 77(4.02) 133(6.95) 79(4.12) m hampel 76(3.97) 76(3.97) 72(3.76) 80(4.18) m huber 83(4.34) 81(4.23) 67(3.50) 85(4.44) 15 highest important variables, the maximum is boosting with 193 (10.1%) outliers, while the minimum is bagging with 98 (5.12%). for the 25 highest important variables, the maximum is boosting 168 (8.78%) , while the minimum is bagging with 96 (5.02%). for the 35 highest important variables, the maximum is boosting 194 (10.12%), while the minimum is 6 o. j. ibidoja et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1137 7 support vector machine with 86 (4.49%). for the 45 highest important variables, the maximum is boosting 194 (10.12%) , while the minimum is bagging with 84 (4.39%). based on this results, bagging with 45 variables importance gave the best performance because it has the lowest number of outliers of 84. based on the results in table 4 for the hybrid model, for the 15 highest important variables, bagging m bi-square has the highest number of outliers of 126 with 6.58% ,while support vector machine m bi-square has the lowest number of outliers with of 64 with 3.34%. for the 25 highest important variable random forest m bi-square has the highest number of outliers of 117 with 6.11% ,while support vector machine m bi-square has the lowest number of outliers with of 18 with 0.94%. for the 35 highest important variable boosting m bi-square has the highest number of outliers of 133 with 6.95% ,while boosting m huber has the lowest number of outliers with of 67 with 3.50%. for the 45 highest important variable random forest m huber has the highest number of outliers of 102 with 5.33% ,while bagging m bi-square has the lowest number of outliers with of 78 with 4.08%. based on this result, bagging m bi-square gave the best performance because it had the lowest number of outliers of 78 and used the highest number of high ranking variables. 5. conclusion the aim of this study is to develop a hybrid model, to forecast seaweed drying parameters that determine the moisture content removal that would enhance the quality of the seaweed. four predictive models such as random forest, support vector machine, bagging and boosting were built with m huber, m hampel and m bi-square to develop a hybrid 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[34] c. njeru & a. amayo, evaluation of quality control in clinical chemistry using sigma metrics, (2022). 8 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 88–94 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences original research common fixed point theorems for multivalued generalized f-suzuki-contraction mappings in complete strong b−metric spaces yusuf ibrahim∗ department of mathematics, sa’adatu rimi college of education, kumbotso kano, nigeria abstract this paper introduces a new version of multivalued generalized f-suzuki-contraction mapping and then establish some new common fixed point theorems for these new multivalued generalized f-suzuki-contraction mappings in complete strong b−metric spaces. keywords: common fixed point problem, multivalued generalized f-suzuki-contraction mapping, complete strong b−metric space. article history : received: 04 april 2019 received in revised form: 01 september 2019 accepted for publication: 02 september 2019 published: 28 september 2019 c©2019 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: b. j. falaye 1. introduction let x be a nonempty set and s ≥ 1 be a given real number. a mapping d : x × x → r∗ is said to be a b-metric if for all x, y, z ∈ x the following conditions are satisfied: 1. d(x, y) = 0 if and only if x = y; 2. d(x, y) = d(y, x); 3. d(x, z) ≤ s[d(x, y) + d(y, z)]. the pair (x, d) is called a b-metric space with constant s. a strong b−metric is a semimetric space (x, d) if there exists s ≥ 1 for which d satisfies the following triangular inequality. d(x, y) ≤ d(x, z) + sd(z, y), f or each x, y, z ∈ x. (1) in 1922, a mathematician banach [1] proved a very important result regarding a contraction mapping, known as the banach contraction principle, which states that every self-mapping t defined on a complete metric space (x, d) satisfying ∗corresponding author tel. no: +2348062814778 email address: danustazz@gmail.com (yusuf ibrahim ) ∀x, y ∈ x, d(t x, t y) ≤ λd(x, y), where λ ∈ (0, 1) has a unique fixed point and for every x0 ∈ x a sequence {tn x0}∞n=1converges to the fixed point. subsequently, in 1962, edelstein [2] proved the following version of the banach contraction principle. let (x, d) be a compact metric space and let t : x → x be a self-mapping. assume that for all x, y ∈ x with x , y, d(x, t x) < d(x, y) =⇒ d(t x, t y) < d(x, y). then t has a unique fixed point in x. in 2012, wardowski [3] introduced a new type of contractions called f-contraction and proved a new fixed point theorem concerning f-contractions. let (x, d) be a metric space. a mapping t : x → x is said to be an f-contraction if there exists τ > 0 such that ∀x, y ∈ x, d(t x, t y) > 0 =⇒ τ + f(d(t x, t y)) ≤ f(d(x, y)), 88 yusuf ibrahim / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 88–94 89 where f : r+ → r is a mapping satisfying the following conditions: f1 f is strictly increasing, i.e. for all x, y ∈ r+ such that x < y, f(x) < f(y); f2 for each sequence {αn}∞n=1 of positive numbers, limn→∞ αn = 0 if and only if lim n→∞ f(αn) = −∞; f3 there exists k ∈ (0, 1) such that lim α→0+ αk f(α) = 0. we denote by ζ, the set of all functions satisfying the conditions (f1) − (f3). wardowski [3] then stated a modified version of the banach contraction principle as follows. let (x, d) be a complete metric space and let t : x → x be an f-contraction. then t has a unique fixed point x∗ ∈ x and for every x ∈ x the sequence {tn x}∞n=1 converges to x ∗. in 2014, hossein, p. and poom, k. [15] defined the f-suzuki contraction as follows and gave another version of theorem. let (x, d) be a metric space. a mapping t : x → x is said to be an f-suzuki-contraction if there exists τ > 0 such that for all x, y ∈ x with t x , t y d(x, t x) < d(x, y) =⇒ τ + f(d(t x, t y)) ≤ f(d(x, y)), where f : r+ → r is a mapping satisfying the following conditions: f1 f is strictly increasing, i.e. for all x, y ∈ r+ such that x < y, f(x) < f(y); f2 for each sequence {αn}∞n=1 of positive numbers, limn→∞ αn = 0 if and only if lim n→∞ f(αn) = −∞; f3 f is continuous on (0,∞) we denote by ζ, the set of all functions satisfying the conditions (f1) − (f3). let t be a self-mapping of a complete metric space x into itself. suppose f ∈ ζ and there exists τ > 0 such that ∀x, y ∈ x, d(t x, t y) > 0 =⇒ τ + f(d(t x, t y)) ≤ f(d(x, y)). then t has a unique fixed point x∗ ∈ x and for every x0 ∈ x the sequence {tn x0}∞n=1 converges to x ∗. following this direction of research (see examples, [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 16, 17]), in this paper, fixed point results of piri and kumam [11], ahmad et al. [9], suzuki [18] and suzuki [19] are extended by introducing common fixed point problem for multivalued generalized f-suzuki-contraction mappings in strong b-metric spaces. definition 1.1. (hardy and rogers [14]) (1) there exist non-negative constants a, satisfying ∑5 i=1 ai < 1 such that, for each x, y ∈ x, d( f (x), f (y)) < a1d(x, y) + a2d(x, f (x)) + a3d(y, f (y)) + a4d(x, f (y)) + a5d(y, f (x)). (2) there exist monotonically decreasing functions ai(t) : (0,∞) → [0, 1) satisfying ∑5 i=1 ai(t) < 1 such that, for each x, y ∈ x, x , y, d( f (x), f (y)) < a1(d(x, y))d(x, f (x)) + a2(d(x, y))d(y, f (y)) + a3(d(x, y))d(x, f (y)) + a4(d(x, y))d(y, f (x)) + a5(d(x, y))d(x, y). (3) for each x, y ∈ x, x , y, d( f (x), f (y)) < max{d(x, y), d(x, f (x)), d(y, f (y)), d(x, f (y)), d(y, f (x))}. lemma 1.1. [13] from definition 1.1, (1) =⇒ (2) =⇒ (3). denote by c b(x), the collection of all nonempty closed and bounded subsets of x and let h be the hausdorff metric with respect to the metric d; that is, h(a, b) = max{sup a∈a d(a, b), sup b∈b d(b, a)} for all a, b ∈ c b(x), where d(a, b) = inf b∈b d(a, b) is the distance from the point a to the subset b. 2. main results definition 2.1. let 0 be the family of all functions f : r+ → r such that: (f1) f is strictly increasing, i.e. for all x, y ∈ r+ such that x < y, f(x) < f(y); (f2) for each sequence {αn}∞n=1 of positive numbers, limn→∞ αn = 0 if and only if lim n→∞ f(αn) = −∞; (f3) f is continuous on (0,∞). definition 2.2. let ψ be the family of all functions ψ : [0,∞) → [0,∞) such that ψ is continuous and ψ(t) = 0 iff t = 0. definition 2.3. let (x, d) be a strong b−metric space. mappings t, s : x → c b(x) are said to be multivalued generalized f-suzuki-contraction on (x, d) if there exists f ∈ 0 and ψ ∈ ψ such that, ∀x, y ∈ x, x , y, 1 1 + s d(x, t x) < d(x, y) and 1 1 + s d(y, s y) < d(y, s t x) ⇒ ψ(nφ(x, y)) + f(s4 h(t x, s y)) ≤ f(nφ(x, y)) in which nφ(x, y) = φ1(d(x, y))(d(x, y)) + φ2(d(x, y))(d(y, s t x)) + φ3(d(x, y)) ( (d(y, t x)) + d(x, s y) 2s ) + φ4(d(x, y)) ( (d(x, s t x)) + h(s t x, s y) 2s ) + φ5(d(x, y))(h(s t x, s y) + h(s t x, t x)) + φ6(d(x, y))(h(s t x, s y) + d(t x, x)) + φ7(d(x, y))(d(t x, y)) + d(y, s y)) (2) for which φ : r+ → [0, 1), with ∑7 i=1 φi(d(x, y)) < 1, is monotonically decreasing function. comsidering the definition s t x := {s y ⊆ c b(x) : ∀y ∈ t x}, we have the following result. theorem 2.1. let (x, d) be a complete strong b−metric space and let t, s : x → c b(x) be multivalued generalized fsuzuki-contraction mappings. then t and s has a common 89 yusuf ibrahim / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 88–94 90 fixed point x∗ ∈ x and for every x ∈ x the sequence {t n x}∞n and {s n x}∞n converge to x ∗. proof let x0 = x ∈ x. let xn+1 ∈ t xn and xn+2 ∈ s xn+1 ∀n ∈ n. if there exists n ∈ n such that d(xn, t xn) = d(xn+1, s xn+1) = 0 then xn+1 = xn = x becomes a fixed point of t and s , respectively, therefore the proof is complete. now, suppose that d(xn, t xn) > 0 and d(xn+1, s xn+1) > 0 ∀n ∈ n then the proof will be divided in to two steps. step one. we show that {xn}∞n=1 is a cauchy sequence. let d(xn, t xn) > 0 and d(xn+1, s xn+1) > 0 ∀n ∈ n. (3) therefore, we have that 1 s + 1 d(xn, t xn) < d(xn, t xn) and 1 s + 1 d(xn+1, s xn+1) < d(xn+1, s xn+1) ∀n ∈ n. (4) by definition 2.3, we get f(h(t xn, s xn+1)) ≤ f(nφ(xn, xn+1)) −ψ(nφ(xn, xn+1)). since that nφ(xn, xn+1) = φ1(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ2(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+1, xn+2)) + φ3(d(xn, xn+1)) ( d(xn, xn+2) 2s ) + φ4(d(xn, xn+1)) ( (d(xn, xn+2)) 2s ) + φ5(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+2, xn+1)) + φ6(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ7(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+2, xn+1) ≤ φ1(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ2(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+1, xn+2)) + φ3(d(xn, xn+1)) ( d(xn, xn+1) + sd(xn+1, xn+2) 2s ) + φ4(d(xn, xn+1)) ( d(xn, xn+1) + sd(xn+1, xn+2) 2s ) + φ5(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+2, xn+1)) + φ6(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ7(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+2, xn+1) ≤ φ1(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ2(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+1, xn+2)) + φ3(d(xn, xn+1)) ( s[d(xn, xn+1) + d(xn+1, xn+2)] 2s ) + φ4(d(xn, xn+1)) ( s[d(xn, xn+1) + d(xn+1, xn+2)] 2s ) + φ5(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+2, xn+1)) + φ6(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ7(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+2, xn+1) ≤ φ1(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ2(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+1, xn+2)) + φ3(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ3(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+2, xn+1) + φ4(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ4(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+2, xn+1) + φ5(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+2, xn+1)) + φ6(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ7(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+2, xn+1) = [φ1(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ3(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ4(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ6(d(xn, xn+1))](d(xn, xn+1)) + [φ2(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ3(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ4(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ5(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+2, xn+1)) + φ7(d(xn, xn+1))](d(xn+2, xn+1) = φ′(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ ′′(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+2, xn+1)) (5) then by (5) and definition 2.3, we get f(d(xn+1, xn+2)) ≤ f(φ′(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ ′′(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+2, xn+1))) −ψ(φ′(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn, xn+1)) + φ ′′(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+2, xn+1))). (6) on contrary, if d(xn+1, xn+2) > d(xn, xn+1), then φ′(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn, xn+1)) +φ′′(d(xn, xn+1))(d(xn+2, xn+1)) < d(xn+1, xn+2) and therefore (6) becomes f(d(xn+1, xn+2)) ≤ f(d(xn+1, xn+2)) −ψ(d(xn+1, xn+2)). but, from (3) and the fact that ψ(d(xn+1, xn+2)) > 0, this is a contradiction. thus, we conclude that f(d(xn+1, xn+2)) ≤ f(d(xn, xn+1)) −ψ(d(xn, xn+1)) < f(d(xn, xn+1)). (7) by (7) and definition 2.1(f1), we have that d(xn+1, xn+2) < d(xn, xn+1) < d(xn−1, xn) ∀n ∈ n. (8) therefore {d(xn, xn+1)} is a nonnegative decreasing sequence of real numbers. thus there exists γ ≥ 0 such that lim n→∞ d(xn, xn+1) = γ. from (7) as n →∞, we have that f(γ) ≤ f(γ) −ψ(γ). this implies that ψ(γ) = 0 and thus γ = 0. consequently we arrive at lim n→∞ d(xn, t xn) = lim n→∞ d(xn, xn+1) = 0. (9) now, we claim that {xn}∞n=1 is a cauchy sequence. on contrary, we assume that there exists � > 0 and n, m ∈ n such that, for all n ≥ n� and n� < n < m, d(xn, xm) ≥ � and d(xn−1, xm) < �. (10) it implies that � ≤ d(xn, xm) ≤ d(xn, xn−1) + sd(xn−1, xm) < d(xn, xn−1) + s�. (11) by (11) and (9), we have that � ≤ limsup n→∞ d(xn, xm) < s�. (12) 90 yusuf ibrahim / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 88–94 91 by triangle inequality, we have that � ≤ d(xn, xm) ≤ d(xn, xm+1) + sd(xm+1, xm) ≤ d(xn, xm) + 2sd(xm+1, xm). (13) by (9),(10), (12) and (13), we have that � ≤ limsup n→∞ d(xn, xm+1) < s�. (14) similarly, we have that � ≤ d(xn, xm) ≤ d(xn, xn+1) + sd(xn+1, xm) ≤ sd(xn, xm) + (s 2 + 1)d(xn, xn+1). (15) by (9),(10), (12) and (15), we have that � ≤ limsup n→∞ d(xn, xn+1) < s�. (16) observe that d(xn, xm+1) ≤ d(xn, xn+1) + sd(xn+1, xm+1) ≤ d(xn, xn+1) + s[d(xn+1, xm) + sd(xm+1, xm)] ≤ d(xn, xn+1) + s[d(xn, xn+1) + sd(xn, xm) + sd(xm+1, xm)]. (17) by (17), we have that � s ≤ limsup n→∞ d(xn+1, xm+1) < s 2�. (18) by (9)and (10), we select n� > 0 ∈ n such that 1 s + 1 d(xn, t xn) < 1 s + 1 � < � ≤ d(xn, xm) ∀n ≥ n(�) ⇔ 1 s + 1 d(xn, t xn) < 1 s + 1 � < d(xn, xm) ∀n ≥ n(�) and 1 s + 1 d(xn+1, s xn+1) < 1 s + 1 � < � s ≤ d(xn+1, xm+1) ∀n ≥ n� ⇔ 1 s + 1 d(xn+1, s xn+1) < 1 s + 1 � < d(xn+1, xm+1) ∀n ≥ n� it follows that from definition 2.3, we have, for every n ≥ n� f(h(xn+1, xm+1)) ≤ f(nφ(xn, xm)) −ψ(nφ(xn, xm)). (19) since that d(xn, xm) ≤ nφ(xn, xm) = φ1(d(xn, xm))(d(xn, xm)) + φ2(d(xn, xm))(d(xn+2, xm)) + φ3(d(xn, xm)) ( d(xn+1, xm) + d(xn, xm+1) 2s ) + φ4(d(xn, xm)) ( (d(xn+2, xn) + d(xn+2, xm+1)) 2s ) + φ5(d(xn, xm))(d(xn+2, xm+1) + d(xn+2, xn+1)) + φ6(d(xn, xm))(d(xn+2, xm+1) + d(xn, xn+1)) + φ7(d(xn, xm))(d(xm, xn+1 + d(xm, xm+1))) ≤ φ1(d(xn, xm))(d(xn, xm)) + φ2(d(xn, xm))(d(xn+2, xn+1) + sd(xn+1, xm)) + φ3(d(xn, xm)) ( d(xn+1, xm) + d(xn, xm+1) 2s ) + φ4(d(xn, xm)) ( (d(xn+2, xn+1) + sd(xn+1, xn) + d(xn+2, xn+1)) + sd(xn+1, xm+1)) 2s ) + φ5(d(xn, xm))(d(xn+2, xn+1) + sd(xn+1, xm+1) + d(xn+2, xn+1)) + φ6(d(xn, xm))(d(xn+2, xn+1) + sd(xn+1, xm+1) + d(xn, xn+1)) + φ7(d(xn, xm))(d(xm, xn+1) + d(xm, xm+1))). (20) by (12), (14), (16), (18) and (20), we have that limsup n→∞ d(xn, xm) ≤ limsup n→∞ nφ(xn, xm) < φ1(�)(s�) + φ2(�)(s 2�) + φ3(�)(�) + φ4(�)( s2� 2 ) + φ5(�)(s 3�) + φ6(�)(s 3�) + φ7(�)(s�) ≤ max{s�, s2�,�, s� 2 , s3�, s�} = s3� and therefore � ≤ limsup n→∞ nφ(xn, xm) < s 3�. (21) similarly � ≤ limin f n→∞ nφ(xn, xm) < s 3�. (22) by (19), (21) and (22), we have that f(s3�) = f(s4 � s ) ≤ f(s4limsup n→∞ d(xn+1, xm+1)) ≤ f(limsup n→∞ nφ(xn, xm)) −ψ(limsup n→∞ nφ(xn, xm)) ≤ f(s3�) −ψ(�). (23) by (23) and the fact that � > 0, this is a contradiction. hence {xn} is a cauchy sequence in x. by completeness of (x, d), {xn}∞n=1 and {xn+1} ∞ n=1 converge to some point x ∗ ∈ x, that is, lim n→∞ d(xn, x ∗) = 0 and lim n→∞ d(xn+1, x ∗) = 0. (24) there exists increasing sequences {nk}, {n + 1k} ⊂ n such that xnk ∈ t x ∗ and xn+1k ∈ s x ∗ for all k ∈ n. since t x∗ and s x∗ are closed and lim n→∞ d(xnk, x ∗) = 0 and lim n→∞ d(xn+1k, x ∗) = 0, we get x∗ ∈ t x∗ and x∗ ∈ s x∗. step two. we show that x∗ is a common fixed point of t and s . it suffices to show that 1 1 + s d(xn, t xn) < d(xn, x ∗) and 1 1 + s d(xn+1, s xn+1) < d(xn+1, x ∗), f or every n ∈ n, (25) 91 yusuf ibrahim / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 88–94 92 implies f(d(t x∗, x∗)) ≤ f(nφ(x ∗, t x∗)) −ψ(nφ(x ∗, t x∗)) and f(d(s x∗, x∗)) ≤ f(nφ(s x ∗, x∗)) −ψ(nφ(s x ∗, x∗)), respectively. on contrary, suppose there exists m ∈ n such that 1 1 + s d(xm, t xm) ≥ d(xm, x ∗) or 1 1 + s d(xm+1, s xm+1) ≥ d(xm+1, x ∗). (26) by (26), we have that (s + 1)d(xm, x ∗) ≤ d(xm, t xm) ≤ d(xm, x ∗) + sd(t xm, x ∗) or (s+1)d(xm+1, x ∗) ≤ d(xm+1, s xm+1) ≤ d(xm+1, x ∗)+sd(s xm+1, x ∗), and therefore d(xm, x ∗) ≤ d(t xm, x ∗) = d(xm+1, x ∗) and d(xm+1, x ∗) ≤ d(s xm+1, x ∗) = d(xm+2, x ∗). (27) by (8), (26) and (27), this is a contradiction. hence, (25) holds, and therefore f(d(xn+1, x ∗)) = f(h(t xn, s x ∗)) ≤ f(nφ(xn, x ∗)) −ψ(nφ(xn, x ∗)), (28) and f(d(xn+2, x ∗)) = f(h(s xn+1, t x ∗)) ≤ f(nφ(xn+1, x ∗)) −ψ(nφ(xn+1, x ∗)). (29) since that d(x∗, t x∗) ≤ nφ(xn, x ∗) = φ1(d(xn, x ∗))(d(xn, x ∗)) + φ2(d(xn, x ∗))(d(xn+2, x ∗)) + φ3(d(xn, x ∗)) ( d(xn+1, x∗) + d(xn, s x∗) 2s ) + φ4(d(xn, x ∗)) ( d(xn, s x∗) + d(s x∗, xn+2) 2s ) + φ5(d(xn, x ∗))(d(s x∗, xn+2) + d(xn+1, s x ∗)) + φ6(d(xn, x ∗))(d(xn, xn+1) + d(xn+2, t x ∗)) + φ7(d(xn, x ∗))(d(t x∗, x∗) + d(x∗, xn+1)) ≤ max{(d(xn, x ∗), d(xn+2, x ∗), d(xn+1, x∗) + d(xn, s x∗) 2s , d(xn, s x∗) + sd(s x∗, xn+2) + d(s x∗, xn+2) 2s , d(s x∗, xn+2) + d(xn+1, s x ∗), d(xn, xn+1) + d(xn+2, t x ∗), d(t x∗, x∗) + d(x∗, xn+1)} (30) and d(x∗, s x∗) ≤ nφ(xn+1, x ∗) = φ1(d(xn+1, x ∗))(d(xn+1, x ∗)) + φ2(d(xn+1, x ∗))(d(x∗, xn+3)) + φ3(xn+1, x ∗)) ( d(xn+2, x∗) + d(xn+1, x∗) 2s ) + φ4(d(xn+1, x ∗)) ( d(xn+1, s x∗) + d(s x∗, xn+3) 2s ) + φ5(d(xn+1, x ∗))(d(xn+3, s x ∗) + d(xn+2, s x ∗)) + φ6(d(xn+1, x ∗))(d(xn+1, xn+2) + d(xn+3, s x ∗)) + φ7(d(xn+1, x ∗))(d(s x∗, x∗) + d(x∗, xn+2)) ≤ max{d(xn+1, x ∗), d(x∗, xn+3), d(xn+2, x∗) + d(xn+1, x∗) 2s , d(xn+1, xn+2) + sd(xn+2, s x∗) + d(s x∗, xn+3) 2s , d(xn+3, s x ∗) + d(xn+2, s x ∗), d(xn+1, xn+2) + d(xn+3, s x ∗), d(s x∗, x∗) + d(x∗, xn+2)}. (31) by (24) and (30), we have that lim n→∞ nφ(xn, x ∗) = d(t x∗, x∗). by (24) and (31), we have that lim n→∞ nφ(xn+1, x ∗) = d(s x∗, x∗). by (28)and (29) and by the continuity of f and ψ, we have that f(d(x∗, t x∗)) ≤ f(nφ(x ∗, t x∗)) −ψ(nφ(x ∗, t x∗)), and f(d(x∗, s x∗)) ≤ f(nφ(x ∗, s x∗)) −ψ(nφ(x ∗, s x∗)). hence, since t x∗ and s x∗ are closed then we have x∗ ∈ t x∗ and x∗ ∈ s x∗, that is, x∗ is a fixed point of t and s . in theorem 2.1, when t = s = u, then we have the following result. corollary 2.1.1. let (x, d) be a complete strong b−metric space and let u : x → c b(x) be a multivalued generalized f-suzukicontraction mapping. then u has a fixed point x∗ ∈ x and for every x ∈ x the sequence {u n x}∞n=1 converges to x ∗. in corollary 2.1.1, when u is a single-valued then we have another new result as follows. corollary 2.1.2. let (x, d) be a complete strong b−metric space and let u : x → x be a single-valued generalized f-suzukicontraction mapping. then u has a fixed point x∗ ∈ x and for every x ∈ x the sequence {u n x}∞n=1 converges to x ∗. in theorem 2.1, when t and s are two single-valued then the 92 yusuf ibrahim / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 88–94 93 following result holds. corollary 2.1.3. let (x, d) be a complete strong b−metric space and let t, s : x → x be two single-valued generalized fsuzuki-contraction mappings. then t and s have a common fixed point x∗ ∈ x and for every x ∈ x the sequence {t n x}∞n=1 and {s n x}∞n=1 converge to x ∗. in theorem 2.1, when (x, d) is a complete b−metric space then the following new result holds. corollary 2.1.4. let (x, d) be a complete b−metric space and let t, s : x → x be two single-valued generalized f-suzukicontraction mappings. then t and s have a common fixed point x∗ ∈ x and for every x ∈ x the sequence {t n x}∞n=1 and {s n x}∞n=1 converge to x ∗. in corollary 2.1.4, when t = s = u, then we have the following result. corollary 2.1.5. let (x, d) be a complete b−metric space and let u : x → c b(x) be a multivalued generalized f-suzukicontraction mapping. then u has a fixed point x∗ ∈ x and for every x ∈ x the sequence {u n x}∞n=1 converges to x ∗. corollary 2.1.6. let (x, d) be a complete strong b−metric space and let u : x → c b(x) be a multivalued generalized fsuzuki-contraction mapping such that there exists f ∈ 0 and ψ ∈ ψ, ∀x, y ∈ x, x , y, 1s+1 d(x, u x) < d(x, y) ⇒ ψ(n(x, y)) + f(s4d(u x, uy)) ≤ f(n(x, y)) in which n(x, y) = max{d(x, y), d(y, u 2 x), (d(y, u x)) + d(x, uy) 2s , (d(x, uy)) + d(u 2 x, uy) 2s , d(u 2 x, uy) + d(uy, u x), d(u 2 x, uy) + d(u x, x), d(u x, y)) + d(y, uy)}. (32) then u has a fixed point x∗ ∈ x and for every x ∈ x the sequence {u n x}∞n=1 converges to x ∗. proof from lemma 1.1, since (2) ⇒ (32) then by the corollary 2.1.1 the result follows immediately. corollary 2.1.7. let (x, d) be a complete strong b−metric space and let u : x → x be a single-valued generalized f-suzukicontraction mapping such that there exists f ∈ 0 and ψ ∈ ψ, ∀x, y ∈ x, x , y, 1s+1 d(x, u x) < d(x, y) ⇒ ψ(n(x, y)) + f(s4d(u x, uy)) ≤ f(n(x, y)) in which n(x, y) = max{d(x, y), d(y, u 2 x), (d(y, u x)) + d(x, uy) 2s , (d(x, uy)) + d(u 2 x, uy) 2s , d(u 2 x, uy) + d(uy, u x), d(u 2 x, uy) + d(u x, x), d(u x, y)) + d(y, uy)}. (33) then u has a fixed point x∗ ∈ x and for every x ∈ x the sequence {u n x}∞n=1 converges to x ∗. proof from lemma 1.1, since (2) ⇒ (33) then by the corollary 2.1.2 the result holds. corollary 2.1.8. let (x, d) be a complete strong b−metric space and let t, s : x → x be two single-valued generalized fsuzuki-contraction mappings such that there exists f ∈ 0 and ψ ∈ ψ, ∀x, y ∈ x, x , y, 1s+1 d(x, t x) < d(x, y) and 1 s+1 d(y, s x) < d(y, s t x) ⇒ψ(n(x, y))+f(s4 h(t x, s y)) ≤ f(n(x, y)) in which n(x, y) = max{d(x, y), d(y, s t x), (d(y, t x)) + d(x, s y) 2s , (d(x, s y)) + d(s t x, s y) 2s , d(s t x, s y) + d(s y, t x), d(s t x, s y) + d(t x, x), d(t x, y)) + d(y, s y)}. (34) then t and s have a common fixed point x∗ ∈ x and for every x ∈ x the sequence {t n x}∞n=1 and {s n x}∞n=1 converge to x ∗. proof from lemma 1.1, since (2) ⇒ (34) then by the corollary 2.1.4 the result holds. corollary 2.1.9. let (x, d) be a complete b−metric space and let u : x → c b(x) be a multivalued generalized f-suzukicontraction mapping such that there exists f ∈ 0 and ψ ∈ ψ, ∀x, y ∈ x, x , y, 12s d(x, u x) < d(x, y) ⇒ ψ(n(x, y)) + f(s6d(u x, uy)) ≤ f(n(x, y)) in which n(x, y) = max{d(x, y), d(y, u 2 x), (d(y, u x)) + d(x, uy) 2s , (d(x, uy)) + d(u 2 x, uy) 2s , d(u 2 x, uy) + d(uy, u x), d(u 2 x, uy) + d(u x, x), d(u x, y)) + d(y, uy)}. (35) then u has a fixed point x∗ ∈ x and for every x ∈ x the sequence {u n x}∞n=1 converges to x ∗. proof from lemma 1.1, since (2) ⇒ (35) then by the corollary 2.1.5 the result holds. 3. example let x = [0, 1]. t, s : [0, 1] → c b([0, 1]) be defined by t x = [0, x2 ] and s y = [0, y 2 ] such that s t x = [0, x 8 ] for all x ∈ [0, 1]. let d be the usual metric on x. taking f(t) = t10 and let x < y, then ∀x, y ∈ [0, 1] d(x, y) > 0 and d(y, s t x) = |y− x8 | > |y− y 8 | = 7 8 y > y 4 . now, for s = 1, we have that 1 2 d(x, t x) = 0 < d(x, y) and 12 d(y, s y) = y 4 < d(y, s t x). without lose of generality, let φ1(d(x, y)) = φ2(d(x, y)) = φ3(d(x, y)) = 1 5 ; and φ4(d(x, y)) = φ5(d(x, y)) = φ6(d(x, y)) = φ7(d(x, y)) = 1 102 . therefore, we have that f(h(t x, s y)) = ln (h(t x, s y)) + h(t x, s y) = 1 10 ∣∣∣∣∣ y2 − x4 ∣∣∣∣∣ = 110 ∣∣∣∣∣y − y2 − x4 ∣∣∣∣∣ ≤ 1 10 (∣∣∣∣∣y − x4 ∣∣∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣∣∣x − y2 ∣∣∣∣∣) = 1 10  ∣∣∣y − x4 ∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣x − y2 ∣∣∣ 2  + 110  ∣∣∣y − x4 ∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣x − y2 ∣∣∣ 2  93 yusuf ibrahim / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 1 (2019) 88–94 94 ≤ 1 10  ∣∣∣y − x4 ∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣x − y2 ∣∣∣ 2  + 110  ∣∣∣y − x4 ∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣x − x8 ∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣ x8 − y2 ∣∣∣ 2  = 1 10  ∣∣∣y − x4 ∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣x − y2 ∣∣∣ 2  + 110  ∣∣∣ x 8 − y 2 ∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣x − x8 ∣∣∣ 2  + 1 10 (∣∣∣∣∣ y2 − x8 ∣∣∣∣∣) ≤ 110  ∣∣∣y − x4 ∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣x − y2 ∣∣∣ 2  + 1 10  ∣∣∣ x 8 − y 2 ∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣x − x8 ∣∣∣ 2  + 110 (∣∣∣∣∣ y2 − x8 ∣∣∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣∣∣ x8 − x4 ∣∣∣∣∣) = 1 5  ∣∣∣y − x4 ∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣x − y2 ∣∣∣ 2  + 15  ∣∣∣ x 8 − y 2 ∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣x − x8 ∣∣∣ 2  + 1 10 (∣∣∣∣∣ y2 − x8 ∣∣∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣∣∣ x8 − x4 ∣∣∣∣∣) + 1102 (|x − y|) + 1102 (∣∣∣∣∣y − x8 ∣∣∣∣∣) + 1 102 (∣∣∣∣∣ x8 − y2 ∣∣∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣∣∣ x4 − x ∣∣∣∣∣) + 1102 (∣∣∣∣∣ x4 − y ∣∣∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣∣∣y − y2 ∣∣∣∣∣) − 1 102 [ (|x − y|) + (∣∣∣∣∣y − x8 ∣∣∣∣∣) + ( ∣∣∣∣∣ x8 − y2 ∣∣∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣∣∣ x4 − x ∣∣∣∣∣)] + (∣∣∣∣∣ x4 − y ∣∣∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣∣∣y − y2 ∣∣∣∣∣) − 110 (∣∣∣∣∣ y2 − x8 ∣∣∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣∣∣ x8 − x4 ∣∣∣∣∣) − 1 10  ∣∣∣y − x4 ∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣x − y2 ∣∣∣ 2  − 110  ∣∣∣ x 8 − y 2 ∣∣∣ + ∣∣∣x − x8 ∣∣∣ 2  . = φ1(d(x, y))(d(x, y)) + φ2(d(x, y))(d(y, s t x)) + φ3(d(x, y)) ( (d(y, t x)) + d(x, s y) 2s ) + φ4(d(x, y))( (d(x, s t x)) + d(s t x, s y) 2s ) + φ5(d(x, y))(d(s t x, s y) + d(s t x, t x)) + φ6(d(x, y))(d(s t x, s y) + d(t x, x)) + φ7(d(x, y))(d(t x, y)) + d(y, s y)) −ψ(nφ(x, y)). 4. conclusion fixed point results of piri and kumam [11], ahmad et al. 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[19] t. suzuki, “discussion of several contractions by jachymski’s approach”, fixed point theory and applications 2016 (2016) 91. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13663-016-0581-9 94 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 96–104 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences stability and sensitivity analysis of dengue-malaria co-infection model in endemic stage solomon akyenyi ayubaa,∗, imam akeyedea, adeyemi sunday olagunjua,b adepartment of mathematics federal university of lafia, nigeria bdepartment of mathematical science bingham university, karu, nigeria abstract in this study, a deterministic co-infection model of dengue virus and malaria fever is proposed. the disease free equilibrium point (dfep) and the basic reproduction number is derived using the next generation matrix method. local and global stability of dfep are analyzed. the results show that the dfep is locally stable if r0dm < 1 but may not be asymptotically stable. from the analysis of secondary data sourced from kenyan region, the value of r0dm computed is 19.70 greater than unity; this implies that dengue virus and malaria fever are endemic in the region. to identify the dominant parameter for the spread and control of the diseases and their co-infection, sensitivity analysis is investigated. from the numerical simulation using maple 17, increase in the rate of recovery for co-infected individual contributes greatly in reducing dengue and malaria infections in the region. decreasing either dengue or malaria contact rate also play a significant role in controlling the co-infection of dengue and malaria in the population. therefore, the center for disease control and policy makers are expected to set out preventive measures in reducing the spread of both diseases and increase the approach of recovery for the co-infected individuals. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2021.196 keywords: co-infection, dengue, malaria, stability analysis, sensitivity analysis, simulation. article history : received: 9 april 2021 received in revised form: 30 april 2021 accepted for publication: 5 may 2021 published: 29 may 2021 c©2021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: b. j. falaye 1. introduction the spread of mosquitoes borne diseases has gained concern globally in recent decades because of their recurring outbreaks. millions of people die every year as a result of these infectious diseases and their control has increasingly become a complex issue [1]. dengue virus and malaria fever are common mosquitoes-borne diseases that have become a public health threat in the last few decades with high morbidity and mortality for many patients in various part of the world [2]. the world ∗corresponding author tel. no: +234(0)8130254488 email address: ayubasolomona@gmail.com (solomon akyenyi ayuba) malaria report [3], estimated 229 million cases of malaria in 2019 compared to 228 millions cases in 2018, with 409 000 deaths. 94% of the cases and deaths are reported from subsaharan africa. dengue is currently common in tropical and subtropical regions. the virus have four distinct stereotypes and are transmitted to human through bite of infected aedes mosquitoes (aegyptic & albopictus) [4]. dengue cases reported increased over 8 fold in the last two decades from 505430 cases in the year 2000 to 2.4 million in 2010 and to 4.2 million in 2019 [5]. while dengue is causing devastating impacts on the tropical and subtropical communities, malaria fever is endemic in some of these dengue affected regions there by drastically increases public health burden among the people in tropical 96 ayuba et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 96–104 97 communities living at risk of contracting both diseases concurrently. the two pathogens share similar geographical areas, and clinical distinction between them is difficult due to their overlapping symptoms. the work in [6], the researchers proposed a mathematical model to study the transmission dynamics of zika and malaria in malaria-endemic area. in ref. [7] developed a novel mathematical model describing the co-infection dynamics of malaria and typhoid fever. [8] formulated a deterministic co-infection model between malaria and hiv in human population. ref. [9] developed and analyzed the stability of disease free equilibrium point (dfep) of a co-infection model between dengue virus and chikungunya in closed population. [10] developed a mathematical model for dengue-zika co-infection and carried out their synergistic relationship in the presence of prevention and treatment. ref. [11] proposed a co-infection of altered vector infectivity and antibodydependent enhancement of dengue-zika interplay. ref. [12] formulated and analyzed a co-infection model of dengue fever and leptospirosis diseases. in [13], a deterministic model for dengue, malaria and typhoid triple co-infection was developed but limited only to the stability (local and global) analysis. the authors in ref. [14], developed a seir co-infection model of dengue and malaria but only established the local and global stability. in this study, we propose a sir-si deterministic model of dengue virus and malaria co-infection and determine the stability analysis, sensitivity analysis and carryout numerical simulation for the co-infection model. the remainder of this paper is arranged as follows: in section 2, model descriptions, flow diagram (depicting the co-infection interactions) and the model formulation are presented. section 3 is devoted to results and analysis; invariant region, disease free equilibrium point, basic reproduction number, stability analysis, parameters estimation, sensitivity analysis and numerical simulation. discussion of findings is presented in section 4. finally, conclusions are drawn in section 5 and some possible directions for future studies are presented. 2. model formulation 1 the data used in this study are secondarily sourced from [7, 15]. in accordance with previous studies on mathematical model of dengue virus [10, 16, 17, 15] and malaria model [19, 20, 21, 22], we formulate a sir-si deterministic model of dengue and malaria co-infection. in this model, the total human population nh is partitioned into seven classes; susceptible human s h, infected human with dengue virus ihd , infected human with malaria ihm, infected human with both dengue virus and malaria idm, recovery of infected human from dengue virus ,malaria fever and co-infected individuals are rhd , rhm, rdm respectively. the vectors population are subdivided into; susceptible dengue vector s vd , dengue carrier vector ivd , susceptible malaria vector s vm and malaria carrier vector ivm. the recruitment rates for human, dengue and malaria vectors respectively, are λh, λd and λm. the recovery rate from dengue and malaria 1stability and sensitivity analysis of dengue-malaria co-infection model are σ,α, transmission rate of dengue and malaria vectors to human per unit time are ηd, ηm, probability of dengue and malaria vectors to be infected are denoted by ηvd, ηvm respectively. recovered human from malaria become susceptible at γ and acquired immunity ρ rate. the co-infected individuals recover at the rate ψ; but those individuals either recover only from dengue and join rhd with probability of qψ, or recover only from malaria and join rhm with probability of ψl(1 − q), or recover from both diseases and join rdm with the probability of ψ(1 − l)(1 − q). the human natural death rate denote µh while dengue and malaria vectors death rate are µd ,µm respectively. τ, δ are dengue and malaria induced death rates while φ, θ are dengue and malaria related death rates. the following assumptions are made to formulate the co-infection model: the total population is not constant, the susceptible rates are recruited through birth or immigration and the number increases from malaria recovered and co-infectious recovered individuals by losing their temporal immunity. recovered individuals from dengue virus is permanent. figure 2 shown the flow diagram for the interactions between dengue and malaria co-infection model in human population. the time dependent dynamical figure 1. flow diagram depicting dengue virus and malaria co-infection dynamics system associated with the parameters interaction is shown as follows. s ′h = λh + γrhm + πrdm − (ηd ivd +ηm ivm ) nh s h −µhs h i′hd = ηd ivd nh s h − ηm ivm nh ihd − (σ + τ + µh + φ)ihd i′hm = ηm ivm nh s h − ηd ivd nh ihm − (α + ρ + δ + µh + θ)ihm i′dm = ηm ivm nh ihd + ηd ivd nh ihm − (ψ + µh + θ + φ)idm r′hd = σihd + qψidm −µhrhd r′hm = αihm + ψl(1 − q)idm − (γ + µh)rhm r′dm = ψ(1 − l)(1 − q)idm − (π + µh)rdm s ′vd = λd − ηvd (ihd +idm ) nh s vd −µd s vd i′vd = ηvd ihd nh s vd + ηvd idm nh s vd −µd ivd s ′vm = λm − ηvm (ihm +idm ) nh s vm −µms vm i′vm = ηvm ihm nh s vm + ηvm idm nh s vm −µm ivm (1) 97 ayuba et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 96–104 98 table 1. parameters description of dengue and malaria co-infection model parameters description λh recruitment rate of human population λd recruitment rate of dengue vectors λm recruitment rate of malaria vectors ρ rate of human acquired immunity from malaria α rate of human recovery from malaria σ rate of human recovery from dengue ψ rate of human recovery from both dengue and malaria γ rate of immunity warning for rhm to become susceptible ηd transmission rate of dengue vectors to human per unit time ηm transmission rate of malaria vectors to human per unit time ηvd probability for dengue vectors to be infected ηvm probability for malaria parasite vectors to be infected qψ proportion of co-infected human recovery from dengue only ψl(1 − q) proportion of co-infected human recovery from malaria only π rate at which rdm become susceptible τ disease induced death rate for human infected with dengue δ disease induced death rate for human infected with malaria φ dengue related death rate θ malaria related death rate µh natural death rate of humans µd natural death rate of dengue vectors µd natural death rate of malaria vectors 3. results and analysis 3.1. invariant regions in this section, we obtain the bounded region of solution for the dengue-malaria model. the total human population is given by nh = s h + ihd + ihm + idm + rhd + rhm + rdm, then n′h = s ′ h + i ′ hd + i ′ hm + r ′ hd + i ′ dm + r ′ hm + r ′ dm (2) =⇒ n′ = λh −µh nh (3) solving equation (3) as t →∞ yields dh = {(s h, ihd, ihm, idm, rhd, rhm, rdm) ∈< 7; 0 ≤ n ≤ λh µh } for the dengue vector population, if there is no spread of infection, then n′d = λd −µd nd (4) dd = {(s vd, ivd ) ∈< 2; nd ≤ λd µd } similarly, for malaria vector population, we obtain n′m = λm −µm nm (5) dm = {(s vm, ivm) ∈< 2; nm ≤ λm µm } therefore, the feasible solution of dengue-malaria model is given by d = {(dh × dd × dm)< 11 + } thus, the solution of dengue-malaria model is bounded in d. theorem 3.1. if at t = 0 and {s h(0), ihd (0), ihm(0), idm(0), rhd (0), rhm(0), rdm(0) , s vd (0), ivd (0), s vm(0), ivm(0)} ≥ 0, then the solution of dengue-malaria model are nonnegative at t > 0. 3.2. existence of disease free equilibrium point 2 to investigate the condition of existence of the disease free equilibrium point and also the asymptotic behaviour of the dengue-malaria co-infection model in this section, we will investigate whether the diseases die out or become endemic. this can only be addressed through the asymptotic behaviour of the diseases. this behaviour depends largely on the equilibrium point, that is time-independent solutions of the system. since these solutions are independent of time, we set the left hand side of system (1) to zero. s ′h = i ′ hd = i ′ hm = i ′ dm = r ′ hd = r ′ hm = r′dm = 0 and s ′ vd = i ′ vd = s vm = i ′ vm = 0. 2stability and sensitivity analysis of dengue-malaria co-infection model 98 ayuba et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 96–104 99 thus, the equilibrium point is given by e0dm = [s h(0), ihd (0), ihm(0), idm(0), rhd (0), rhm(0), rdm(0), s vd (0), ivd (0), s vm(0), ivm(0)] = [ λh µh , 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, λd µd , 0, λm µm , 0 ] (6) 3.3. basic reproduction number r0dm the linear stability of the equilibrium point e0dm is established using next generation matrix method on system (1) to obtain the threshold behavior r0dm. hence, we introduce two matrices; matrix a for rates of new infection and b is the transfer rate of in or out of a compartment. taking the partial derivative of the right hand side of (1) at dfep with respect to ihd, ihm, idm, ivd , ivm, we obtain a =  0 0 0 ηdλh µh nh 0 0 0 0 0 ηmλh µh nh 0 0 0 0 0 ηvdλd µd nh 0 ηvdλd µd nh 0 0 0 ηvmλm µm nh ηvmλm µm nh 0 0  b =  −κ1 0 0 0 0 0 −dt 0 0 0 0 0 −κ2 0 0 0 0 0 −µd 0 0 0 0 0 −µm  ∴ b−1 =  − 1 κ1 0 0 0 0 0 − 1dt 0 0 0 0 0 − 1 κ2 0 0 0 0 0 − 1 µd 0 0 0 0 0 − 1 µm  where κ1 = (σ + τ + µh + φ), κ2 = (ψ + µh + θ + φ),dt = (α + ρ + δ + µh + θ) and β = ψ(1− l)(1−q) from equation (1). the basic reproduction number r0dm of dengue-malaria co-infection model is the number of secondary infections of dengue or malaria in the population due to a single dengue or malaria infective individual. the reproduction number is the spectral radius of ab−1 defined as r0dm := p(ab−1), and is given by r0dm = max  √ ηdηvdλdλh µhµ 2 dκ1 n 2 h , √ ηmηvmλmλh µ2mµh dt n 2 h  (7) 3.3.1. local stability of disease free equilibrium point 3 the jacobian matrix j0dm of dengue-malaria model (1) at e0dm is obtained as seen in matrix (8). −µh 0 0 0 0 γ π 0 −ηdλh µh nh 0 −ηmλh µh nh 0 −κ1 0 0 0 0 0 0 ηdλh µh nh 0 0 0 0 −dt 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ηmλh µh nh 0 0 0 −κ2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 σ 0 qψ −µh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ρ ψl(1 − q) 0 (−γ−µh ) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 β 0 0 (−π−µh ) 0 0 0 0 0 −ηvdλd µd nh 0 −ηvdλd µd nh 0 0 0 −µd 0 0 0 0 ηvdλd µd nh 0 ηvdλd µd nh 0 0 0 0 −µd 0 0 0 0 −ηvmλm µm nh ηvmλm µm nh 0 0 0 0 0 −µm 0 0 0 ηvmλm µm nh ηvmλm µm nh 0 0 0 0 0 0 −µm  (8) theorem 3.2. the disease free equilibrium e0dm is locally asymptotically stable if r0dm < 1 and unstable if r0dm > 1. 3stability and sensitivity analysis of dengue-malaria co-infection model 99 ayuba et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 96–104 100 proof 3.1. . the local stability of e0dm is establish by the jacobian matrix (8) at e0dm. the characteristic polynomial of j0dm is determine by det(j0dm − ti) = (−µh − t) ×(−µh − t) × (−γ−µh − t) ×(−π−µh − t)(−µd − t) ×(−µm − t) × det(ĵ0dm − ti) = 0 where ĵ0dm is given by ĵ0dm =  −κ1 0 0 ηd λh µh nh 0 0 −dt 0 0 ηmλh µh nh 0 0 −κ2 0 0 ηv dλd µd nh 0 ηvdλd µd nh −µd 0 0 ηv mλm µm nh ηv mλm µm nh 0 −µm  using the properties of determinant, we obtain det(ĵ0dm−it) = det  −dt − t 0 ηmλh µh nh 0 0 0 −κ2 − t 0 0 0 ηvmλm µh nh ηvmλm µh nh −µm − t 0 0 0 ηvdλd µh nh 0 −µd − t ηvdλd µh nh 0 0 0 −ηdλh µh nh − t −κ1 − t  det  −dt − t 0 ηmλh µh nh 0 −κ2 − t 0 ηvmλm µm nh ηvmλm µm nh −µm − t  × det −µd − t −ηvdλdµd nhηdλh µh nh −κ1 − t  = 0 (9) the five eigenvalues of j0dm are (−µh − t) × (−µh − t) × (−γ − µh − t)×(−µd − t)×(−µm − t) = 0 and the other five eigenvalues are obtained from the solution of matrix equation (9) by det  −dt − t 0 ηmλh µh nh 0 −κ2 − t 0 ηvmλm µm nh ηvmλm µm nh −µm − t  = 0 det −µd − t −ηvdλdµd nhηdλh µh nh −κ1 − t  = 0 the above determinant becomes t3 − (dt + κ2 + µm)t2 − ( κ2(dt + (dt + κ2) + (1 − r20m)dt µm ) t +(κ2 − r20m)dt µm = 0 (10) t2 + (µd + κ1)t + (1 − r 2 0d )µdκ1 = 0 (11) the above eigenvalues of equation (10) and (11) are also negative. therefore, the disease free equilibrium point are locally asymptotically stable iff r0d < 1 and r0m < 1. 3.3.2. global stability of disease free equilibrium point 4 the global asymptotic stability of the dfep is investigated using carlos castillo-chavez conditions as described in [23]. from the co-infection model (1), we define the time dependent derivatives by x′ = f(x, z) (12) z′ = g(x, z), g(x, 0) = 0 (13) where x = (s h, rhd, rhm, rdm, s vd, s vm) and z = (ihd, ihm, idm, ivd, ivm) denote uninfected and infected populations respectively. to guarantee the global asymptotic stability, the following conditions must be satisfied. (a) x′ = f(x, 0); x∗ is globally stable (b) g(x, z) = dzg(x∗, 0)z − ĝ(x, z), ĝ(x, z) ≥ 0 ∀ x, z ∈ ω theorem 3.3. the equilibrium point e0dm = (x∗, 0) of system (1) is globally asymptotically stable if r0dm ≤ 1 and the conditions (a), (b) are satisfied. proof: f(x, z) and g(x, z) is given by f(x, z) =  λh + γrhm + πrdm − ηd ivd +ηm ivm nh s h −µhs h σrhd + qψidm −µhrhd ρrhm + (1 − qψ)ihm − (γ + µh)rhm βidm − (π + µh)rdm λd − ηvd (ihd +idm ) nh s vd −µd s vd λm − ηvm (ihm +idm ) nh s vm −µms vm  g(x, z) =  ηd ivd nh s h − ηm ivm nh ihd − (σ + τ + µh + φ)ihd ηm ivm nh s h − ηd ivd nh ihm − (α + ρ + δ + µh + θ)ihm ηm ivm nh ihd + ηd ivd nh ihm − (ψ + µh + θ + φ)idm ηvd ihd nh s vd + ηvd idm nh s vd −µd ivd ηvm ihm nh s vm + ηvm idm nh s vm −µm ivm  for x′ = f(x, 0), system (1) is reduced to x′ =  s ′h = λh + πrdm + γrhm −µhs h s vd′ = λd −µd s vd s vm = λm −µms vm with x∗ = ( λh µh , λd µd , λm µm ) (14) given g(x, z) = dzg(x∗, 0)z − ĝ(x, z), ĝ(x, z) ≥ 0 g(x∗, 0) =  −κ1 0 0 ηdλh µh nh 0 0 −dt 0 0 ηmλh µh nh 0 0 −κ2 0 0 ηvdλd µd nh 0 ηvdλd µd nh −µd 0 0 ηvmλm µm nh ηvmλm µm nh 0 −µm  (15) 4stability and sensitivity analysis of dengue-malaria co-infection model 100 ayuba et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 96–104 101 dzg(x ∗, 0)z =  −κ1 0 0 ηdλh µh nh 0 0 −dt 0 0 ηmλh µh nh 0 0 −κ2 0 0 ηvdλd µd nh 0 ηvdλd µd nh −µd 0 0 ηvmλm µm nh ηvmλm µm nh 0 −µm  ×  ihd ihm idm ivd ivm  =  −κ1 ihd + ηdλh µh nh ivd −dt ihm + ηmλh µh nh ivm −κ2 idm ηvdλd µd nh ihd + ηvdλd µd nh idm −µd ivd ηvmλm µm nh ihm + ηvmλm µm nh idm −µd ivm  ĝ(x, z) =  ĝ1(x, z) ĝ2(x, z) ĝ3(x, z) ĝ4(x, z) ĝ5(x, z)  =  ηd ivd nh ( λh µh − s h) + ηm ivm ihd nh ηm ivm nh ( λh µh − s h) + ηd ivd ihm nh − ( ηm ivm ihd nh + ηd ivd ihm nh ) ηvd nh ( λd µd − s vd )(ihd + idm) ηvm nh ( λm µm − s vm)(ihm + idm)  (16) since ĝ3(x, z) < 0 in equation (16) and condition (b) requires ĝ(x, z) ≥ 0. hence, condition (b) is not met as ĝ(x, z) < 0 for all x, z ∈ ω. thus, it implies that the defp may not be globally asymptotically stable if r0dm < 1. therefore, the endemic equilibrium exist with dfep if rodm < 1. whence, we can deduced that the dengue-malaria model exhibits backward bifurcation when the basic reproduction number r0dm = 1. 3.4. parameters estimation and sensitivity analysis 3.4.1. parameters estimation and initial value 5 the parameters in table 2 are obtained (or estimated) in line with the work of [7, 15], from kenyan region where malaria and dengue virus are said to be endemic. conservatively, the following initial values are estimated. the total human population is estimated to be 52, 000, 000 and the susceptible human are assumed to be 25, 000, 000 which is about half of the population at the onset of the diseases. for vectors population, 10, 000, 000 is assumed to be susceptible malaria mosquitoes with 2, 000, 000 malaria carrier mosquitoes. dengue susceptible mosquitoes are estimated to 5, 000, 000 and 100, 000 for dengue carrier mosquitoes. therefore, the initial infected human with malaria is estimated to be 10, 000 and infected human with dengue estimate is 5000. 3.5. sensitivity analysis of the model in order to identify the dominant parameter for the spread and control of dengue and malaria infections in the population, we performed the sensitivity analysis. as described in carlos 5stability and sensitivity analysis of dengue-malaria co-infection model table 2. parameters values of dengue-malaria co-infection model parameter value/day source λh 467 [7] µh 0.00004 calculated λd 221056.75 estimated ηd 0.000451 estimated ηvd 0.13502 estimated σ 0.035 estimated π 0.003 estimated τ 0.0245 estimated φ 0.00023 estimated µd 0.00005 calculated ηm 0.000408 [7] ηvm 0.15096 [7] γ 0.06 [0,1] [7] α 0.038 [7] ρ 0.37 [7, 15] δ 0.0019 [7] θ 0.00025 estimated µm 0.00005 calculated castillo-chavez [23], the sensitivity index of r0dm with a parameter say β is expressed as υ r0dm β = ∂rodm ∂β × β r0dm (17) since rodm is defined by r0dm = { √ ηdηvdλdλh µhµ 2 dκ1 n 2 h , √ ηmηvmλmλh µ2mµh dt n 2 h } therefore, we evaluate the sensitivity index of r0d and rom separately as follows: 6 υ r0d ηd = ∂r0d ∂ηd × ηd r0d = 1 2 > 0 υ r0d ηvd = ∂r0d ∂ηvd × ηvd r0d = 1 2 > 0 υ r0d σ = ∂r0d ∂σ × σ r0d = − σ 2κ1 < 0 υ r0d τ = ∂r0d ∂τ × τ r0d = − τ 2κ1 < 0 υ r0d φ = ∂r0d ∂φ × φ r0d = − φ 2κ1 < 0 υ r0d µd = ∂r0d ∂µd × µd r0d = −1 < 0 υ r0d µh = ∂r0d ∂µh × µh r0d = − σ + τ + 2µh + φ 2κ1 < 0 6stability and sensitivity analysis of dengue-malaria co-infection model 101 ayuba et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 96–104 102 υ r0m ηm = ∂r0m ∂ηm × ηm r0m = 1 2 > 0 υ r0m ηvm = ∂r0m ∂ηvm × ηvm r0m = 1 2 > 0 υ r0m α = ∂r0m ∂α × α r0m = − α 2dt < 0 υ r0m ρ = ∂r0m ∂ρ × ρ r0m = − ρ 2dt < 0 υ r0m δ = ∂r0m ∂δ × δ r0m = − δ 2dt < 0 υ r0m θ = ∂r0m ∂θ × θ r0m = − θ 2dt < 0 υ r0m µm = ∂r0m ∂µm × µm r0m = − α + ρ + δ + 2µm + θ 2dt < 0 the parameters with positive sensitivity indices are ηd,ηvd,ηm,ηvm and the negative indices includes σ,τ,φ,µd,α,ρ,δ,θ,µm. the positive sign parameters have great influence in the spread of the diseases and their co-infection in the region. whereas, the parameters with negative sign have potential influence on the control of the spread of dengue, malaria and their co-infection. hence, the center for disease control is expected to make policies and control measures in this regard to combat dengue, malaria and their co-infection in an endemic region. 3.6. numerical simulations 3.6.1. effect of malaria recovery rate (α) on infectious (ihm) population as seen in figure 2, it is shown that α plays a significant influence in decreasing malaria infection. when the value of α increases from 0.038 to 1, the infectious population due to malaria decreased, where the contact rate ηm is kept constant. figure 2. effect of malaria recovery rate on infectious population 3.6.2. effect of dengue recovery rate (σ) on infectious (ihd ) population in figure 3, as the value of σ varies from 0.035 to 0.99, the number of dengue infection decreases when the contact rate ηd is kept constant. hence, this can be use by policy makers to combat the disease. figure 3. effect of dengue recovery rate on infectious population 3.6.3. effect of dengue contact rate (ηd ) on co-infectious (idm) population in figure 4, the contact rate of dengue ηd varies from 0.000451 to 0.040451, the number of co-infectious population increases as the recovery rate is kept constant. thus, the center for disease control and policy makers are expected to apply vector control measures and mechanism to reduce the expansion of co-infection in the region. figure 4. effect of dengue contact rate on co-infectious population 3.6.4. effect of dengue-malaria recovery rate (ψ) on co-infectious (idm) population the recovery rate described in dengue-malaria model is either the individual recovery from dengue only, recovery from malaria only or both dengue and malaria infections. as shown in figure 5, increasing ψ play a significant role in reducing both dengue and malaria infections in the region. 102 ayuba et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 96–104 103 table 3. parameters value and sensitivity indices parameter sensitivity indice sensitivity index <0d basic reproduction number of dengue µh -ve -0.001787 ηd +ve +0.5 ηvd +ve +0.5 σ -ve -0.001046 τ -ve -0.000732 φ -ve -0.000007 µd -ve -1 <0m basic reproduction number of malaria ηm +ve +0.5 ηvm +ve +0.5 α -ve -0.007794 ρ -ve 0.075885 δ -ve -0.00049 θ -ve -0.00005 µm -ve -1 figure 5. effect of recovery rate on co-infection population 4. discussion in this paper, we develop a deterministic mathematical model that studies the dynamics of dengue virus and malaria fever in an endemic stage. base on the qualitative and numerical analysis of the data sourced from [7, 15] with conservative estimates, the results depict some interesting insights into the underlying relationship between dengue virus and malaria fever and provide information that are useful to combat the diseases. the qualitatively analysis of the model shows that there is a bounded invariant region where the model is mathematical and epidemiological well posed. the basic reproduction number of the model was derived using the next generation matrix method. stability and sensitivity analysis of the disease free equilibrium point (dfep) were established. the result shows that the dfep is locally stable if r0dm < 1 but may not be asymptotically stable. therefore, the endemic equilibrium exist when rodm < 1 with dfep and this implies that the model undergoes backward bifurcation. we demonstrated numerically using maple 17 , the effects of basic parameters for the spread and control of dengue and malaria co-infection. from the results, we conclude that an increase in dengue and malaria recovery rates plays a great role in reducing dengue and malaria infections respectively, in the region. similarly, the recovery rate for co-infectious individuals also contributes greatly to reducing the co-infection in the population if its value increases as seen in figure 5. another findings obtained is that, increasing dengue vectors contact rate has a great influence on spreading the co-infection in the population. we computed the r0dm = 19.70 > 1, indicating that dengue virus and malaria fever are endemic in the area. thus, we recommend that center for disease control set out preventive measures in reducing the spread of both diseases and increase the measures on recovery co-infected individuals. 5. conclusion and recommendation as 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[23] c. c. chavez, z. feng, & w. huang, “on the computation of r and its role on global stability”, //www.researchgate.net/profile/carlos castillochavez2/publication/228915276, biometric unit technical report m1553 (2001) 1. 104 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1109 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences effect of pre-test drying temperature on the properties of lateritic soils l. o. afolagboyea,∗, z. o. arijea, a. o. talabia, o. o. owoyemib adepartment of geology, ekiti state university, ado-ekiti, nigeria bdepartment of geology, kwara state university, malete, nigeria abstract the properties of residual soils, according to literature, are sensitive to the pre-test drying method given to the sample prior to testing. similarly, residual soils such as laterites/lateritic soils are formed under various climatic conditions; hence, they show different degrees of sensitivity to the pretest drying method. this work is therefore carried out to elucidate the influence of the pre-test drying temperature or method on the properties of three lateritic soils that developed over three different pre-cambrian basement complex rocks from ado-ekiti, sw, nigeria. the soils were subjected to two pre-test drying temperatures before conducting laboratory tests. the pre-test drying temperatures considered in this study include air-drying, oven-drying at 60 ◦c, and oven-drying at 110 ◦c. pre-test drying at 60◦ and 110 ◦c caused particle aggregation (which reduced the soil surface area) and loss of cohesion. consequently, this reduced the specific gravity, optimum moisture content, clay content, consistency limits, and unconfined compressive strength of the lateritic soils. the maximum dry density and sand content increased as the pre-test drying temperature increased. the pre-test drying temperature did not significantly change the plasticity classification of the soils; however, at higher pre-test temperatures, the soils become less plastic. the free swell index of the lateritic soils increased with increasing pre-test drying temperatures (up to 60 ◦c) before decreasing when the temperature rose to 110 ◦c. this study has revealed the effect that pre-test drying temperatures may have on the properties of lateritic soils, and these may produce soil properties that do not likely indicate the actual field performance of the tested soils. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2023.1109 keywords: lateritic soil, pre-test drying temperature, index properties, oven drying, soil classification. article history : received: 05 october 2022 received in revised form: 21 january 2023 accepted for publication: 27 january 2023 published: 04 february 2023 c© 2023 the author(s). published by the nigerian society of physical sciences under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and doi. communicated by: oladiran johnson abimbola 1. introduction lateritic soils/laterites are residual soils that are highly weathered. they are usually low in silica but have sufficient concentrations of iron and aluminum sesquioxide to have been cemented to some degree. lateritic soils are restricted to ∗corresponding author tel. no: +2348037857241 email address: afotayour@hotmail.co.uk; lekan.afolagboye@eksu.edu.ng (l. o. afolagboye ) tropical and subtropical regions of the world and occur as the capping of hills; therefore, they provide excellent borrowing areas for extensive use in various construction activities [1]. the properties and behavior of lateritic soils vary because of differences in degree of weathering (laterization), parent rock, climate, position in the soil profile, and topography [2, 3]. in civil engineering, the determination of soil index and engineering properties is important and integral to any engineering construction and design. to determine these 1 l. o. afolagboye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1109 2 properties, tests such as consistency limits, grain size distribution, compaction, and strength tests are carried out using or on disturbed samples, and the test procedures completely re-mould the samples. that is, the samples must be carefully prepared to the required standards. for instance, one of the general specifications of sample preparation for most of these standard laboratory tests requires either air-drying or drying in an oven at a temperature usually between 60 ◦c to 110 ◦c. this is required to obtain fully dried soil, with the assumption that water present in the soil pore spaces could be removed by heating without destroying or changing the soil composition/structure. however, previous works have shown that this assumption may not be true for all soils [4, 5]. previous workers such as [6, 7, 8] reported that the method of drying and generally the method of sample preparation may significantly affect the index properties of some soils such as weathered, tropical/subtropical residual soils or soils that contain organic matter and halloysite or allophane. terzagi et. al. [9] reported the atterberg limits and grain size distribution of residual soils from indonesia tested at natural moisture content (nmc) and when air dried and oven dried. when tested at nmc, the soil had liquid limit (wl), plasticity index (ip) and amount of fine of 184%, 38%, and 95%, respectively. at nmc, the soil is classified as high plastic or organic silt. after air-drying, the amount of fines, wl and ip decreased to 19 %, 79 %, and 6 %, respectively. when oven-dried, the amount of fines was 15 % and the soil became “non-plastic”. the soil classified as silty sand (sm) when air-dried and oven dried. hence, the index and engineering tests may yield inconsistent results or significantly different results as they are influenced by the degree of pre-test drying temperature (nmc, oven-dried or air-dried) used prior to testing. these changes are attributed to increased cementation due to oxidation of the iron and aluminum sesquioxides or dehydration of allophane and halloysite [10]. in addition, pre-test drying may alter the structure, physical behavior, and clay content of a residual soil by causing aggregation of fine particles. the resultant larger particles remain bonded together even on wetting or after dispersion by standard dispersion techniques [5, 11]. previous studies have shown that lateritic soils are structured and contain significant concentration of iron and aluminum sesquioxides hence their properties are likely to be affected by the pre-test method of drying and generally the method of sample preparation [6, 7, 8]. in addition, the sensitivity of different lateritic soils to pre-test drying, and sample manipulation is different depending on climatic conditions [12]. the present study is therefore aimed at further understanding the properties/behavior of the residual lateritic soil whose behaviors are termed problematic by investigating the effect of pre-test drying temperature on the geotechnical and index properties of lateritic soils. these problematic behaviors can’t be explained by the accepted principles established for temperate soils [13]. in addition, to provide further insights as to why the plasticity classifications of the soil are sometimes not in agreement with the major component of the soil and in situ observations. three different genetically derived lateritic soils were selected for this study. 2. geology of the study area ado-ekiti is one of the areas of southwestern nigeria underlain by the pre-cambrian basement complex rocks. the rocks of the pre-cambrian basement complex are classified as “migmatite gneiss-quartzite complex,” “schist belts”, and “pan-african granites” [14]. except for the schistose rocks, ado-ekiti contains most of the rock lithologies that comprise the precambrian basement complex of southwestern nigeria [15]. these rocks include charnockite, migmatite gneiss, granite, and granite gneiss. migmatite gneiss is characterized by a fine-grained texture and alternating bands of dark and lightcolored minerals. quartzites are ridge-shaped, non-foliated rocks. with only a trace amount of feldspar, quartz makes up the majority of the quartzite’s mineral composition. the constituent minerals in the granites do not exhibit any preferred orientation. they range from having a fine-grained to porphyritic texture. the granites also contain compact crystals that interlock with one another. charnockite has a dark gray color and a texture that ranges from medium to coarse. charnockite can be found along the edges of granites [16, 17]. 3. methodology the lateritic soils used in this study developed over three different rock types. these rocks are granite, charnockite, and quartzite. the granite is made of quartz (66.3 %), biotite (12.2 %), albite (20.3 %), and opaque minerals [16]. quartzite is mainly made up of quartz (about 95.1 %) and other minerals such as feldspar. the charnockite, on the other hand, is made up of quartz (21.3 %), microcline (16.7 %), plagioclase (36.8 %), biotite (16.5 %) and others [17]. disturbed lateritic soil samples (that developed over quartzite and granite) were collected from active burrow pits where lateritic soil is presently being quarried for different construction purposes in ado-ekiti, southwestern, nigeria while samples of lateritic soil that developed over charnockite were collected from a road cut exposure. the samples were collected from the laterite horizon because lateritic soil from this zone is the most preferred for most construction activities [3], [18]. the collected samples were stored in airtight sealed polythene bags to keep their water contents intact. in all, a total of five soil samples were taken from soils that developed over the three rock types. the lateritic soil samples were tested at their natural moisture content (nmc) and three other states obtained through drying. these include air-dried soil, and soils oven dried at 60 ◦c and 110 ◦c. 3.1. drying process the soil samples that were not tested at their nmc were prepared under the following drying conditions: 2 l. o. afolagboye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1109 3 i. air drying: the soil samples were spread on a clean wide pan and the spread samples were exposed to normal ambient temperature (25 to 30 ◦c) for three — four weeks. during this period, we regularly turned the soil over to avoid local drying out. it is sufficing to say that it takes at least four weeks to reduce the moisture content of the air-dried samples to a relatively constant value. ii. oven drying at 110 ◦c: this entails drying the soil samples to a constant mass in an oven at a temperature of 110 ± 5 ◦c as stipulated by [19]. the period of heating is 24hrs. iii. oven drying at 60 ◦c: this entails drying the soil samples to a constant mass in an oven at a temperature of 60 ± 5 ◦c. during heating, we constantly measured the weight of the samples and stopped the heating process when the weight of the samples became constant. 3.2. index and engineering tests procedure the index and engineering properties of these genetically different lateritic soil samples at their natural moisture content, air dried, and oven dried (60 ◦c and 110 ◦c oven drying) states were determined according to british standard 1377 [19] with some modifications where necessary. the particle size analysis was carried out using british standard 1377-2. to ensure proper segregation of the soil particles, we soaked the soil samples in calgon solution for a day before wet sieving. we conducted the particle size analysis using sieve analyses and hydrometer test. soil fractions retained on and passed through sieve no. 200 (75 µm), respectively, were used for sieve analyses and hydrometer test. the consistency limits were also determined using british standard 1377-2 on soil fraction passing sieve size 425 µm. the determined consistency limits of the soils include liquid limits and plastic limits. before the consistency limits tests, the sieved soil fractions were mixed with water and left to hydrate for 24 hrs. we determined the wl and plastic limit (wp) of the soils using the casagrande percussion cup and thread rolling methods, respectively. for determining the moisture-density relationship of the soil samples, compaction test was carried out on fractions of the soils that passed through 425 µm sieve following the specification of british standard 1377 – 4. we carried out the compaction test using the standard proctor compaction efforts. the specimens for the moisture — density relationship test is about 10.2 cm and 11.2 cm in diameter and height, respectively. we performed the unconfined compression test (uct) on lateritic soil following the specification of british standard 1377 – 7. the specimens were compacted at their optimum moisture content (omc) using the standard proctor compaction effort. the specimens used for the test measured 5 cm and 10 cm in diameter and height, respectively. the compacted soil sample were loaded under a stress-strain controlled condition. the strain rate was set at 1.25 mm/min. we compressed the soil specimen till failure and monitored the deformation at each point of loading. the peak stress attained during loading correspond to the unconfined compressive strength. free swell index (fsi) was carried out on fractions of lateritic soil that pass-through sieve size 0.425 mm. according to rao et. al. [20], fsi can be considered as an index property of expansive soil, and it reflects the potential for expansion of the soil. holtz and gibbs [21] defined the fsi as the ratio of the difference in volumes of soil in water and kerosene to the volume of soil in kerosene. it is mathematically expressed as: fs i = vd − vk vd × 100, (1) where vd (ml) = final volume of soil in a graduated cylinder containing distilled water, vk (ml) = final volume of soil in a graduated cylinder containing kerosene. therefore, fsi is expressed in (%). 4. results and discussion sg is an indicator for engineering behavior of lateritic soils in that, it’s the weighted average of the specific gravities of the minerals which comprise the soil. however, weathering and age of formation of parent rocks are fact factors to be considered while determining sg. table 1 shows the specific gravity of the studied lateritic soils for all pre-test drying methods. at nmc, the table revealed that the average sg values of quartzite derived lateritic soil, charnockite derived lateritic soil and granite derived lateritic soil are 2.648, 2.686 and 2.670, respectively. the difference between the sg of the three lateritic soils may be due to the variation in texture and mineralogy of the parent rocks. compared with lateritic soil tested at nmc, the sg of the three genetically different lateritic soils were lower and decreased as the drying temperature increases from air to oven drying at 110 ◦c. the difference is, however, not significant. sunil and krishnappa [22] studied “the influence of drying on the properties of lateritic soils and observed that the sg of the air and oven dried lateritic soils did not vary significantly from each other. at nmc and all the pretest drying temperatures, the average sg of charnockite-derived lateritic soil is higher compared to the other lateritic soils. this could be attributed to the mineral constituent of the parent rock which contained more heavy and opaque minerals compared to granite and quartzite [16]. generally, the high sg values of the soils are indicative of a high degree of laterization. 4.1. particle size distribution table 2 shows the results of particle size distribution of the lateritic soils as determined at their nmc, after air drying and oven-drying at 60 ◦c and 110 ◦c, respectively. the table reveals that the grain size distribution of the lateritic soils is affected by the parent rock factor. at nmc and all pre-test drying temperature, the lateritic soils are well-graded. the amount of sand size fractions in the lateritic soils are high. quartzite derived-lateritic soils 3 l. o. afolagboye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1109 4 table 1: effect of pre-test drying temperature on the specific gravity of the lateritic soil parent rock drying method sg average quartzite nmc 2.642 2.648 2.645 2.652 2.653 2.648 air dried 2.643 2.644 2.643 2.643 2.643 2.643 oven dried at 60 ◦c 2.642 2.642 2.645 2.641 2.641 2.642 oven dried at 110 ◦c 2.634 2.634 2.636 2.636 2.631 2.634 charnockite nmc 2.687 2.688 2.685 2.685 2.686 2.686 air dried 2.688 2.687 2.685 2.686 2.684 2.686 oven dried at 60 ◦c 2.675 2.677 2.675 2.676 2.676 2.676 oven dried at 110 ◦c 2.661 2.661 2.664 2.665 2.663 2.663 granite nmc 2.668 2.674 2.672 2.668 2.666 2.670 air dried 2.667 2.668 2.67 2.662 2.664 2.666 oven dried at 60 ◦c 2.664 2.665 2.661 2.659 2.663 2.662 oven dried at 110 ◦c 2.654 2.655 2.654 2.655 2.653 2.654 table 2: grain size distribution of the lateritic soils at different pre-drying temperature parent rock nmc air dried oven dried at 60 ◦c oven dried at 110 ◦c g (%) s (%) si (%) c (%) g (%) s (%) si (%) c (%) g (%) s (%) si (%) c (%) g (%) s (%) si (%) c (%) quartzite 1.3 55.0 19.8 23.9 1.2 56.5 18.5 23.8 1.2 58.6 19.5 20.7 1.1 60.8 19.6 18.5 0.9 54.2 20.0 24.9 0.7 57.5 16.3 25.5 1.1 58.9 19.3 20.7 1.0 60.7 18.7 19.6 0.7 56.0 18.5 24.8 0.6 57.1 17.5 24.8 0.9 58.9 18.3 21.9 0.8 61.4 18.3 19.5 1.0 54.9 20.4 23.7 0.9 57.2 17.3 24.6 1.5 58.4 19.0 21.1 1.5 61.0 18.4 19.1 1.0 54.0 19.8 25.2 1.3 57.0 14.9 26.8 1.2 58.7 19.1 21.0 1.1 61.0 18.8 19.1 average 1.0 54.8 19.7 24.5 0.9 57.1 16.9 25.1 1.2 58.7 19.0 21.1 1.1 61.0 18.8 19.2 charnockite 0.7 46.7 20.7 31.9 0.6 49.2 20.4 29.8 0.6 51.0 20.7 27.7 0.6 53.3 20.5 25.6 0.9 46.1 20.0 33.0 0.8 48.9 19.7 30.6 0.8 50.8 19.9 28.5 0.8 53.2 19.6 26.4 0.5 46.0 20.4 33.1 0.4 49.0 19.7 30.9 0.4 51.1 20.5 28.0 1.1 52.6 20.3 26.0 0.5 45.0 21.8 32.7 0.5 48.8 22.4 28.3 0.5 51.3 21.0 27.2 1.2 52.4 20.9 25.5 0.6 45.0 21.0 33.4 0.8 48.2 21.6 29.4 0.6 51.0 20.6 27.8 0.9 52.9 20.4 25.8 average 0.6 45.8 20.8 32.8 0.6 48.8 20.8 29.8 0.6 51.0 20.5 27.8 0.9 52.9 20.3 25.9 granite 1.4 48.3 20.8 29.5 0.9 50.4 21.4 27.3 0.9 52.0 18.8 28.3 0.8 54.2 18.7 26.3 0.9 48.4 18.5 32.2 1.0 50.1 19.2 29.7 1.0 51.8 17.9 29.3 0.9 53.7 18.1 27.3 0.7 49.0 18.6 31.7 0.6 50.0 19.1 30.3 1.3 51.4 18.2 29.1 1.2 53.6 18.1 27.1 1.0 48.5 19.5 31.0 0.9 50.4 20.4 28.3 1.4 51.2 19.1 28.3 1.3 53.4 19.0 26.3 1.0 48.6 19.3 31.1 0.9 49.6 19.8 29.7 1.2 51.6 18.5 28.7 1.1 53.8 18.5 26.6 average 1.0 48.6 19.3 31.1 0.9 50.1 20.0 29.1 1.2 51.6 18.5 28.7 1.1 53.7 18.5 26.7 nmc, natural moisture content; g, gravel; s, sand; si, silt; c, clay have more than 50% sand content at all the pre-test drying temperatures. from table 2, it could be observed that the amount of clay and sand fractions are affected by method of drying that is the pre-test drying temperature. the percentage sand and clay fractions of the lateritic soils increased and reduced, respectively, with an increase in pre-test drying temperature. for instance, the average clay size fractions decreased from 24.5 to 19.2 %, 32.8 to 25.9 % and 31.1 to 26.7 % in quartzite, charnockite and granite derived lateritic soils respectively. furthermore, it was also observed that the decrease and increase, respectively, in percentage clay and sand contents was mostly influenced by oven-drying at 110 ◦c than oven-drying at 60 ◦c and air drying when compared with nmc. the average percent increase in sand content for lateritic soil derived from quartzite was 4.2 %, 7.12 %, and 11.31 % at drying temperatures of air-drying, 60 ◦c, and 110 ◦c, respectively. the average percent reduction in clay content for soil derived from charnockite was 9.15 %, 15.24 %, and 21.04 % at pre-test drying temperatures of air-drying, 60 ◦c, and 110 ◦c, respectively. basma et al. [6] made similar observation while studying the influence of drying methods on the properties of clays. the silt fractions of the soils, however, remain virtually constant at all the pre-test drying temperature. the decrease and increase in clay and sand fractions, respectively, of the lateritic soils may be attributed to particle aggregation as a result of drying (that is increase in temperature of pre-test drying). according to previous work, drying promotes loss of adsorbed and inter-particle water [23]. this mechanism leads to aggregation of smaller fine particles, inter-particle attraction and separation of small particles [6]. this eventually produce an increase in capillary stress which allows close contact of particles in addition to development of strong coulombic and van der waal bonds which are not easily reversible [5]. 4 l. o. afolagboye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1109 5 4.2. consistency limits table 3 shows the results of consistency limits of the lateritic soils as determined at their nmc, by air drying and oven-drying at 60 ◦c and 110 ◦c. the wl and ip of charnockite-derived lateritic soil were constantly higher than lateritic soils derived from granite and quartzite at all the pre-test drying temperatures used in this study. the wl and ip of the lateritic soils reduced with increase in pre-test drying temperature (table 3). the significance of this effect is that nmc samples gave the highest wl and ip values while samples oven-dried at 110 ◦c gave the lowest values. in quartzite-, charnockiteand granite-derived lateritic soils, the averages ip decreased from 41.9 %, 56.7 % and 52.6 % when the samples were tested at their nmc to 37.6 %, 50.5 % and 48.0 % when the samples were tested after oven-dried at 110 ◦c, respectively. increase in pre-test drying temperature, according to sunil and deepa [24], leads to aggregation and clustering of soil particles. the agglomeration of particles reduces the soils available surface area available for water interaction. this in turn will make the soil to absorb less water and consequently reduces the wl and ip. the results of particle size distribution also confirmed this observation. as earlier reported, the amount of clay and sand fractions in the lateritic soils are affected by the pre-test drying temperature. the percent clay and sand contents, respectively, decreased and increased as the pre-test drying temperature increases. similar to the grain size distribution, it was also observed that the decrease in wl and ip for the three tested lateritic soils was mostly influenced by oven-drying at 110 ◦c more than oven-drying at 60 ◦c and air drying when compared with nmc. in charnockite-derived lateritic soil, the results in this research show a reduction in the ip when oven dried at 110 ◦c giving the highest reduction of 11.37 % while oven-dried at 60 ◦c and airdried samples gave 8.57 % and 6.41 % reduction from nmc value. in granite-derived lateritic soil, a reduction of 6.16 % (oven-dried at 110 ◦c), 1.38 % (oven dried at 60 ◦c), and 0.22 % (air dried). the sensitivity of a soil, as revealed in the literature, to pre-test drying depends on the type of clay mineral present and its state of hydration[6, 25]. it has been revealed that soils containing kaolinite are less sensitive to pre-test drying [25]. 4.3. plasticity charts the decrease in consistency limits because of increase in pre-test drying temperature may become a significant factor as this may change the classification of the soil. to examine the effect of pretest drying temperature on the plasticity classification of the lateritic soils, the values of wl and ip in table 3 were used to plot the points on casagrande and polidori [26] plasticity charts (figures 1 and 2). it was observed that polidori’s plasticity chart gives a fair classification of lateritic soils based on soil fractions [27]. on the casagrande’s plasticity chart (figure 1), the soils all plotted in the clay zones i.e., above the a-line. the soils are classified as either ci or ch. it was observed that even figure 1: casagrande plasticity classification of the lateritic soil. a) quartzitederived lateritic soil b) charnockite-derived lateritic soil c) granite-derived lateritic soil. cl: inorganic clays of low plasticity; ci: inorganic clays of intermediate plasticity, ch: inorganic clays of high plasticity; ml: inorganic silts of low compressibility; mi: inorganic clays of intermediate plasticity; mh: inorganic silts of high compressibility 5 l. o. afolagboye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1109 6 table 3: consistency limits of nmc, air dried, and oven dried lateritic samples. parent rock nmc air dried oven dried at 60 ◦c oven dried at 110 ◦c wl (%) wp (%) ip (%) wl (%) wp (%) ip (%) wl (%) wp (%) ip (%) wl (%) wp (%) ip (%) quartzite 42.60 24.40 18.20 41.30 23.30 18.00 40.40 22.90 17.50 37.80 21.20 16.60 41.80 24.40 17.40 40.30 23.10 17.20 40.20 22.50 17.70 37.80 21.10 16.70 42.10 24.10 18.00 41.20 23.40 17.80 40.30 22.60 17.70 37.80 21.30 16.50 41.00 23.90 17.10 40.10 23.10 17.00 39.90 22.10 18.00 37.20 21.40 15.80 41.90 24.20 17.70 41.20 23.10 18.10 40.40 23.20 17.20 37.60 21.20 16.40 average 41.88 24.20 17.68 40.82 23.20 17.62 40.24 22.66 17.58 37.64 21.24 16.41 charnockite 56.30 22.20 34.10 54.30 22.20 32.10 52.70 21.40 31.30 53.50 21.20 32.30 57.10 22.60 34.50 55.20 22.60 32.60 53.70 21.30 32.40 50.10 19.80 30.30 56.80 22.40 34.40 54.60 22.40 32.20 52.40 21.70 30.70 49.40 19.40 30.00 56.50 22.30 34.20 54.70 22.30 32.40 52.20 21.20 31.00 49.20 20.20 29.00 56.70 22.40 34.30 54.30 23.20 31.10 52.80 21.40 31.40 50.50 20.10 30.40 average 56.68 22.38 34.30 54.62 22.54 32.10 52.76 21.40 31.36 50.54 20.14 30.40 granite 53.10 25.10 28.00 52.20 24.10 28.10 51.30 24.20 27.10 48.50 22.30 26.20 52.40 24.90 27.50 51.40 23.50 27.90 51.00 24.10 26.90 48.20 21.50 26.70 51.80 25.40 26.40 50.60 24.10 26.50 50.60 23.20 27.40 47.50 21.50 26.00 53.10 24.70 28.40 52.00 24.50 27.50 50.50 23.00 27.50 47.70 23.00 24.70 52.60 25.00 27.60 51.30 23.70 27.60 50.90 23.80 27.10 47.90 22.10 25.80 average 52.60 25.02 27.58 51.50 23.98 27.52 50.86 23.66 27.20 47.96 22.08 25.88 nmc, natural moisture content; wl, liquid limit; wp, plastic limit; ip, plasticity index though the silt and sand fractions (combined) of the lateritic soils were more than the clay fractions, the lateritic soils are classified as ch or ci soils. the pre-test drying temperature does not change the classification of the quartzite-derived lateritic soil (figure 1a) and charnockite-derived lateritic soil; except for two samples oven-dried at 110 ◦c. the classification of these samples changed from ch to ci (figure 1b). in samples where the classification does not change, a closer look at relative shift in position of the points on the casagrande’s chart distinctly shows that lateritic soils are becoming less plastic as the pre-test drying temperature increases. in granite derived lateritic soils, the pre-test dying temperature change the classification of the soil oven dried at 110 ◦c (figure 1c). on the polidori’s plasticity chart (figure 2), the soils plot above the c-line (silt zones). the soils are classified as either ml or mh. the pre-test drying temperature does not change the classification of the quartzite-derived lateritic soil (figure 2a) and charnockite-derived lateritic soil; except for two samples oven-dried at 110 ◦c. the classification of these samples changed from mh to ml (figure 2b). in granitederived lateritic soils, the pre-test drying temperatures change the classification of the soil oven dried at 110 ◦c (figure 2c). 4.4. compaction parameters the moisture content-dry density relationships of the lateritic soils were obtained at their nmc, air-dried and ovendried (60 ◦ and 110 ◦c) conditions. table 4 shows the results of optimum moisture content (omc) and maximum dry density (mdd) of the lateritic soils. the mdd of charnockite derived lateritic soil were constantly higher than lateritic soils derived from granite and quartzite at all the pre-test drying temperatures. the mdd and omc increased and reduced, respectively, with increase in pre-test drying temperature (table 4). the soil samples tested at their nmc gave the lowest mdd (highest omc) values while samples oven-dried at 110 ◦c gave the highest mdd (lowest omc) values. in quartzite-, charnockiteand granite-derived lateritic soils, the average mdd increased from 1787 kg/m3 1858 kg/m3 and 1703 kg/m3 when the samples were compacted at their nmc to 1926 kg/m3, 1954 kg/m3 and 1857 kg/m3 when the samples were compacted after ovendried at 110 ◦c, respectively. on the other hand, the average omc of quartzite, charnockite and granite derived lateritic soils, respectively, decreased from 21.88 %, 21.68 % and 24.63 % (nmc) to 17.33 %, 18.2 % and 19.56 % when oven-dried at 110 ◦c. these results agree with the findings of previous researchers [11, 24]. the changes in the compaction parameters of the lateritic soils as a result of pre-test drying temperature may be attributed to the effect of particle aggregation and re6 l. o. afolagboye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1109 7 table 4: compaction parameters of the lateritic soils parent rock nmc air dried oven dried at 60 ◦c oven dried at 110 ◦c omc (%) mdd (kg/m3) omc (%) mdd (kg/m3) omc (%) mdd (kg/m3) omc (%) mdd (kg/m3) quartzite 22.40 1772 21.50 1797 19.00 1874 16.90 1940 21.60 1794 20.80 1819 19.30 1865 17.40 1924 22.10 1781 20.50 1828 19.50 1859 17.70 1915 21.40 1800 20.90 1815 19.20 1867 17.30 1928 21.90 1788 20.95 1811 19.30 1865 17.30 1923 average 21.88 1787 20.93 1814 19.26 1866 17.33 1926 charnockite 21.80 1856 21.20 1870 20.00 1904 18.40 1948 21.40 1864 20.80 1881 19.70 1912 18.20 1954 21.60 1859 20.40 1892 19.90 1906 18.00 1960 21.90 1853 20.80 1880 19.90 1910 18.20 1950 21.70 1857 20.80 1882 19.80 1903 18.10 1958 average 21.68 1858 20.80 1881 19.86 1907 18.20 1954 granite 24.60 1704 24.10 1719 22.80 1760 20.00 1843 24.40 1710 23.70 1732 22.30 1775 19.40 1862 25.00 1692 23.80 1729 23.00 1754 19.30 1865 24.50 1707 23.90 1723 22.70 1764 19.60 1857 24.60 1702 23.90 1728 22.80 1762 19.50 1858 average 24.63 1703 23.87 1727 22.70 1763 19.56 1857 duction in micropores [28]. the reduction in omc may be attributed to the decrease in specific area of the soils brought about by agglomeration of clay fractions to form silt/sand particles. the increase and decrease, respectively, in mdd and omc for the three tested lateritic soils were also mostly affected by oven-drying at 110 ◦c more than oven-drying at 60 ◦c and air drying when compared with nmc. for instance, in charnockite-derived lateritic soil, mdd increased by 5.17 % (oven dried at 110 ◦c), 2.64 % (oven dried at 60 ◦c) and 1.51 % (air dried) when compared to the value at nmc. 4.5. unconfined compressive strength (ucs) the results of the uct for the three genetically different lateritic soils as influenced by different pre-test drying temperatures are shown in table 5. as the pre-test drying temperature increases, the ucs decreased. for lateritic soil derived from quartzite, ucs (average) decreased from an average value of 229.80 kpa (nmc) to 220.18 kpa (oven-dried at 110 ◦c). in lateritic soil derived from charnockite, ucs (average) decreased from 287.60 kpa to 270.68 kpa for nmc and oven-dried at 110 ◦c conditions, respectively. although the mdd of the soils increased with increase in pretest drying temperature, the lateritic soils seemed to lose their strength as the temperature increases. similar observations have already been reported by various researchers [29], [30]. the reduction in strength may be attributed to the alteration/destruction of soil structure and loss of soil cohesion due to aggregation and clustering of the soil particles. lateritic soils table 5: variation of ucs of the lateritic soils with pre-test drying temperature parent rock nmc air dried ucs (kpa) oven dried at 60 ◦c oven dried at 110 ◦c quartzite 229.40 218.81 223.40 218.80 228.40 222.90 221.40 217.90 230.50 229.42 225.90 228.30 230.90 223.40 220.80 215.70 229.80 223.60 222.90 220.20 average 229.80 223.63 222.88 220.18 charnockite 286.80 275.30 272.77 272.30 285.60 275.60 280.80 275.30 290.10 276.40 276.40 264.90 287.90 278.20 270.50 270.20 287.80 276.40 275.10 270.70 average 287.60 276.38 275.12 270.68 granite 263.80 252.40 253.80 252.40 265.90 250.20 252.90 241.80 261.70 253.40 251.40 249.40 264.90 257.10 250.30 245.30 264.10 253.10 252.20 247.30 average 264.08 253.23 252.10 247.23 are known to partially derive their strength from cohesion, increase in particle aggregation due to increase drying tempera7 l. o. afolagboye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1109 8 figure 2: polidori plasticity classification of the lateritic soil. a) quartzitederived lateritic soil b) charnockite-derived lateritic soil c) granite-derived lateritic soil. cl: inorganic clays of low plasticity, ch: inorganic clays of high plasticity; ml: inorganic silts of low compressibility; mh: inorganic silts of high compressibility ture will likely cause a loss in cohesion, hence a loss in ucs. similar to other properties, oven drying at 110 ◦c produced the highest percentage reduction in ucs. in granite derived lateritic soil, for instance, the average ucs decreased by 6.27 % (oven dried at 110 ◦c), 4.49 % (oven dried at 60 ◦c) and 4.05 % (airdried) when compared to the value at nmc. in quartzite derived lateritic soil, the average ucs decreased by 4.19 %, 3.01 % and 3.23 %, respectively, when oven dried at 110 ◦c, oven dried at 60 ◦c and air-dried. 4.6. free swell index the free swell is a simple test used for estimating the swelling potential of a soil. the values of fsi for the three lateritic soils are shown in table 6. it is observed that the maximum value of fsi for the lateritic soils was at 60 ◦c oven drying. this was followed by fsi of samples oven-dried at 110 ◦c and air-dried samples except in quartzite derived lateritic soil. table 6: free swell index of the lateritic soils parent rock nmc air dried oven dried at 60 ◦c oven dried at 110 ◦c quartzite 38.89 42.11 47.62 42.11 40.00 42.86 45.45 40.00 38.89 42.11 45.45 40.00 36.84 40.00 46.00 40.90 39.00 41.90 45.90 41.20 average 38.72 41.79 46.09 40.84 charnockite 42.11 45.00 52.38 47.37 42.11 45.00 54.55 50.00 44.44 50.00 52.38 47.37 42.11 42.11 53.70 48.30 42.80 46.00 52.50 49.00 average 42.71 45.62 53.10 48.41 granite 42.86 45.45 50.00 47.83 45.45 47.83 50.00 47.83 42.86 45.45 52.17 50.00 43.48 45.83 51.50 48.20 44.00 46.30 49.80 49.00 average 43.73 46.17 50.69 48.57 the increase in fsi up 60 ◦c oven drying may be due to the clay minerals present in the soil developing a high repulsive force with increasing temperature. consequently, according to basma et. al. [6], “this caused the clay particles to separate more and developed a flocculated structure which led to more water being needed to make up for the deficiency upon wetting and hence more swelling”. the decrease in fsi when the pretest temperature increased from 60 ◦c to 110 ◦c may be due to loss of plasticity and increasing aggregation of the soils. 5. conclusions in this present study, the effect of pre-test drying temperature on the properties of lateritic soils was examined. for this 8 l. o. afolagboye et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1109 9 reason, three genetically unrelated lateritic soils were selected for this study. three pre-test drying temperatures were used and this includes air-drying, and oven-drying at both 60 ◦c and 110 ◦c. different tests were carried out on the three lateritic soils to study the influence of the aforesaid pre-test drying temperatures on particle size, specific gravity, consistency limits, free swell, compaction parameters, and strength properties. the index and engineering properties at their nmc are influenced by the parent rock factors. drying the lateritic soils to 110 ◦c reduced the plasticity index, specific gravity, clay content, liquid limit, omc, and unconfined compressive strength of the lateritic soils. the decrease in properties such as plasticity index, omc and unconfined compressive strength may be attributed to particle aggregation (which reduced the soil surface are) and loss of cohesion. this study also revealed that lateritic soils dried at 110 ◦c may lead to underestimation of the ucs. the increased in pre-test drying temperature slightly reduced the silt content and plastic limit of the soils. the pre-test drying temperature did not significantly change the soils’ plasticity classification, however, at higher pre-test temperature (namely 110 ◦c) the soils are generally less plastic. the mdd and sand content of the soils increased as the pre-test drying temperature increases. in general, the free swell index of the lateritic soils increased with increasing pre-test drying temperature (up to 60 ◦c) before decreasing when the temperature rose to 100 ◦c. the study has shown the effect pre-test drying temperature may have on the properties of lateritic soils. however, the fact that in most engineering and earthworks, materials wined are normally stockpiled. this process of stockpiling normally leads to some sort of air-drying. finally, it can be concluded that air-drying seems more suitable as pre-test heating method because it will reflect the in-situ field condition. references [1] r. k. goswami & c. mahanta, “leaching characteristics of residual lateritic soils stabilised with fly ash and lime for geotechnical applications”, waste management 27 (2007) 466. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2006.07.006. 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[30] i. c. attah & r. k. etim, “experimental investigation on the effects of elevated temperature on geotechnical behaviour of tropical residual soils”, sn appl sci. 2 (2020) 370. doi: 10.1007/s42452-020-2149-x. 9 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 201–208 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences optimal representation to high order random boolean ksatisability via election algorithm as heuristic search approach in hopeld neural networks hamza abubakara,b,∗, abdu sagir masanawac, surajo yusufb, g. i. boakuc aschool of mathematical sciences, universiti sains malaysia bdepartment of mathematics, isa kaita college of education, p.m.b 5007, dutsin-ma, katsina, nigeria cdepartment of mathematical sciences, federal uniersity dutsin-ma, katsina, nigeria abstract this study proposed a hybridization of higher-order random boolean ksatisfiability (ranksat) with the hopfield neural network (hnn) as a neuro-dynamical model designed to reflect knowledge efficiently. the learning process of the hopfield neural network (hnn) has undergone significant changes and improvements according to various types of optimization problems. however, the hnn model is associated with some limitations which include storage capacity and being easily trapped to the local minimum solution. the election algorithm (ea) is proposed to improve the learning phase of hnn for optimal random boolean ksatisfiability (ranksat) representation in higher order. the main source of inspiration for the election algorithm (ea) is its ability to extend the power and rule of political parties beyond their borders when seeking endorsement. the main purpose is to utilize the optimization capacity of ea to accelerate the learning phase of hnn for optimal random k satisfiability representation. the global minima ratio (mr) and statistical error accumulations (sea) during the training process were used to evaluate the proposed model performance. the result of this study revealed that our proposed ea-hnn-ranksat outperformed abc-hnnranksat and es-hnn-ranksat models in terms of mr and sea. this study will further be extended to accommodate a novel field of reverse analysis (ra) which involves data mining techniques to analyse real-life problems. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2021.217 keywords: hopfield neural network, election algorithm, boolean satisfiability, random ksatisfiability article history : received: 01 may 2021 received in revised form: 14 june 2021 accepted for publication: 24 july 2021 published: xx xxx 2021 c©2021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: t. latunde 1. introduction the central motivation of many types of research carried out in the field of, machine learning, decision science and artificial neural networks (anns) is the large structure of their training stages. many anns’ complex training stage provide a powerful ∗corresponding author tel. no: email address: zeeham4u2c@yahoo.com (hamza abubakar ) mechanism for solving optimization problems such as decisionmaking or classification tasks. neural networks are used extensively in many fields of study that originated in mathematical neurobiology. this network attempts to simulate human brain capabilities. it has been utilized since the last decade as a theoretically sound alternative to traditional statistical models. the classification based on the neural networks model becomes efficient when applied in a hybrid framework with many forms of predictive models [16]. the inception of neural networks 201 abubakar et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 201–208 202 (anns) was initiated as variety of capable networks that act as a useful tool for specific tasks such as recognition problem [17], data mining [18], forecasting problems [21], prediction problems[14]. there have been many recent developments in an attempt to assemble different structures in refining the existing ann models by integrating them with proficient searching techniques to intensify the quality of the standalone ann framework [1]. hopfield neural network (hnn) is a type of recurrent artificial network that mimics the operating capacity of human memory. the ability of hnn to manage nonlinear complex patterns by its training and testing capability is particularly useful for interpreting complex real-life computer science communities [8]. in this work, a novel and powerful heuristics search technique is known as election algorithms has been explored for effective training of hopfield neural network model. election algorithms has been utilized in solving various mathematics and engineering benchmark problems which yield successful performance in both convergence rate and better identification of global optima. we can infer that the application of employing election algorithms is endless; from industrial planning, scheduling, decision making and machine learning. election algorithms have been utilized in [11] successfully for predicting groundwater level [12]. recently, an election algorithm has been proposed in [20] to accelerate the learning phase of hopfield neural network for random 2satisfiability. the performance of election algorithms in solving the travelling salesmen problem has been investigated in [5]. although election algorithm has been applied in various optimization areas, it recorded tremendous achievement in searching for the optimal solution to various combinatorial optimizations problems. in our work, election algorithms has been applied on the trainig phase of hopfield network model in accelerating the training process for optimal representation (global minimum) solutions to high order logic (ranksat for k ≤ 3). however, we did not come across any work that combined the global and local searching capacities of election algorithms in enhancing the training phase of hopfield neural network in searching for optimal representation of high order logic programming (ranksat). therefore, a new hybrid computational technique has been proposed by integrating hybrid election algorithm in the learning process of hopfield neural network for optimal ranksat logical representation in achieving a efficiency, robustness and better accuracy. the contributions of this work include; (1) upgrading ran2sat to ran3sat; (2) implementing the new logical rule in the hopfield neural network (ranksat-hnn);(3) incorporating election algorithm (ea) in the training phase of the hopfield neural network (hnn) for optimal random ksatisfiability and (4) performing comparison of the election algorithm with other state-of-the-art searching methods in hopfield neural network for random ksatisfiability representation. the present work investigate the effectiveness of the election algorithms in hopfield neural network for ranksat will be explored by comparing its performances to the state-of-the-art model. by developing an effective intelligent working model based on artificial neural networks, the proposed hybrid computational model will be useful to various computational science and optimization communities by proving an alternative approach in doing computation. the structure of this work is as follows. in section 2, we present the proposed methods involving the mapping of ranksat as a new logical rule in hopfield neural network and a heuristic search method in the hopfield neural network learning phase via election algorithms. section 3 reports the models’ performance evaluation metrics. the experimental results of their discussions are reported in section 4. the last section concludes the paper. 2. materials and methods 2.1. random ksatisfiability (k ≤ 3) propositional satisfiability logic can be perceived as a logical rule that consists of clauses that contain literals or variables. ranksat belongs to the family of non-systematic boolean logical clauses in which each logical clause involves a random number of literals [13]. the general description for the formulation franks at is presented in equation (1) as follows. franks at = t ∧ i=0 c(3)i j ∧ i=0 c(2)i d ∧ i=0 c(1)i (k ≤ 3) (1) where t, j, d ∈ [1, 2, ..., n], t > 0, j > 0 and d > 0. the clause fran3s at is defined as a ranksat(k ≤ 3)forc (k) i clauses described in equation (2) as follows. c(k)i =  (αi ∨βi ∨ψi) , i f k = 3 (αi ∨βi) , i f k = 2 τi , i f k = 1 (2) where the variables αi ∈ [αi,¬αi],βi ∈ [ βi,¬βi ] ,τi ∈ [τi,¬τi],ψi ∈[ ψi,¬ψi ] are defines literals and their negation in logical clauses respectively. in this work, we refer to fr it as a conjunctive normal form (cnf) formula in which the logic clauses in ranksat logic are chosen uniformly, independently among all 2x ( d + j + t y ) without replacement a logic clauses of lengthx. we refer to the optimal mapping y (fx) → [1, −1] as a logical interpretation expressed as 1 for (true) and -1 otherwise. logically, there are many formulations to ranksat logical clauses, one of the formations taking into account k ≤ 3 is presented as follows. franks at = (τ1 ∨¬τ2 ∨τ3) ∧ (β1 ∨β2 ∨¬β2) ∧¬α1 (3) according to equation (1),franks at comprises of ci (3) = (τ1 ∨¬τ2 ∨τ3), c2 (2) = (¬β1 ∨β2)and c1 (1) = ¬α1. therefore, the outcome of in equation (3) is satisfied franks at = −1 if (τ1,τ2,τ3,β1,β2,β2,α1) = (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1) 3 clauses are satisfied ( c(3)i , c (2) 1 , c (1) 2 ) . this research franks at will be embedded in hopfield neural network via election algorithm as a search technique in the proposed model.franks at logic will modify the networks to represent the true structure or behaviour of the data involved since hnn is a non-symbolic platform, franks at serve as a symbolic mode representation that can be combined with these networks. 202 abubakar et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 201–208 203 2.2. random ksatisfiability in hopfield neural network hopfield neural network (hnn) belongs to the family of a recurrent neural network that mimics the human biological brain [15]. its structure consists of interconnected neurons and a powerful feature of content addressable memory that is crucial in solving various optimization and combinatorial tasks[13]. the network is composed of organised neurons of which is portrayed by a variable called the ising variable. in bipolar recognition, the neurons in discrete hnn are used whereby s i ∈ [1,−1]. the fundamental overview of neuron state activation in hopfield neural networks is shown in equation (4) below, s j = { 1 , i f ∑ j wi js j > ς −1 , otherwise (4) where wi j is the synaptic weight vector from starting from j neuron to i neuron. we defineds i as the state of the neuron i in hnn and ς is the predefined value. the value of ς = 0.001 has been specified in [6],[3],[20] to certify that the network’s energy decreases to zero. the synaptic weight connection in the discrete hnn contains no connection with itself, the synaptic connection from one neuron to other neurons is zero. the model holds symmetrical features in terms of architecture. hnn model has similar intricate details to the ising model of magnetism as described in [15]. s i → sgn [hi(t)] (5) where hi is the local field that connects all neurons in hnn. the sum of the field is induced by each neuron state as follows, hi = n∑ k n∑ j wi jks js k + n∑ j wi js j + wi (6) the task of the local field is to evaluate the final state of neurons and generate all the possible 3-sat induced logic that was obtained from the final state of neurons. one of the most prominent features of the hnn network is the fact that it always converges. the generalized fitness function franks at regulates the synaptic combinations in hnn and franks at is presented as follows. efranks at = n n∑ i=1 v∏ j=1 ti jk (7) where v and n n are the number variables and the number of neurons generated in franks at respectively. we defined the inconsistency of franks at representation as follows. ti j =  1 2 ( 1 − s ρ ) , i f ¬ρ 1 2 ( 1 + s ρ ) , otherwise (8) the value ofefranks at is proportional to the value of “inconsistencies” of the logical clauses. the rule for updating the neural state is, s i (t + 1) = { 1 , hi ≥ 0 −1 , hi < 0 (9) equation (9) represents the lyapunov energy function in hnn for 3rd order logic. hfranks at = − 1 3 ∑n i=1 ∑n j,k ∑n k=1,i,k w (3) i jk s is js k − 1 2 ∑m i=1,i, j ∑m j=1 w (2) i j s is j − ∑m i=1,i, j w (1) i s j (10) equation (10) has been applied to classify whether a solution is a global or local minimum energy. the hnn will generate the optimal assignment when the induced neurons state achieved global minimum energy. there are limited works to combine hnn and ea as a single computational network. thus, the robustness of election algorithm manage in improving the training process in hopfield model. consequently, the quality of the final neuronal state can be maintained according to equation (11) as utilized in [6],[4],[3],[20] as follows.∣∣∣hfranks at − hminfranks at ∣∣∣ ≤ ξ (11) where ξis the pre-determined tolerance value. the value ξ = 0.001 was taken in [6],[4],[3],[20],[19],[2][10-11,18-21]. if the franks at logical representation embedded in hnn does not satisfy the criteria state in equation (11) then the final state of the neurons have been trapped in the wrong pattern. 2.3. election algorithm as heuristic search in hopfield learning phase the election algorithm (ea) is an iterative population-based algorithm that provides a varieties of solutions in the search space. the local search function have been partitioned into search spaces. the optimization procedure is inspired based on the voting process in human society [11],[10]]. generally, the population of an individual is divided into two parties which later carry out a series of operations such as initialization, eligibility stages, advertisement and alliance. these stratgiies are resulted in a stronger searching technique. the primary goal of ea is to encourage candidates to coverge on a global minimum solution (best solution) to optimzation problem [10]. optimization process based on standard hopfield model has a high probability of becoming caught at a suboptimal solution with the number of neurons firing into the network [3],[9],[7]. various metaheuristics algorithms, such as electin algorithm, have been purposefully used in hnn to improve its searching capabilities and to solve the issue of premature convergence before achieving the global optimal, which will maximize the number of fulfilled clauses during the network’s training process. because of its ability to merge local search into a partitioned search area, ea used mechanisms such as a constructive marketing approach, a negative campaign, and an alliance to maximize the entire searching space. the main steps of the procedure in the ea-hnn-ranksat model considering k ≤ 3 is presented from stage 1 to 5 as follows: stage 1:initialization the main component of any search and optimization is to find the right solution in terms of the problem’s variable’s parameter. it is created an array of vector parameters to be optimized. a population of this size npop as a starting point of an individual τv = [ τi,τ2,τ3, ....,τnpop ]t for each solution were 203 abubakar et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 201–208 204 generated. each solution is distributed within the vector boundary range depending on the variable as follows, τv = λ min v + τ1 ∗ ( λmaxv −λ min v ) (12) where v ∈ n and τv described the location of the vth supporter the nvar −− dimensional search space and npop described to the number of search representative. a random number with a uniform distribution is defined as τ1 ∈ [0, 1]. this problem searches for the optimal ranksat clauses. stage 2:eligibility measurement everyone’s eligibility(fitness) function is measured based on the franks at clauses in using as follows. fτv = t∑ i=1 c(3)i + j∑ i=1 c(2)1 + d∑ i=1 c(1)i (13) where fτv denoted as eligibility of each person in search spaces τv, c (k) i is the clause in franks at and t, j, d ∈ [1, n] are the total number of logical clauses in franks at logic. stage 3: creating an initial population a population of persons (individuals) pc o f npop search agent was employed in ea. each solution represents the eligibility (fitness) of a candidate ( eδc ) and the general political parties (pc ) represent search space. individuals’ populations are splitting population of individual npop into political parties (pc ) is part of the ea policy. each pc includes the contender (δc) and their followers(τv)which served as search agents in the solution space. the δc together with their τv form some pc . they τv are divided δc based on eδc in which the initial number τv of a δc is proportionate to eδc . according to [10] the τv of a δc, are identified by normalizing eδc computed as follows. αi = ∣∣∣eδci ∣∣∣ = ∣∣∣∣∣∣ eδc − max(i)∑ k ∈ δc eδk − max(i) ∣∣∣∣∣∣ (14) where i = { δc j| j ∈ δc } , eδci , αi defined the eligibility of candidate and normalized eligibilities of the candidate δci respectively and δc designated the initial number of candidates in the solution space. the number of an individual to serve as initial candidates δci was modelled as follows. δci = αr npop (15) the original number of δτvi is modelled as follows. δτvi = npop −δci (16) then, we randomly select δτvi of the τv and add to δci which form an pc in the search space. stage 4: campaign strategy: ’ this stage is modelled from step 1 to step 3 as follows step 1: positive advertisement (ϑ) in the modelling of ea ϑ. we select τv a position that is in form of a variable of δc in the search space. the intention of sampling the random numbers is to choose a τv1 location to be replaced by a new voter τv2 . the method for determining the selection rate λτ ∈ [0, 1]. the number of variables transferred to the τv by the δc is defined according to the following. ψτ = λτs c (17) the random choice variables in the problem space that must be replaced are signified by ψτ. the selection rate is defined by λτ. s c signifies the total number of δc in the problem space. to transfer τv to another δc , the eligibility distance coefficient (ed ) was used model as follows, ed = 1∥∥∥∥eδci − eδτvi ∥∥∥∥ + 1 (18) where eδci is utilized to described the eligibility of δci and eδτvi has been used to represent the eligibility of δτv i voter in the search space. step 2: negative advertisement (ω) ea algorithm uses negative campaign operation (ω)as a search mechanism in their opposition movement, to fascinate members of other parties this leads to the marginalized parties’ revival and deterioration of progress in the following ways. ω = τv t = { τvi, r j ≤ ϕ τv j, r j > ϕ, (19) where r j ∈ [0, 1] and ϕ is the negative advertisement constant in ea. step 3: coalition strategy(cl) in election algorithm, two or more parties come together for a new party, sharing the same ideas and aims in space to find solutions; confederates if they have the same ideas; ea, two or more parties may sometimes come together for a new party, possessing the same ideas and aims in space to find solutions. as a result, some applicants are exiting the advertisement with a new nominee dubbed ”leader,” while the candidate who withdrew from the election arena is dubbed ”follower.” to rule the optimum solution search in the search space, ea employs a coalition operation. by building trial vectors using elements of existing party candidates in the solution space and improving the search space, the coalition strategy can effectively gather information about effective party mergers. τ̂ vi = τv1 + λτ(τv3 −τv2 ) (20) where τ̂ vi defined as a coalition parameter of political parties and λτ ∈ [0, 1] served as a scaling factor and i is an index of current solution during the coalition process(cl). in ea, a population of solution vectors is randomly created at the start. in election algorithm, each fresh solution achieved will compete with a united party in the search space. stage 5:stopping condition (election day) at the start of ea, a population of the optimization algorithm is generated at random. in the election algorithm, each new solution will participate in the search space with a unified group [11]. 204 abubakar et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 201–208 205 figure 1. implementation of ranksat 2.4. simulation procedure implementation of the neuro-heuristic searching method of ranksat in hnn. the program’s main task is to find the best ”model” that find the optimal occurrences of random-ksat. both logical variables and clauses were initially randomized. simulations were executed by manipulating a different number of neurons complexity ranging from 10 ≤ n n ≤ 110. the simulation has been conducted on ranksat as a logical clause in hnn according to the flowchart in figure 1. 3. performance the efficiency of performance of the ea-hnn-ranksat model has been quantified based on global minimum ratio (mr), statistical error measurement based on the sum of square error (sse) and mean absolute error (mae) as well as model computational time (ct ) presented in equation (20) to equation (23) respectively. mr = 1 ab t∑ i hfranks at (21) s s e = d∑ i=1 ( f n n − h d ) 2 (22) mae = d∑ i=1 1 n | fn n − hd| (23) where fn n and hd characterized the hnn the output and the target output values respectively, d categorized the number of permutations in hnn. 4. results and discussion table 1. global minimum ratio for ranksat logic nn ea es abc 10 1 1 1 20 1 1 1 30 1 1 1 40 1 1 0.9999 50 1 1 1 60 1 1 0.9997 70 1 nil 1 80 1 nil 1 90 1 nil 0.9996 100 1 nil 1 110 1 nil 0.9899 table 1 and figure 2 until figure 4 displayed the performance of ranksat in hnn considering the third order of k ≤ 3 in terms of mr, errors accumulations and time-consuming during the program execution. in our experiments, we explore the performance of the proposed training approach using a different number of neurons10 ≤ n n ≤ 110. the general trend of the model performance indicates a massive increase in errors accumulation and cpu time considering the complexity of the neuron fired to hnn in searching for optimal ranksat representation. the increasing trend in error behaviour shows the complexity of the neuron states of ranksat which proved to be an np problem [7],[9]. according to sse and mae in figure4 and fig 5 respectively in measuring the hnn performance during the learning phase in searching for correct optimal assignment to ranksat logical clauses, the proposed method, ea-hnn-ranksat, was able to achieve efranks at = 0, with lower statistical errors accumulation than abc-hnnranksat. this may be due to the multiple optimization layers involve in ea which has a better screening stage in searching for optimal assignment leading to efranks at → 0in fewer iterations than abc-hnn-ranksat.this explores the optimal capacity of ea in lowering the complexity of the hnn searching of ranksat logical towards error accumulation by reducing the number of iterations in the optimization process. the optimal behaviour of the hopfield neural network models based on mr has been recorded in table 1. the efficiency of the election algorithm (ea) are observed in comparison with other metaheuristics search approaches in hopfield neural network for ranksat representation leading to efranks at → 0. table 1, ea-hnn-ranksat and es-hannranksat can retrieve more accurate neural assignment that leads to the best global solution during the training process, 205 abubakar et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 201–208 206 figure 2. sse for ranksat in hnn. figure 3. mae for ranksat in hnn while in abc-hnn-ranksat model, some neural states were stuck at n n = 60, n n = 60, n n = 90, n n = 110 a suboptimal local solution,but still managed to achieved closed to 92% success. meanwhile, es-hnn-ranksat can only accommodate n n ≤ 60, as the model exceeds the running time threshold, the neuron complexity increases, which is particularly problematic in the case of inconsistent interpretation ¬franks at . the core objective of incorporating metaheuristics in artificial neural network is to increase the flow of learning process by reducing the sensitivity of the neuros complexity, allowing the neurons to progress into relaxation and recovery stages sucessfully. the ea-hnn-ranksat model was able to recovered a much more appropriate final configuration that leads to a global minimum solution. this confirms the robustness and higher efficiency in neuro-searching embedded by ea to strengthen the hnn learning process for ranksat logical representation. if the mr of the model hnn network approaches one after the computing cycle, all solutions generated in the network have achieved global minimum energy[19]. it can be observed from figure 3 and figure 4 that the learning errors measured in terms of sse and mae increase massively as the neurons passed n n ≤ 20. figure 2, presents the trend of performance based on sse measure. the high accumulation of sse was demonstrated by es-hnn-ranksat. eahnn-ranksat accumulated lower error with close to 98% figure 4. cpu time for hnn performance. accuracy. ea-hnn-ranksat performs well as the number of neurons reaches a certain threshold. n n ≥ 20 the rapid increase in error was noticed. a similar pattern is reported in figure 3, which evaluate the models’ performance based on mae error. it revealed that ea-hnn-ranksat accumulated lower mae than es-hnn-ranksat with higher mae accumulation. however, the performance of abc-hnn-ranksat and ea-hnn-ranksat displayed similar trend. in general, eshnn-ranksat has the lowest results, with over 45 per cent of searches failing. the sse and mae values for hnn-ranksat searching behaviour have been observed to increase rapidly as the network’s neurons become more complex. compared to ea-hnnranksat and es-hnn-ranksat, the proposed ea-hnnranksat was able to obtain efranks at → 0 with a lower error accumulation. this is due to the ea scanning process involving multiple optimization surfaces that have a better filtering point in the state space, enabling the selection procedure to get excellent performance leading to efranks at → 0 in fewer iterations. in comparison to es-hnn-ranksat and abchnn-ranksat, ea-hnn-ranksat registered lower sse and mae, as per error analysis in figures 2 and 3. this study looked into the robustness of ea in decreasing the resistance of the hnn to error occurrence by lowering the number of iterations to the bare minimum. consequently, in es-hnnranksat, the study of mr, sse, and mae abruptly end at n n = 60. this may be attributed to the ineptness of the learning method used in es-hnn-ranksat, which can’t handle ambiguity. as a result of several fluctuations by neurons, the solutions were crafted at a sub-optimal solution (wrong pattern). it is clear that ea-hnn-ranksat agreed with abc-hnnranksat but outperformed es-hnn-ranksat in searching optimal representation ranksat logical representation. figure 4 displayed the hnn-ranksat models according to their running time during the implementation cycle. the proposed ea-hnn-ranksat was able to execute n n = 90 within 513.23 seconds faster than abc-hnn-ranksat which produce n n = 90 in about 763.02 seconds. the conventional es-hann-ranksat model was able to withstandn n ≤ 60 in 1026.53 seconds. examining the cpu’s use patterns in figure 4, it could be observed that, the ranksat logical clauses are 206 abubakar et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 201–208 207 becoming complicated and complex, the searching for global solutions to the ranksat logical clause required more effort which subsequently required more execution time to achieve. the search capacity in es-hnn-ranksat demands more time in to search 30 ≤ n n ≤ 60neurons. the ea-hnn-ranksat and abc-hnn-ranksat are similar in their running time to 10 ≤ n n ≤ 80neurons. however, ea-hnn-ranksat was slightly faster than abc-hnn-ranksat at the initial and final searching process. this is because more neurons are reqyured during the training phase to allow network to migrate through the energy level and best on optimal solutions. in other words, as the number of neurons grew, the number of errors accumulated less in ea-hnn-ranksat, which subsequently reduce the cpu time comsumption. in this case, es-hnn-ranksat required further iterations to find the best solution that corresponds to efranks at = 0, which took more cpu time. in the context of the ranksat logical representation k ≤ 3, the robustness of integrating ea to promote the training phase of hnn can be seen. even during the learning process, ea’s stochastic scanning behaviour expands the structure hnn for appropriate ranksat representation. consequently, the eahnn-ranksat model’s composition would reflect the diversification of the final neural states. as a result, the ea-hnnranksat, where the chance of obtaining diversified franks at solutions is much higher, the solutions are dynamically swapped. as a result, ea-hnn-ranksat will produce a greater variety of franks at logical clauses that are achievable leading to efranks at = 0. the essence of hnn-ranksat, on the other hand, will present difficulties in the event of conflicting assignment. as the number of neurons grew throughout the trial, the integration of ea in hnn dealt systematically with the higher learning complexity. this paper investigates the robustness and efficacy of ea’s local quest and global approach. the robustness of the local and global search capability involved in ea, which serves as the learning mechanism in hnn, is linked to the success of ea-hnn-ranksat in exploring the global solution. the robustness of the local and global search capability contained in ea, which serves as the learning mechanism in hnn, is linked to the success of ea-hnn-ranksat in hunting for the global solution franks at . at the early stages of ea, where the number of neurons is limited, the local search potential has a major impact. this paper investigates how to improve the control parameters in ea to improve the learning process and achieve optimum efranks at = 0 logical representation. at the outset, a candidate selection optimization operator is needed to speed up the process of choosing the most qualified candidate to act as a leader (solution). multiple optimization layers employed by ea-hnn-ranksat to diversify the approach space and increase the searching capability in a specific area [11]. the positive advertisement is the first optimization layer in ea, which optimizes among candidates in a specific political party in the search space. the negative advertisement is another layer that allows other candidates from another party to take the supporter from their party. the coalition’s policy has the potential to have a huge effect in attracting the largest number of people who support the party’s manifesto in seeking global solutions. within a fair period, this process would provide a collaborative candidate of equal fitness [12],[10]. because of these features in the ea, the hybrid proposed model can reduce the number of iterations an hnn is needed during the learning process by ensuring that there is a minimal amount of error accrued after the experimentation. the ea-hnn-ranksat model’s systemic solution search space can make the local and global search processes easier to achieve global solutions. the hybrid approach will effectively search for the optimal solution in all of the described spaces thanks to the partitioning mechanism of the search space. finally, the ea-hnn-ranksat model has a shorter computing time because of its campaign and alliance mechanisms, which systematically improve the unified party’s chances of victory in a decent period. 5. conclusion a hybrid approach was proposed in this work, in which the election algorithm (ea) was combined with a hopfield neural network (hnn) to perform ranksat representation as a new logical law. the proposed hybrid ea-hnn-ranksat model can be conclusively shown to be a robust heuristic methodology that is effective in improving or following preferred assignments, even in clauses of high difficulty, based on the findings presented based on experimental simulations performed. this is related to the ea process’s stronger optimization layers, which speed up hnn’s learning process in looking for an optimal ranksat assignment of greater eligibility. it was revealed that the ea-hnn-ranksat model was able to complete the searching process slightly faster than abc-hnn-ranksat and es-hnn-ranksat. notwithstanding, all of the hnn models under consideration produced excellent results when it came to representing ranksat logic in hnn and computing the global solution to efranks at = 0 within the confines of a reasonable cpu timeline. as a result, in terms of mr, mae, sse, and cpu power, ea-hnn-ranksat faced less numerical strain during the training phase than other models. finally, other metaheuristics approach such as firefly algorithm, dronefly algorithm etc will be hybridized with the hopfield neural network (hnn) to 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[21] a. wanto, a. p. windarto, d. hartama & i. parlina, “use of binary sigmoid function and linear identity in artificial neural networks for forecasting population density”,ijistech (international journal of information system & technology) 1 (2017) 43. 208 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1148 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences an alleviation of cloud congestion analysis of fluid retrial user on matrix analytic method in iot-based application k. nandhini, v. vidhya∗ division of mathematics, vellore institute of technology, chennai, tamilnadu, india abstract cloud computing (cc) and internet of things (iot) are upgrowing human intervention to enhance the daily lifestyle. currently, the heavy loaded traffic congestion is a very big challenge over iot-based applications. for that purpose, the researchers approached various ways to overcome the congestion mechanism in recent years. even though, they have futile to acheive the best resource storage accessing capacity expectation other than, cloud computing. data sharing is a key impediment of cloud computing as well as internet of things. these are the constituent that give rise to the combination of the iot and cloud computing paradigm as iot cloud. though, preserving the missed data during the execution time is a key factor to indulge the retrial queueing theory (rqt), who is facing issue upon accessing cloud service provider (csp) enter into virtual pool to preserve the data for reuse. the paper imposes markov fluid analysis with matrix analytic method (mam) allows the data as continuous length of data rather than individual data to avoid the congestion. the virtual orbit queue follow constant retrial rate discipline, that is, head of the orbital users makes attempt to occupy the server are assumed to be independent and identically distributed (i.i.d). steady-state expression presented to study the behaviour of congestion. an illustrative analysis is produced to gain deep perception into the system model. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2023.1148 keywords: retrial queue, stationary distribution, congestion, markov fluid queue, matrix analytic method, iot cloud computing article history : received: 26 october 2022 received in revised form: 13 january 2023 accepted for publication: 18 january 2023 published: 04 april 2023 c© 2023 the author(s). published by the nigerian society of physical sciences under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and doi. communicated by: s. fadugba 1. introduction the rising prevalence of cloud users and their anticipations has resulted in an incredible growth in the state-of-the-art of cloud computing approaches in recent years. a key primary characteristics of cloud computing and the iot environment is better communication. the cloud is a stand-alone platform that enables users to access cloud data and resources via the internet from any location or device. similarly, iot devices may ∗corresponding author tel. no: +91 9791020444 email address: vidhya.v@vit.ac.in (v. vidhya) access data and resources from any location. the necessary components of iot technology include cloud properties like resource pooling, flexibility, and ubiquitous network connectivity. the on-demand and elastic nature of the exertion service enhance service reliability, which is further enhanced by massive resource pooled storage. all of these strong arguments support the necessity to combine iot with cloud computing standards. researchers have worked on numerous projects in this field. the potential and stigma associated with the bifurcation of the iot and cloud were extensively investigated by [15] and [16]. in order to govern and monitor the complex cloud infrastructure, [25] conducted a survey on the cloud integrated iot 1 nandhini & vidhya / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1148 2 dependent supervisory control and data collection security systems. the premium approach was created by [26] and is based on the amount of time the user data should wait whilst being uploaded to the cloud. cloud storage is a critical aspect of cloud-based technologies. as both the user’s data volume and the network bandwidth are increasing at an exponential rate periodically, the device’s capacity cannot keep up with the user’s requirements. people were seeking a brand-new alternative to save their data, and they uncovered cloud storage, which has more powerful floor space. the practice of using cloud storage becomes increasingly sophisticated, and in the foreseeable years ahead, users’ information will be held there instead. cloud storage merely refers to a computing environment where processing and information information is made available. the cloud storage consists of a cluster of distributed file systems, applications, and cooperating network technology. the firms that provide cloud storage services include icloud, dropbox, baidu cloud, amazon web services s3, azure cloud, google drive, and so forth. all such enterprises are successful in persuading an immense number of users by offering sustainable throughputs and many administrations pertaining to well-known applications. the underlying storage in this instance ensures resource pooling for different kinds of data sources. contributions to [17],[19] as well as several sources of literature where numerous sorts of cloud storage and forthcoming concerns have been emphasised and reviewed. traffic congestion is the main concern among these problems. when significant amounts of heterogeneous data are transferred to sensor nodes concurrently in a cloud environment, network bandwidth congestion ensues, which in turn affects cloud application service or a contravene of the service level agreement (sla). few background studies on network congestion were previously known; see[20]. as in meantime, there is indeed a considerable amount of traffic whenever the utilization of cloud data has increased substantially. now, the usage of data of cloud uses have been raised significantly leads to heavy traffic. the user has access to store data directly in the cloud, and the cloud service provider (csp) administers the data there. the partitioning, positioning, and management of information do occurs without the user presiding over the actual storage of their data. due to the heterogeneous dataset with diverse interface and various geographical paths to store the data, the csp independently accesses the data in the cloud, and there is a significant risk that the user will receive inaccurate transmission. as previously stated, data losses will result from the instances taken. information is repeated as a consequence of it though. accessing data from the virtual pool and waiting for csp for web-based services are crucial components of cloud data repetition. due to massive infrastructure and increasing number of cloud primary user and repeated user, collision among the user have been increased. new collision prevention techniques are developing in response to environmental changes. fluid cloud model is the ongoing model used to freely opt the csp providing accessible data into clusters omitting the individual performance and reduce the blocking of network bandwidth congestion, see [21]. therefore, we proposed the model of markov fluid queue (mfq) approach to simplify the matrix analytic method based on retrial queueing theory to validate the result. there is some hope for effective background traffic production in mathematical representations of traffic congestion. the idea behind abstraction is that it aggregates activity requiring less computational work. [22] established the practise of fluid queue analysis in markovian environments. this research focuses on the distinctive elements of network behaviour, like the buffer. use of important sampling is an additional intriguing method for quick stochastic modelling and simulation. e.g. [23]; nevertheless, given that it focuses on its quick estimation of statistics like probability of packet loss, this is unlikely to suit our goals of effectively creating realistic background traffic. the phenomenon of fluid queues has garnered a lot of attention over the last two decades. whilst also modelling ”packet trains” as instead of individual packets, networks can be simulated at a lower computing cost. such fluid queues have been widely regarded as valuable mathematical tools for modelling, for instance, packet speech, video systems with or without background data, computer networks, including call admission control, traffic shaping and modelling of traffic control protocol (tcp), and production and inventory control. refer to [7],[8] . the research presented in this article effectively employs the traffic model used in the previous two articles, where a traffic flow is defined by a piecewise-constant rate function. according to [24], an effort with a specific intent analogous to our own has been made. in order to demonstrate how to make packets and the fluid model work together, a simulation model that is packet-oriented and is based on sde was incorporated. as a packet travels through a region characterised by the fluid approach, the fluid model was utilised to estimate the overall queueing delay. although packet flow data was used to feed the fluid model’s input for the time step, neither the packets themselves nor the fluid in the fluid network directly interacted with the packet streams that passed the fluid networks at the same time. as indicated earlier, fluid models enabled by traditional queuing systems make some progress. there is, however, no article on a fluid queue system that is driven over retrial queue background. the analytical theory of fluid models can be provided by studies on the fluid model over various queueing models. we can offer the fluid model more diversity and flexibility in the design and control of input and output rate by putting forth several retry strategies. for instance, user’s requests are organized into packets and relayed via a network of routers. requests are blocked unless the router is accessible to send packets to the server for decoding the data. in order to minimize the packet latency, the user request flow must therefore be continuous to neglect the individual effect on system performance over the retrial queueing paradigm. the network bandwidth congestion describes with repeated transmission using mam to obtain system stability. the work [1], [2] the author instigated the homogeneity of the fluid queue by explicitly defined the closed form solution. [3], have studied the buffer content distribution by expressing closed form solution of fluid over two distict queues. the study 2 nandhini & vidhya / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1148 3 [4] approaches a catastrophic queueing model in random environment over fluid queue investigates the stability of the system. mao et al. [5] and [6] have studied the fluid vacation model expressing laplacian of the stationary distribution. kapoor, s., and dharmaraja, s. [9] have obtained the transient analysis of fluid queue by exploiting the explicit solution of eigenvalue decomposition and subsequently computing the eigenvector interms of bisection algorithm. n.j starreveld, r. bekker and m. mandjes [10] approaches an fluid queue with finite buffer along with workload process by martingale method. in [11] encouraged markov modulated arrival process by obtaining steady state probabiliy distribution with phase type service and impatient customers. reader can refer from [12],[13],[14] for further reference of fluid queues this paper makes two significant contributions. first, (i) to present a matrix analytic method (mam) based on data repetition phenomena to acquire the data from cloud data warehouse. (ii) to introduce a markov fluid queue (mfq) approach-based retrial queueing mechanism which is used to access the heterogeneous data from various interfaces. the proposed model (iii) developed modified bessel function of first kind which is used to show linearly independent solution leads to gradual stability and (iv) using the fluid queue technique, we show a methodological benefit that might be used to intuitively get the stationary probability of the system states using the matrix-analytic method. finally, by conducting extensive numerical trials, we significantly broaden the stationary performance analyses’ applicability. following of how the remaining of this work is organized: the more pertinent and related research in the field of fluid flow approach and cloud storage has been discussed. system design is discussed with real-world instance in section 1.1 the conceptual mathematical framework is thoroughly explained in section 2 and section 3. section 4 presents the experimental setup and provides justifications with practical augmentation. the conclusion of the suggested work is provided in section 5 with potential improvement. 1.1. system architecture a real-world instance of an online education cloud system is provided for illustration in fig 1. the major components of the system including the user interface module (ui), a cloud database contains virtual machine manager (vmm), a cloud broker, a cloud information service (cis), a cloud server. here cloud user send and receive the data via user interface module. the data storage and retrieval process of the data in the cloud server are the primary responsibility of the user interface module. the cloud database contains the volume of information of cloud users. vmm is responsible for processing the assigned task, and a cloud broker partition the task into cloudlets but in our case, it is evenly spaced packet trunks where each trunk represents multiple packets, that is, ”fluid packet trunks”, a cloud information service (cis) corresponds to obtain the list of resources for the assigned task to provide service and virtual server to fulfill the request of cloud users in connection for online-learning. each virtual machine receives one of the 16 cpu cores that are available. a 1 tb hadoop distributed file system storage will be deployed in the interim to increase the i/o effectiveness of the online learning system. each vm has a preinstalled linux operating system and ”moodle” online learning platform with a root file system size of 50gb. each vm has a 300 gb additional root filesystem mounted in order to retain any lost data and provide an orbital storage pool in case of transmission errors. thus, a maximum of 8 missing information in vms can be transmitted to the server to wait for service. to guarantee the quality of service, unsuccessful task are transmitted to a vm server, which can inspect and make the corrupt root filesystem accessible again. if the server is accessible, a failing virtual machine will proceed right away to access the service in accordance with its system log file. in the event that this does not occur, the failing vm is sent to the server’s storage pool to wait for a filesystem check and reconfiguration. when a failed vm does not access the server, the cloudstack has a 50% (treated as q1) chance to inhibit any failed information due to non-availability of server. the cloudstack may failed to prevent a impatient re-accessed information with probability 50% (treated as p̄1) and cause an error due to excessive congestion of cloud user. in the beginning, all the vm are bootstrapped to speed up the process. let the arrival rate of the failed vm be stepwise function with parameter λ = 1.2/hr. the failed vm can be reaccessed at an instant if the server is accessible. the service time is exponentially distributed with service rate µ = 2.0/hr if the server is in busy period. on the contrary, the failed information in vm is sent to storage pool if the server is busy and repeat its service with exponential amount of retrial time with rate θ = 0.9/hr. 2. a framework of mathematical structure as a way to examine the behaviour of congestion, we take into account a single standby server markovian queueing mechanism with retrial users. figure 2 represents the state transition diagram. the system consist of single server markov fluid queue model with constant retrial rate policy. the customer arrive according to the piecewise-constant process and the inter-arrival time distribution follows an i.i.d exponential distribution with parameter λ. the service time of a user are i.i.d follows an exponential distribution with parameter µ. if a user encounters a free server upon arrival, this user receives service immediately. if a server are busy during an arbitary user arrival epoch, the user join in virtual buffer and wait until a server becomes available with probability q1 and if the server is not accessible, they again enter the so-called orbit after an arbitary amount of time. a user who arrive to the system from orbit is called a retrial user or exit the sytem with complementary probability p̄1, 0 ≤ p̄1 ≤ 1, p̄1 = 1 − p1. 2.1. the process of background queueing model the behaviour of the process under examination can be derived as the conventional irreducible continuous-time markov chain (ctmc) ζt = {(kt, it)}, t ≥ 0, where kt ∈ kt signify the 3 nandhini & vidhya / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1148 4 architecture.png figure 1. overview of system design of cloud data storage transition diagram 2.png figure 2. transition state diagram ζt = {(kt, it )}, t ≥ 0 amount of data packets accumulated in the orbit, kt ≥ 0; it ∈ it designate the state of the underlying process of qbd process, it ∈ {0, 1}, where, it = 0, the state is in operational mode; it = 1, the state is in non-operational mode. theorem 1. the infinitesimal generator q structured as blocktridiagonal matrices of the markov chain ζt, t ≥ 0 q =  a0 c . a b c . a b c . a b c . . . . . . .  4 nandhini & vidhya / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1148 5 where a0 = ( −λ λ µ −(λq1 + µ) ) c = ( 0 0 0 λq1 ) a = ( 0 θ 0 θp̄1 ) b = ( −(λ + θ) λ µ −(λq1 + µ + θp̄1) ) proof. theorem 2.1 is demonstrated by analysing each transition in the markov chain ζt, t ≥ 0 during the interval of infintesimal length, and by reconfiguring the intensities into block matrices. here the intensities of the transition assumed to be continuous entity, termed as fluid. individual users impact will be negligible since the flow will be continuous in the system during an interval of an infintesimal length, the non-diagonal blocks are zero matrix, thus the generator q has the block-tridiagonal structure. the diagonal entries of the 2×2 square block matrix a0, define the intensities of the transition of the chain ζt, t ≥ 0 that does not affect the number of users in the orbit. the intensities of an event are given by −(λq1 + µ) defines the user enter orbit with probability q1 and ends with customers service. the intensities of the former event are defined by the entries of the event that insist arrival of users in the orbit while the latter event defines the service of the user µ. the super-diagonal 2×2 matrix c, defines the intensities of the event are given by λq1, that is, the probability of joining the socalled orbit who finds server busy. the sub-diagonal 2 × 2 matrix a, defines the intensities of the event are given by θ, enter into a retrial orbit with the transition probability (1, 0) → (0, 1) and leave with impatience with θp̄1 the diagonal entries of the matrix b, defines the intensities of the event are given by −(λ+θ) that the arrival of user encounters an busy server, enter into a retrial orbit with probability θ and probability of joining the so-called orbit who finds server busy λq1. the intensity of the former event is arrival of users in the orbit while the latter event describes zero hence the proof 3. markov fluid analysis 1 this section includes the set of governing equation driven by qbd process over fluid retrial queue with non-persistent users. let x be the buffer occupancy at time ′t′. let b(t) denotes the amount of fluid data packets in the buffer at time ′t′. 1the efficacious action of the buffer is defined as η(b(t), k(t), i(t)) = d(b(t)) dt =  r0, (k(t), i(t)) = (k, 0), k ≥ 0 r, (k(t), i(t)) = (k, 1), k ≥ 0 0, b(t) = 0 we know that, r0 ≥ r ≥ 0. the occupancy of the buffer when the server is in non-operational (idle) period is much greater than the buffer occupancy in the operational (busy) period. clearly, buffer occupancy is linear increasing at the rate of r0, as soon as users begin the driving process and the process is still in progress; buffer occupancy is linear increasing at the rate of r according to the driving process stays in operational period. also, the buffer occupancy level cannot depleted until the buffer is empty. as soon as the buffer occupancy level varies, the effective request-service rate of fluid remains unstable. in order to ensure the stability condition, define the average drift condition should satisfy d < 0 d = r0 ∞∑ k=1 fk0 + r ∞∑ k=1 fk1 < 0 the following set of differential equations that satisfy a quasibirth and death process for a stationary joint distribution fki(t) can easily be solved using the conventional approach. define fki(t) is the stationary joint distribution when kt ∈ kt users in the retrial orbit at time ′t′ and it ∈ it represents the affiction of the server r0 df00(t) dt = −λf00(t) + µf01(t) (1) r0 dfk0(t) dt = −λfk0(t) + µfk1(t) − θfk+1,0(t) (2) r df01(t) dt =λf00(t) − (λq1 + µ)f01(t) − θf1,0(t) + θp̄1 f11(t) (3) r df11(t) dt =λq1f01(t) + λf10(t) + θf2,0(t) − (λp1 + µ + θp̄1)f11(t) + θp̄1f21(t) (4) with boundary conditions f00(0) = a1 f01(0) = a2 fkt,it (0) = (kt, it), (kt, it) ∈ ω{(kt, 0) ∪ (kt, 1)} where 0 < a1, a2 < 1 the boundary conditions are feasible to the solution since there is linear growth of customers in the background driving process and it has some non-negative probability distributed around the boundary region. also the buffer gets empty when the buffer occupancy level decreases at the rate of r0. thus the boundary conditions are satisfied. 3.1. markov decision process in this theoretical evaluation, the steady state analysis of the fluid retrial queue is presented with the detailed study of average buffer occupancy expressed in an closed form solution of stationary distribution and buffer occupancy is determined in the form of modified bessel function of first kind. the set of differential equations are governed by quasi birth-death process evaluated interms of infintesimal generator matrix. the 5 nandhini & vidhya / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1148 6 set of matrix quadratic equations defined to provide an explicit solution for joint steady state analytic distribution. now define f0(t) = {f00(t),f01(t)} fk(t) = {fk,0(t),fk,1(t)}, j = 1, 2, ... therefore, f (t) = (f0(t),f1(t),f2(t), ...) the set of differential equation can be rewritten with the joint probability density sequence in the matrix form as df (t) dt λ = f (t)q (5) where λ =  λ0 . . λ1 . λ1 . λ1 . . . .  here λ0 = ( r0 0 0 r0 ) , λ1 = ( r 0 0 r ) to depict the laplace transform of the system of matrix solutions to provide an analytical interpretation to the stationary analysis of the buffer capacity distribution. f̂ (s) = (f̂0(s),f̂1(s),f̂2(s), . . . ) then the above matrix form is given as f̂ (s)(q− sλ) = (−āλ, 0, 0...), ā = (r0a1, r0a2) the set of differential equations is given by f̂0(s)(a − sλ0) −f̂1(s)a = −āλ (6) f̂0(s)c + f̂1(s)(b − sλ1) + f̂2(s)a = 0 (7) f̂k−1(s)c + f̂k(s)(b − sλ1) + f̂k+1(s)a = 0 (8) theorem 2. a necessary sufficient condition for the driving queueing process {kt = kt, it = it; t ≥ 0} is given by ρ = λq1 (λ+θ) θµp where µp = µ(λ + θ) p̄1 proof. from the framework of the generator matrix, we know that {kt = kt, it = it; t ≥ 0} is a quasi birth-death process. let us define l = a + b + c. l = ( 0 0 0 λq1 ) + ( 0 θ 0 θp̄1 ) + ( −(λ + θ) λ 0 λq1 ) = ( −(λ + θ) (λ + θ) µ −µ ) clearly, l is a finite integrable matrix. its steady-state probability vector defined as π = (π0,π1) satisfies (π0,π1)l = 0 where π0 + π1 = 1 the obtained solution is π0 = µ λ+θ and π1 = λ+θ µ a necessary sufficient condition for the driving queueing process {kt = kt, it = it; t ≥ 0} is πce < πae, where e is a two dimensional column vector whose elements are all equal to one. then using simple expression, we obtained the result ρ = λq1 (λ+θ) θµp where µp = µ(λ + θ) p̄1 theorem 3. the evaluation of rate matrix is determined in the form of matrix quadratic equation is given by r2(s)a + r(s)(b− sλ1) + c = 0 yields minimal non-negative solution such as r(s) = ( χ(s) β(s) 0 r(s) ) proof. we make an assumption for the rate matrix r(s) has the structure is of the 2 × 2 matrix form such that r = ( r11 r12 0 r22 ) from the equation above, we obtain,( r211 r12(r11 + r22) 0 r222 ) ( 0 θ 0 θp̄1 ) + ( r11 r12 0 r22 ) ( −(λ + θ + sr) λ µ −(λq1 + µ + θp̄1) + sr ) + ( 0 0 0 λq1 ) = 0 the set of differential equations are determined as follows: r11(λ + θ + sr) + r12µ = 0 (9) r211θ + r12(r11 + r22)θp̄1 + r11(λq1 + µ + θp̄1 + sr) = 0 (10) r22µ = 0 (11) r222θp̄1 − r22(λq1 + µ + θp̄1 + sr) + λq1 = 0 (12) the solution from equation 7 expressed as r22 = r(s) = (λq1 + µ + θp̄1 + sr) ± √ (λq1 + µ + θp̄1 + sr)2 − 4θp̄1λq1 2θp̄1 (13) let the above equation has positive and negative eigenvalues namely,r(s) and r1(s) .since the root that lies inside the unit disc, we consider r(s) for further reference. therefore it satisfies the following recurrsion relation as follows: (λq1 + µ + sr + θp̄1(1 − r)) = µ 1 − r + θp̄1 + sr 1 − r = λq1 r (14) from the equation above, we get, χ(s) = ρ + sr r(s) − λµ θµp (15) where ρ = λq1 (λ+θ+sr) θµp and µp = µ + (λ + θ + sr)p̄1. using the expression given in equation 8, the solution yields, β(s) = (λ + θ + sr)ρ µr(s) −λµ λ + θ + sr µθµp (16) 6 nandhini & vidhya / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1148 7 hence, the rate matrix is given by r(s) =  ρ r(s) − λµ θµp (λ+θ+sr)ρ µr(s) −λµ λ+θ+sr µθµp 0 (λq1 + µ + θp̄1 + sr) ± √ (λq1 +µ+θp̄1 +sr)2−4θp̄1λq1 2θp̄1  = ( χ(s) β(s) 0 r(s) ) ... rn−1 = ( χ(s)n−1 β(s)(χ(s)n−2 + r(s)n−2 + ∑n−3 i=1 χ(s) ir(s)n−2−i) 0 r(s)n−1 ) in general, rn = ( χ(s)n β(s)(χ(s)n−1 + r(s)n−1 + ∑n−2 i=1 χ(s) ir(s)n−1−i) 0 r(s)n ) hence the result is proved theorem 4. the steady state probability distribution of the buffer occupancy in the driving queueing model gives an analytical solution in an laplace domain determined as f̂k0(s) = f̂00(s)χ(s) n f̂k1(s) = f̂00(s)β(s)(χ(s) n−1 + r(s)n−1 n−2∑ i=0 χ(s)ir(s)n−1−i) + f̂01(s)r(s) n proof. without loss of generality, let us assume fk(s) = fk−1(s)r(s) can be rewritten as fk(s) = f0(s)rk(s) from equation 6,7, we have =f̂k−1(s)c + f̂k(s)(b − sr) + f̂k+1(s)a =f̂k−1(s)c + f̂k−1(s)r(s)(b − sr) + f̂k−1r 2(s)a =f̂k−1(s){c + r(s)(b − sr) + r 2(s)a} = 0 =f̂0(s)c + f̂1(s)(b − sr) + f̂2(s)a =f̂0(s)c + f̂0(s)r(s)(b − sr) + f̂0(s)r 2(s)a =f̂0(s){c + r(s)(b − sr) + r 2(s)a} = 0 from equation 6, we get f̂0(s)(a − sr1) −f̂1(s)a = −ā f̂0(s) = ā sr1 − a0 − r(s)a (17) the proof is provided in the appendix with all sufficient conditions. 3.2. stationary analysis of buffer content distribution theorem 5. the stationary distribution of the buffer occupancy level can be expressed analytically to provide explicit solution to the joint steady probability vector[1] f̂ (s) = p(x ≤ x) = ∞∑ k=0 {f̂k0(s) + f̂k1(s)} (18) buffer occupancy.png figure 3. a stationary buffer occupancy distribution f(x) against x proof. taking laplace transform on the above equation, we get f̂ (s) = f̂0(s)e1 + f̂0(s) ∞∑ k=1 rn(s)ek (19) = f̂0(s)e1 + f̂0(s)e(i − r(s)) −1e2 where (i − r(s))−1 = 1 (i −χ(s))(i − r(s)) ( ir (s) β(s) 0 i −χ(s) ) = ( (iχ(s))−1 β(s)(i −χ(s))(i − r(s)) −1 0 (i − r(s))−1 ) f̂ (s) = f̂00(s) n−1∑ j=0 χ(s) j + f̂00(s) n−1∑ j=0 χ(s) jβ(s) ∞∑ k=0 r(s)n + f̂01(s)r(s) n = ∞∑ k=0 ( ρe− (λq1 +µ+θp̄1 ) r x ji j(βx)β j x ( r 2θp̄1 ) j − λµ θµp )∗ kf00(s) + β(x) ∗ ∞∑ k=0 ( r 2θp̄1 )k kik(βx)β j x e− (λq+µ+θp̄1 ) r x ∗ ∞∑ k=0 ( ρe− (λq1 +µ+θp̄1 ) r x ji j(βx)β j x ( r 2θp̄1 ) j − λµ θµp )∗ kf00(s) + f̂01(s) ∗ ∞∑ k=0 ( r 2θp̄1 )k kik(βx)β j x e− (λq1 +µ+θp̄1 ) r x (20) hence, evaluation of buffer content distribution are expressed in terms of f̂00(s) and f̂01(s). therefore the measure of performance can be given using this explicit analytical solution given in the form of modified bessel function of first kind. 4. analysis of statistical illustration to acquire a holistic view of the model stability and performance, this section describe the findings of certain numerical experiments in the aspect of system stability with intrinsic of markov fluid analysis. we examine the steady-state convergence of several measures to their exact theoretical values 7 nandhini & vidhya / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1148 8 of buffer occupancy distribution.png figure 4. dependency of buffer occupancy distribution against the variation of parameters where analytical expressions are given in the depiction for the purpose of model validation. following the model’s validation, we use empirical correlation to conduct a numerical investigation of a few auxiliary measures for the dependence of orbits, arrivals, and service patterns. the simulation is carried out using matlab and is based on the continuous event procedure. as a desired set approach, the following preceding parameters are chosen for the illustrated example of an online education cloud system shown in section 1.1: λ = 1.2/hr, µ = 2.0/hr, θ = 0.9/hr, q1 = 0.5, p̄1 = 0.5. the values are selected in such a way to guarantee sufficient stability condition equation 20 holds true. the graph displayed in figure 3 displays the difference of buffer capacity distribution against time t with retrial rate θ using the appropriate value of θ considered for the purpose of comparison. it is to be noted that the retrial rate θ value increases with increases of buffer capacity distribution, particularly at the values of buffer capacity t more than 0.4. it is strictly convex montonically increasing function proves stability in relation with the dependent variable of λ, µ and θ. in figure 4 depicts the behaviour of buffer content distribution in three dimensions with variation of the system estimation parameters dependence of λ, µ and θ. in particular, figure 4(a) explains the variation of buffer content distribution along with service rate µ and retrial rate θ has validate the result. figure 4(b) depicts the evolution of stationary distribution in three dimension with variation of the arrival λ and retrial rate θ. this figure explains the variation of buffer content distribution increase along with increment of the arrival rate λ and retrial rate θ. it is concluded that the numerical illustration provided has validate the result. figure 4(c) depicts the behaviour of buffer content distribution in three dimensions with variation of the arrival λ and service µ. this figure explains the evolution of buffer content distribution is strictly increasing along with increment of the arrival rate λ and service rate µ. it is to be concluded that the numerical illustration provided has validate the result. to illustrate our result, we simulate m/m/1 type queueing system. the main motivation of our simulation study is to learn the behaviour of the performance measure which are associated with the buffer content distribution against the variation of some system parameters. 8 nandhini & vidhya / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1148 9 5. conclusion in this research, steady-state evaluation of the markovian queueing model with constant retrial rate with non-persistent users is demonstrated. it is displayed that the service and interretrial times are linearly independent of one another. a markov fluid queue model serves as a foundation for analytic viewpoint. besides, we demonstrate how an interaction of retrial correlation with matrix analytic method allows to optimize the performance efficiency by reducing the packet service delay and congestion avoidance. in future, the extended result will contemplate to control the congestion using time-inhomogeneous in a finite source retrial queue. acknowledgments the authors also acknowledge the vellore institute of technology (vit) at chennai for providing resources that contributed to the research results reported within this paper. references [1] k. vijayashree & a. anjuka, “fluid queue driven by an m/m/1 queue subject to bernoulli-schedule-controlled vacation and vacation interruption”, advances in operations research (2016) 1. 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[29] r. sakthi, v. varadharajan & k. mahaboob, “performance measures of state dependent mmpp/m/1 queue”, international journal of engineering and technology 4 (2018) 942. appendix proof of theorem 4. the proof is built on the analysis of buffer occupancy distribution given by f̂0(s) = a1r0, a2r0 s ( r0 0 0 r0 ) − ( −λ λ µ −(λq + µ) ) − ( χ(s) β(s) 0 r(s) ) ( 0 θ 0 θp̄ ) = (a1r0, a2r0) ( sr0 + λ −(λθχ(s) + θp̄β(s)) −µ sr0 + (λq + µ)θp̄r(s) )−1 f̂00(s) = a1r0(sr0 + λq1 + µ− θp̄1r(s)) + a2r0µ (sr0 + λ)(sr0 + λq1 + µ− θp̄1r(s)) −µ(λ + θχ(s) + θp̄1β(s)) f̂01(s) = a1r0(λ + θχ(s) + θp̄1β(s)) + a2r0(sr0 + λ) (sr0 + λ)(sr0 + λq + µ− θp̄1r(s)) −µ(λ + θχ(s) + θp̄1β(s)) 9 nandhini & vidhya / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1148 10 upon factorization which leads to f̂00(s) = a1r0(sr0 + λq1 + µ− θp̄1r(s)) + a2r0µ (sr0 + λ)(sr0 + λq1 + µ− θp̄1r(s)) −µ(λ + θχ(s) + θp̄1β(s)) = ∞∑ k=0 ω(s)k{a2σ0µd(s) − a1σ0 sσ0 + λ } (21) similarly for f̂01(s) f̂01(s) = a1r0(λ + θχ(s) + θp̄β(s)) + a2r0(sr0 + λ) (sr0 + λ)(sr0 + λq + µ− θp̄1r(s)) −µ(λ + θχ(s) + θp̄1β(s)) = (a1r0(λ + θχ(s) + θp̄1β(s))d(s)) + a2r0 sr0 + λq1 + µ− θp̄1r(s) ∞∑ k=0 ω(s)k (22) where ω(s) = µ(λ + θχ(s) + θp̄1β(s)) (sr0 + λ)(sr0 + λq1 + µ− θp̄1r(s)) d(s) = 1 (sr0 + λ)(sr0 + λq1 + µ− θp̄1r(s)) from inversion of (12),(14),(15) with β = 2 √ λθp̄q σ , we have, β(s) = (λ + θ + sr)ρ µr(s) −λµ λ + θ + sr µθµp = e− (λ+θ) r x ( r µ )k xk k! ∗χ(x)∗i ω(s) = µ(λ + θχ(s) + θp̄1β(s)) (sr0 + λ)(sr0 + λq1 + µ− θp̄1r(s)) = µ(λ + θχ(x) + θp̄1β(x)) ∗ ∞∑ i=0 ∞∑ j=0 θp̄i1 ri+2 e− λ r0 xe− (λq1 +µ) r0 x xi i! iii(βx)βi x ( r 2θp̄1 )ie−( λq1 +µ+θp̄1 r )x χ(s) = ρ + sr r(s) − λµ θµp = 1 θp1 ∞∑ k=0 ( µ p̄1r )k xk−1 (k − 1)! e− (λ+θ) r x ( λµ r ) e− (λ+θ) r x − 1 θp1 ∗ kik(βx)βk x e− (λq1 +µ+θp1 ) r x ( r 2θp̄1 )k d(s) = 1 (sr0 + λ)(sr0 + λq1 + µ− θp̄1r(s)) = ∞∑ i=0 ∞∑ j=0 θp̄i1 ri+1 e− (λq1 +µ) r0 x xi+ j (i + j)!  ∗ ii j(βx)βi x ( r 2θp̄1 )ie− (λq1 +µ+θp̄1 ) r x from equation 17, we arrive at the solution in terms of the modified bessel function of the first kind, which signifies explicitly the exponentially growing function achieved the characteristic of the proposed work by significantly increasing the function of the number of packets/signals in the virtual buffer (retrial) f̂00(s) = ( −a1r0 (sr0 + λ) + a2r0µd(s) ) ∞∑ k=0 ω(s)k = ∞∑ k=0 (ω(s))∗k ∗ ( a2 ∞∑ v=0 ( θp̄1 r0 )ve− (λq1 +µ) r0 x xv v! ∗ viv(βx)βv x ( r 2θp̄1 )ve− (λq1 +µ+θp̄1 ) r x ) + a1r0(λ + θχ(x) + θp̄1β(x)) ∗ d(x) f̂01(s) =(a1r0(λ + θχ(s) + θp̄1β(s))d(s)) + a2r0 sr0 + λq1 + µ− θp̄1r(s) ∞∑ k=0 ω(s)k = ∞∑ k=0 (ω(s))∗k ∗ ( a2r0µ∗ d(x) − a1e − λ r0 x ) (f̂k0(s),f̂k1(s)) = (f̂00(s),f̂01(s))r n(s) = (f̂00(s),f̂01(s)) ( χ(s)n ∑n−1 i=0 χ(s) iβ(s)r(s)n−1−i 0 r(s)n ) = ( f̂00(s)χ(s)n f̂00(s) ∑n−1 i=0 χ(s) iβ(s)r(s)n−1−i +f̂01(s)r(s)n ) which is simplified in the form of f̂k0(s) = f̂00(s)χ(s) n (23) f̂k1(s) = f̂00(s) n−1∑ i=0 χ(s)iβ(s)r(s)n−1−i + f̂01(s)r(s) n (24) thus all steady state probabilities are obtained interms of modified bessel function of first kind to determine the flow of fluid in retrial queue along with impatient customers are observed. 10 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1048 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences optimization of potassium carbonate-based des as catalyst in the production of biodiesel via transesterification abdulwasiu abdurrahmana,∗, saidu muhammad waziria, olusegun ayoola ajayia, fadimatu nyako dabaib adepartment of chemical engineering, ahmadu bello university, zaria, nigeria bdepartment of chemical engineering, university of abuja, nigeria abstract increasing energy demand necessitates the production of sustainable fuels, which can be in the form of bio-fuels. one of such bio-fuels is biodiesel, which is typically produced via transesterification. the development of homogeneous catalyst that is relatively easy to synthesize, cheap, reusable, and environmentally friendly, is a major issue in transesterification reaction. the use of deep eutectic solvent (des) as catalyst, is believed to be a significant step in the direction of attaining a sustainable bio-economy. in this study, deep eutectic solvent was synthesized from different mole ratios of k2co3/glycerol. the synthesized des was used as catalyst in the transesterification reaction to produce biodiesel from jatropha curcas oil. box-behnken design (bbd) was used to determine the factors that significantly affect the biodiesel yield. optimum fatty acid methyl ester (fame) yield of 98.2845% was achieved at optimum conditions of 1:32.58 mole ratio of k2co3/glycerol, 8.96% w/w concentration of des, and 69.58 minutes. gc-ms analysis revealed that the produced biodiesel contained 98.87% ester content. the properties of the biodiesel produced were characterized and found to agree with those of astm d6751-12 standard. thus, suggesting the synthesized des is a promising catalyst in the transesterification reaction to produce biodiesel from jatropha curcas oil. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2023.1048 keywords: deep eutectic solvent, fatty acid methyl ester, jatropha curcas oil, potassium carbonate, transesterification. article history : received: 08 september 2022 received in revised form: 30 october 2022 accepted for publication: 09 november 2022 published: 21 january 2023 c© 2023 the author(s). published by the nigerian society of physical sciences under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and doi. communicated by: k. sakthipandi 1. introduction due to the continuous rise in the world’s population, the demand for global energy keeps growing. increasing energy demand necessitates the production of sustainable energy, which can be in the form of bio-fuels [1-2]. one of such bio-fuels is biodiesel. the direct usage and mixing of raw oils, thermal cracking, micro-emulsions, and transesterification are the ∗corresponding author tel. no: +243 7036088332 email address: acl645035@gmail.com (abdulwasiu abdurrahman) basic ways of producing biodiesel [3]. in particular, transesterification is the most prevalent process for making biodiesel because the resulting biodiesel has higher cetane number, lower emissions, higher combustion efficiency and renewability [4]. acids, alkalis, enzymes, and ionic liquids are used to catalyze the reaction[5]. acid and alkali catalysts are more commonly utilized in the manufacture of biodiesel because of their low cost compared to enzyme catalysts. however, the acid-catalyzed transesterification process necessitates a large mole ratio of methanol to oil, it takes a long time to complete the reaction 1 abdurrahman et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1048 2 compared to alkali catalysts, and the acidic catalysts are caustic and unfriendly to the environment [4, 6-7]. when considering biodiesel production, it is also important to consider the physical state of the catalyst to be employed. while homogeneous catalysts make it difficult to separate catalyst from liquid mixtures, heterogeneous catalysts require harsh operating conditions (such as longer reaction time and high temperature) to produce biodiesel. as already mentioned, ionic liquids (ils) have the potential to be used as catalysts in biodiesel production. the ability to recycle ils at the conclusion of the reaction, and the ease with which products may be separated, are two advantages of using a typical heterogeneous catalyst. therefore, as a result of combining the benefits of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts, ils have gained appeal as a catalyst in biodiesel synthesis [8-11]. however, large-scale commercial applications of ionic liquids remain a challenge due to complicated synthesis techniques and high cost of the raw materials needed for the synthesis[12]. a cheaper alternative to ils are the deep eutectic solvents (dess) [13]. due to their potential as an ecologically friendly solvent with favorable features over ionic liquids, such as simplicity of production in high purity at reduced cost, low toxicity, biodegradability, and non-reactivity with water, dess are currently in use in both research and industry [14]. dess have gained much attention in the biodiesel industry, where they may be used as an extracting solvent, catalyst, or co-solvent [15-16]. dess are excellent solvents for the separation of glycerol (by-product) from biodiesel [17]. abott et al. [18] demonstrated that a glycerol-based deep eutectic solvent is effective in separating glycerol and biodiesel from the final reaction mixture generated by ethanolysis in the presence of koh from rape seed and soybean oils. dess were found to be successful in removing glycerol, mono– and diacyl glycerols, and also as an alkali catalyst, for crude biodiesel made from palm oil by hayyanet al. [19]and shahbaz et al. [20-21]. zhao & baker [22] analyzed the feasibility of producing biodiesel by mixing traditional ils with dess. huang et al. [23] discovered a simple and energy-efficient method to initiate commercial cao for biodiesel synthesis with no pre-treatment by adding a novel des that can detach the inert layers of caco3 and ca(oh)2on the commercial cao surface during the reaction to obtain good fame yield, while the reaction was still running. hayyan et al. [24] used a phosphonium-based deep eutectic solvent (p-des) combined with alkali treatment to esterify poor quality crude palm oil. using ideal circumstances, the oil’s free fatty acid content was reduced from 9.5 to 1%. gu et al. [25] developed a choline-based deep eutectic solvent with glycerol as a co-solvent to catalyze transesterification of rapeseed oil for biodiesel synthesis. under optimal circumstances, a 98 % fame yield was attained. granados et al. [26] reported excellent yields of fatty acid alkyl esters of 90.3 and 92.4 by using potassium carbonate at concentrations of 2 and 3mol percent. excess methanol was used to move the reversible reaction’s equilibrium to the product side, while a co-solvent (such as tetrahydro-furan, thf) was added to overcome the mass transport limit in a heterogeneous system [27]. however, these organic solvents (such as methanol and thf) are often volatile, flammable, poisonous, and environmentally hazardous [28]. in addition, the little amount of soap created reduces yield and increases the creation of emulsions in the product, making separation of biodiesel from glycerine more difficult. in an alkali catalyzed chemical transesterification reaction, petracic, [7] investigated the usefulness of a des (choline-chloride: ethyleneglycol with a molar ratio of 1: 2.5) for the extraction of glycerol from biodiesel. it was determined that the dess had little to no effect on the extraction efficiency, hence a further process adjustment to lower the amount of total glycerol and glycerides was advised. in the area of catalysis, alhassan et al. [29] successfully employed chcl:koh, chcl:p-toluenesulfonic acid monohydrate, chcl:glycerol and chcl:fecl3 as catalyst and co-solvent for hydrothermal liquefaction of de-oiled jatropha curcas cake, and later applied chcl:p-toluenesulfonic acid as heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts to produce biodiesel from pongamia pinnata seed oil [30]. also, chcl:p-toluenesulphonic acid was used as catalyst in co-liquefaction of jatropha curcas seed [31], while, yong et al. [32] utilized chcl:oxalic acid to convert biomass furfural to fumaric acid and maleic acid in the presence of h2o2. although the aforementioned dess performed well as catalyst in the biodiesel production, a side reaction between hydroxyl groups of the salt, and the acids from some types of dess composed of chcl and carboxylic acids was observed [5]. as a result of side esterification reactions observed in choline chloride based-dess, petračić et al. [29] prepared eutectic mixtures des (k2co3 : c2h6o2 = 1 : 10) which was used for feedstock deacidification. a total acid value of the waste cooking oil was reduced from 2.362 mg koh/g to 0.574 mg koh/g. while sander et al. [33] employed potassium carbonate-based solvent (potassium carbonate:ethylene glycol) to lower the total acid number of crude biodiesels using coffee feedstock. the time and mass ratio of des to oil were optimized, and these were shown to be favourable variables for the prospective industrial scale-up of the process. the industrial applications of dess, which are comprised of an organic salt and a hydrous metal salt, are limited [5, 34], hence, there is need to further explore the uses of these classes of dess. since glycerol is a key by-product of the production of biodiesel and the jatropha plant is vastly available and recognized as a significant source of biodiesel [1], des, produced from glycerol and potassium carbonate, was employed as a catalyst in the transesterification reaction to produce biodiesel. in particular, the aim of this research is to investigate the impact of mole ratio, time and concentration of potassium carbonate des on the yield of biodiesel synthesized from jatropha curcas oil. in previous studies, koh was used as the primary catalyst for transesterification, and potassium carbonate based-des as a secondary catalyst for purification, deacidification, separation, and extraction, while in this study, the des was produced from glycerol and potassium carbonate, and it was employed as a catalyst in the transesterification reaction. 2 abdurrahman et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1048 3 2. experimental procedure 2.1. materials jatropha curcas oil, with a free fatty acid (ffa) content of 6.68% was obtained from national research institute for chemical technology narict, zaria, nigeria, while glycerol, methanol, and k2co3 were obtained from romtech scientific supplies company limited, zaria. the chemicals had 98% purity and were employed for the preparation of dess without additional purification or drying. 2.2. synthesis and characterization of des 2.2.1. synthesis of des different molar ratios of potassium carbonate to glycerol (as shown in table 1) were used to produce des samples. in order to combine the salt with the hydrogen bond donor, a magnetic stirrer hot plate was utilized. each des mixture was shaken for 2 hours at 400 rpm at 353 k until a homogeneous transparent colorless liquid was obtained. des samples were produced at atmospheric pressure with moisture content tightly controlled. 2.3. determination of viscosity viscosity and density of des play significant roles in processes involving mass transport. the viscosity of the oil was measured using a brookfield rotary digital viscometer ndj-8s at 40oc. a spindle was attached to the viscometer and set at 60 rpm. 200 ml of the oil was poured into a beaker and the spindle was lowered into the beaker and allowed to attain the same temperature with the sample. the reading at 25% shear rate was taken. 2.3.1. fourier transform infrared (ftir) spectroscopy analysis ftir was utilized to investigate the interactions between the des’s constituents, and determine if des was formed through hydrogen bonding, by observing the stretch or shift in each functional group. the ftir spectroscopy experiments were carried out using microlab pc software of fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (model 630, agilent technology).all samples were scanned over a wave number range of 400-4000 cm−1. the spectra of the samples were recorded in 16 scans at 4 cm−1 resolution and plotted in the transmittance mode. prior to each measurement, the quality of the background signal was evaluated and a background spectrum was recorded using the same settings as for the sample measurement if necessary (residual peaks after cleaning > 0.2 % transmittance). the spectra were submitted to an automatic baseline correction performed with microlab pc software. 2.4. reduction of free fatty acid (esterification) the jatropha oil employed in this study has a significant amount of free fatty acid (ffa) (6.68 %), which is not suitable for the production of biodiesel via transesterification. as a result, it became essential to lower it via esterification. crude jatropha oil was put into a conical flask and heated to 60◦c. a combination of concentrated h2so4 (1% w/w) and methanol (30% v/v) was heated separately at (60◦c) before being added to the heated oil in the flask. the mixture was agitated for an hour and then allowed to settle for another two hours, and then ffa value of the oil was determined. 2.5. experimental design in this study, the reaction temperature was kept constant at 60◦c and the agitation rate was kept constant at 300 rpm, as indicated in the esterification experiment [35]. response surface methodology (rsm) and box–behnken design (bbd) were used to investigate the primary reaction parameters (such as k2co3/glycerol ratio, catalyst (des) concentration, and reaction duration) and optimize the reaction conditions for fatty acid methyl ester yield (fame) production. in the regression and graphical data analysis, the design expert 6.06 program was employed. the model’s statistical analysis was carried out in order to evaluate the analysis of variance (anova). 2.6. transesterification 40g of the esterified jatropha oil was transesterified in conformity with the design layout matrix, shown in table 3. the mole ratio of k2co3/glycerol was in the range of 1:20 to 1:40, time was varied from 30 to 120 minutes and concentration of des varied from 8 to 10% w/w. the mixture was stirred at 300 rpm with a magnetic stirrer hot plate at a temperature of 60◦c. the reaction mixture stabilized into a biphasic system at the end of the reaction. due to variances in viscosity and density between the two products, two layers developed in the separating funnel. the topmost layer was biodiesel (fame), whereas the lower layer was crude glycerol. the separation was allowed to run overnight in order to allow the separation of the fame layer and the free glycerol and other contaminants that can degrade the final quality of biodiesel. 3. result and discussion 3.1. characterization of des different molar ratios of glycerol to potassium carbonate were used to prepare the dess. table 1 shows these ratios along with their abbreviations and observations, during the preparation process. during the synthesis stage, dess samples were formed in a white viscous gel within the first 30 min. after 60 min of mixing, a liquid phase started to appear with some precipitation. therefore, the period of mixing was extended to 120 min in order to get a homogenous liquid phase des. des1 to des8 were not successful, as the two components did not form des, as the products were in either turbid white liquid or a mixture of colourless liquid and solid, throughout the process and after cooling to room temperature. adding more glycerol achieved the necessary balance between the two des constituents and guaranteed complete miscibility. thus, des9, des 10 and des11 remained in colourless liquid phase at room temperature, and the unsuccessful dess were not considered for further investigation in this study. the physical properties of the synthesized des (in particular, des 9) are shown in table 2. des 9 was considered, 3 abdurrahman et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1048 4 table 1. mole ratio and abbreviations of des synthesized mole ratio abbreviation appearance 1:3.5 des 1 turbid white liquid 1:4 des 2 turbid white liquid 1:5 des 3 turbid white liquid 1:6 des 4 turbid white liquid 1:7 des 5 colorless liquid with solids 1:8 des 6 colorless liquid with solids 1:9 des 7 colorless liquid with solids 1.10 des 8 colorless liquid with solids 1.20 des 9 colorless liquid 1.30 des 10 colorless liquid 1.40 des 11 colorless liquid table 2. properties of des synthesized property des synthesized viscosity @ 40◦c 0.428 pa.s density 1.322g/ml ph 10.53 figure 1. ft-ir result of (a) k2co3, (b) glycerol, and (c) des since it was successfully synthesized at a lower mole ratio than des 10 and des 11. the density and viscosity conform to that reported by naser et al. [36]. the ph is important in applications related to catalytic reactions. a ph of 10.53 was obtained, which indicates the basicity of the mixture. this implies that when the des is used as catalyst, the reaction will follow a base-catalyzed transesterification mechanism. figure 1 shows the ft-ir of k2co3, glycerol, and synthesized des. in figure 1 (a, b and c), the region between 3000 and 2800 cm−1shows the existence of c–h stretching bands of the alkanes ch3 and ch2 for the des. the peak at 3022.9cm−1 indicate the absence of o-h in k2co3 in figure 1a, while the presence of o–h stretching bands between 3200 and 3500 cm−1 in figure 1 (b and c) is attributed to hydroxyl group. figure 1 reveals that a shift in the o-h stretching vibration of glycerol indicate that the change in vibrational state occurred because a portion of the cloud of electrons of the oxygen atom was transferred to the hydrogen bond, reducing the force constant. thus, the shift of the o-h stretching vibration (3209.1cm−1) indicates the existence of a hydrogen bond between the glycerol and k2co3 when the des was formed. this is in agreement with the observation reported in the literature[37–41]. thus the ft-ir spectra reveal the intermolecular attraction between the salt and the hydrogen bond donor (glycerol). 3.2. production of biodiesel using des as catalyst prior to the production of biodiesel, the ffa of the jatropha curcas oil was reduced from its initial value (of 6.68%) via esterification. the ffa of the jatropha curcas oil were reduced after the first 3 hours to 2.427 %, after 4 hours to 1.112 %, and then to 0.409 %, which is within the range of standard oil for the production of biodiesel. box–behnken design (bbd) was used to optimize the reaction conditions for the production of fatty acid methyl ester yield (fame), based on the primary reaction parameters (such as k2co3/glycerol mole ratio, catalyst (des) concentration, and reaction duration), as shown in table 3. the esterified oil was transesterified with methanol at a molar ratio of 1:6, utilizing k2co3/glycerol des as a catalyst; with the reaction temperature set at 60◦c, and the system agitated at 300 rpm. fame yields in the range of 88.97–98.15% were obtained at des component ratios of 1:20, 1:30, and 1:40, reaction times ranging from 30 to 120 minutes, and des concentrations ranging from 8 to 10% w/w, as indicated in table 3. 3.2.1. modified quadratic model for transesterification process response surface methodology (rsm), based on bbd, was used to investigate the primary reaction variables. to match the experimental data, a quadratic polynomial equation in terms of real components was established using response surface methods, as illustrated in equation (1). % biodiesel yield = +98.00+2.95a+0.64b+0.44c−4.21a2 − 0.90b2 − 1.31c20.50ab + 0.20ac − 0.38bc (1) where: a mole ratio of k2co3/glycerol, bconc. of des c reaction time. as already mentioned, for the regression and graphical data analysis, the design expert 6.06 program was employed. the model’s statistical analysis was carried out in order to evaluate the analysis of variance (anova). based on the analysis of variance (anova) results (table 4), a second-order polynomial model (equation 1) appears to illustrate the relation between the yield and the important factors. the regression model’s significance is shown by a very high f value (204.34) and a modest p-value (0.0001). a, b, c, a2, b2, c2 are significant model terms. a reasonable determination coefficient (r2 = 0.9962) indicates that the independent variables (k2co3/glycerol 4 abdurrahman et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1048 5 table 3. design layout for the transesterification reaction serial no. (in order of lowest to highest biodiesel yield) run no. mole ratio of k2co3/glycerol conc. of des (%w/w) time (min) actual yield of biodiesel (%w/w) 1 7 20.00 9.00 30.00 88.97 2 1 20.00 8.00 75.00 88.98 3 10 20.00 9.00 120.00 89.65 4 17 20.00 10.00 75.00 91.32 5 14 30.00 8.00 30.00 94.48 6 13 40.00 9.00 30.00 94.90 7 6 40.00 8.00 75.00 95.45 8 2 40.00 10.00 75.00 95.80 9 12 30.00 8.00 120.00 95.90 10 5 30.00 10.00 120.00 96.35 11 11 40.00 9.00 120.00 96.39 12 8 30.00 10.00 30.00 96.45 13 3 30.00 9.00 75.00 97.67 14 15 30.00 9.00 75.00 97.93 15 16 30.00 9.00 75.00 98.10 16 4 30.00 9.00 75.00 98.15 17 9 30.00 9.00 75.00 98.15 figure 2. comparison between the actual (experimental) fame yield and predicted yield molar ratio, catalyst concentration, and reaction duration) can account for 99.62 % of the sample variation in biodiesel generation. to confirm the model validity, the model prediction was compared with experimental data as shown in figure 2. it was found that the model was successful in capturing the correlation between the process parameters to the response with a correlation coefficient.the high adjusted determination coefficient (adj.r2 = 0.9913) verifies the model’s importance, and the comparatively low variation coefficient (cv = 0.32 %) suggests the good accuracy of the experimental data. a precision greater than 4 establishes the model’s adequacy by assessing the signal-to-noise ratio. the three-dimensional graphs of a second-order prediction model for the fame yield response are shown in figures 3 (a, b and c). as shown in figures 3 (a) and (b), the fame production improved significantly when the mole ratio of k2co3/glycerol was adjusted to its midpoint. this is consistent with the results shown in table 4 (the mole ratio of k2co3/glycerol has the highest calculated f-value and the lowest p-value). this is due to the fact that the quantity of salt supplied to glycerol has a substantial impact on the creation of hydrogen bonding, which can lead to improved des activity as a catalyst in the transesterification reaction. when the surplus mole ratio is utilized, it means that the amount of salt utilized was greater than the matching hydrogen bond donor, resulting in the precipitation of the additional salt that was unable to form hydrogen bonds with the hydrogen bond donor. fame yield increases as the concentration of the catalyst (des) increases, as seen in figure 3 (a) and (c). a low catalyst dose does not generate enough methoxide to achieve a high fame yield. while due to probable side reactions such as saponification, an excessive catalyst dose does not result in a high yield. as a result, the optimal concentration zone is depicted in figures 3 (a), (b) and (c). it is important to note that reaction time is a significant operating parameter because of its direct impact on the cost and quality of biodiesel. to obtain a complete reaction, sufficient but not excessive response time must be supplied. the optimal transesterification reaction time was determined to be between 30 and 120 minutes, as indicated in (b) and (c). in particular, after 75 minutes of response time, there is no discernible influence on yield. 3.3. optimization solution one of the main goals of the optimization process is to maximize fame yield. table 6 depicts several optimization solutions. as previously stated, the amount of time and catalyst concentration have a direct impact on the cost and quality of 5 abdurrahman et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1048 6 table 4. anova for selected factorial model source sum of squares df mean squares f value prob > f model 167.03 9 18.57 204.13 < 0.0001 significant a 69.74 1 69.74 766.80 < 0.0001 b 3.27 1 3.27 35.96 0.0005 c 1.53 1 1.53 16.79 0.0046 a2 74.78 1 74.78 822.27 < 0.0001 b2 3.40 1 3.40 37.34 0.0005 c2 7.21 1 7.21 79.22 <0.0001 ab 0.99 1 0.99 10.89 0.0131 ac 0.16 1 0.16 1.80 0.2212 bc 0.58 1 0.58 6.39 0.0393 residual 0.64 7 0.91 lack of fit 0.47 3 0.16 3.70 0.1195 not significant table 5. predicted and adjusted r-squared std. dev. 0.30 r-squared 0.9962 mean variation 94.98 adj r-squared 0.9913 coefficient (c.v.) 0.32 pred r-squared 0.9538 press 7.75 adeq precision 39.784 biodiesel. the mole ratio of k2co3/glycerol also has a significant impact on biodiesel production, therefore a mole ratio of 1:32.58, a concentration of 8.96 percent w/w of des, and a duration of 69.58 minutes are identified as the optimalreaction conditions. based on numerical optimization, as shown in table 6, the optimum fame yield of 98.2845 % is predicted to be attained at a 1:32.58 mole ratio of k2co3/glycerol, 8.96 % w/w concentration of des, and 69.58 minutes. experiments were conducted at the indicated optimal conditions, producing fame yields of 98.20 %, 98.20 %, 98.22 %, with an average value of 98.21 %, as shown in table 7. thus, the experimental and predicted value(s) are in good agreement. the relative error between the anticipated and real data is 0.0789 %, indicating that bbd and rsm successfully achieved the optimization of des-catalyzed biodiesel synthesis from jatrophacurcas oil. 3.4. effect of the effluent des as catalysts the ability to reuse a catalyst is considered vital to lowering biodiesel production costs. thus the catalytic performance of the des, utilized as a catalyst, is an essential metric to consider. the performance of reused des in the transesterification process is reported in table 8. the performance of the des as a catalyst changed significantly after it was reused. deactivation of the hydrogen bond in the des, inability to separate the des from the reaction effluent, and the existence of residual reaction mixture in des might have contributed to a decrease in the des catalytic strength. table 8 shows the fame yield(s) obtained from the initial (synthesized)des (98.22%), from the des obtained from the first run (71.98%), and the des obtained from the second run (53.24%).therefore, following the application of des in two cycles, the yield of fame decreased. (a) (b) (c) figure 3. plots of response surface of fame yield against reaction parameters: (a) k2co3-glycerol mole ratio and conc. of des interaction: (b) k2co3glycerol mole ratio and time: and (c) time and conc. of des interaction 3.5. properties of the biodiesel produced the produced biodiesel was subjected to analysis, to verify its properties. the properties were then compared to the expected standards (astmd6751), as shown in table 9. the biodiesel produced in this study has a viscosity of 4.27mm2/s, 6 abdurrahman et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1048 7 table 6. optimized parameter for the transesterification mole ratio of potasium carbonate/glycerol conc. of des(%w/w) time (min) yield of biodiesel (%w/w) desirability 34.96 8.63 84.67 98.1643 1.000 32.13 8.84 74.77 98.2353 1.000 33.79 9.20 103.67 98.3144 1.000 35.31 9.41 65.35 98.1606 1.000 34.22 8.69 103.56 98.1709 1.000 33.69 8.77 99.53 98.2959 1.000 34.69 8.84 80.65 98.3464 1.000 32.58 8.96 69.58 98.2845 1.000 35.66 8.81 95.63 98.2006 1.000 34.34 8.76 85.51 98.3365 1.000 table 7. optimized conditions and validation for transesterification process predicted optimal conditions and yield a(ratio) b (wt.%) c(min) yield (%w/w) 32.58 8.96 69.58 98.2845 actual experiments (validations) yield 1 (%w/w) yield 2 (%w/w) yield 3 (%w/w) average yield (%w/w) 98.20 98.20 98.22 98.207 predicted yield (%w/w) actual yield (%w/w) deviation 98.2845 98.207 ± 0.1% table 8. comparison of fame yield from the synthesized des and the reused des at optimized conditions s/no catalyst fame yield (%w/w) 1 des 98.22 2 des from run 1 71.98 3 des from run 2 53.24 which is within the astm biodiesel standard range [21]. this is relevant, considering that the atomization of the fuel being injected into an engine combustion chamber is affected by the viscosity of the fuel [42]. another crucial aspect for optimum engine performance is fuel density; the higher the density, the more difficult it is to pump the gasoline. the produced biodiesel has a density of 0.882g/cm3, which is also within the standard range [20]. another essential attribute of fuels is the cetane number, which is a measurement of a diesel’s combustion quality during compression ignition. engine performance, cold starting, warm up, and engine combustion roughness are all affected by the ignition quality, which is determined by the cetane number. the volatility of the fuel is related to the cetane rating, with higher ratings for more volatile fuels. if a high cetane fuel ignites too quickly, it may result in incomplete combustion and smoke; by not giving enough time for the fuel to combine with air for full combustion [42]. the synthesized biodiesel has a value of51.18 cetane number, which is within the acceptable range for use in diesel engines. the acid value, pour point, and cloud point of the jatropha oil biodiesel were all within astm d6751 specifications. despite the fact that astm does not specify a limit for biodiesel saponification value or iodine value, the attributes of the biodiesel generated are very similar to those reported in the literature [15]. gc-ms analysis reveals that the biodiesel produced contains 98.87% ester content and 1.13 % non-ester composition, as shown in table 10. this further confirms the quality of the biodiesel produced. 4. conclusion in the transesterification process to produce biodiesel from jatropha curcas oil, des (made from glycerol and k2co3) was utilized as a catalyst, in this study. the work shows that the des is a promising catalyst in the transesterification reaction, with a biodiesel yield of 98.22%, with ester content of 98.87 %. using response surface methodology (rsm) and box–behnken design (bbd) to investigate the primary reaction parameters, the mole ratio of k2co3/glycerol of 1:32.58, concentration of des of 8.96% w/w and time of 69.58 minutes served as the optimum conditions for the transesterification reaction. also, the study shows that after the third run of reusing the catalyst, a 53.24 % yield of biodiesel was obtained, which shows there is a certain (albeit low) level of reusability of catalyst. nevertheless, the study shows that the synthesized des is a promising catalyst in the transesterification reaction to produce biodiesel. acknowledgement the authors would like to express their gratitude to the administrations of ahmadu bello university, zaria, and university of abuja for their collaborative efforts and permission to publish this work. 7 abdurrahman et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1048 8 table 9. physical properties of jatropha oil biodiesel property produced biodiesel astmd6751 standard density at 400c (g/cm3) 0.882 0.86–0.90 viscosity at 400c (mm2/s) 4.27 1.6 –6.0 acid value (mg koh/g) 0.74 ≤ 0.8 cetane number 51.18 ≥ 47 pour point 0c -2 −15 to 16 cloud point 0c 10 −3.0 to 12 iodine value (mg i/100g oil) 104.133 —– saponification value (mg koh/g oil) 192.8 —– table 10. gc-ms of the produced biodiesel peak no name of the compound molecular formula retention time (min) peak area (%) 1 dodecanoic acid, methyl ester c13h26o2 24.408 0.03 2 methyl tetradecanoate c15h30o2 29.271 0.09 4 hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester c17h32o2 33.791 16.38 5 heptadecanoic acid, methyl ester c18h36o2 35.717 0.22 6 8,11-octadecadienoic acid, methyl c19h34o2 37.332 30.43 7 9-octadecenoic acid, methyl ester c19h36o2 37.479 22.44 8 methyl stearate c19h38o2 37.797 8.96 9 9,12-octadecadienoic acid, ethyl ester c20h36o2 38.392 0.08 10 oleic acid∗ c18h34o2 39.908 0.30 11 glycidyl palmitate c19h36o3 40.857 4.94 12 9-octadecenoic acid (z)-, 2,3dihydroxypropyl ester c21h40o4 43.125 2.72 13 glycidyl oleate c21h38o3 43.987 9.99 14 adipic acid, butyl 3-heptyl ester c22h42o4 44.154 0.85 15 6-octadecenoic acid, (z)∗ c18h34o2 44.571 0.50 16 docosanoic acid, methyl ester c23h46o2 44.721 0.21 17 tetracosanoic acid, methyl ester c25h50o2 47.856 1.52 22 2,2-dimethyl-3-(3,7,16,20tetramethyl-heneicosa-3,7,11,15,19pentaenyl)-oxirane∗ c29h48o 49.525 0.34 total composition 100 total non-ester content (*) 1.13 total ester content 98.87 * indicates non-ester compounds references [1] p. maheshwari, m. b. haider, m. yusuf, j. j. klemeš, a. bokhari, m. beg, a. al-othman, r. kumar, a. k. jaiswal, “a review on latest trends in cleaner biodiesel production: role of feedstock, production methods, and catalysts”, journal of cleaner production 355 (2022) 131588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131588. 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kedah, malaysia abstract fuzzy differential equation models are suitable where uncertainty exists for real-world phenomena. numerical techniques are used to provide an approximate solution to these models in the absence of an exact solution. however, existing studies that have developed numerical techniques for solving second-order fuzzy ordinary differential equations (fodes) possess an absolute error accuracy that could be improved. therefore, this article developed a more accurate higher derivative self-starting block scheme for the numerical solution of second-order fodes with fuzzy initial and boundary conditions imposed. linear block approach using taylor series expansion is adopted for the derivation of the proposed method and the basic properties are established using the definitions of stability and consistency for block methods. according to the numerical results, when compared to the exact solution in terms of absolute error, the new method proposed in this article outperformed existing numerical methods. it is thus concluded that the proposed method is effective for solving second-order fodes directly. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2023.1087 keywords: fuzzy initial value problem, fuzzy boundary value problem, second order, two-step, block method, linear, nonlinear article history : received: 24 september 2022 received in revised form: 20 january 2023 accepted for publication: 12 february 2023 published: 04 april 2023 © 2023 the author(s). published by the nigerian society of physical sciences under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and doi. communicated by: b. j. falaye 1. introduction second-order differential equations have many applications, especially in the field of engineering, biology, chemistry, electronics, physics, etc. unfortunately, unpredictable scenarios may be encountered which introduced the concept of uncertainty [1] and the application of fuzzy derivatives in fuzzy differential equations (fdes) to handle these situations [2]. there are three differentiations used to describe the differential or derivative of a fuzzy function. the first is the hukuhara derivative ∗corresponding author tel. no: +60 49286354 email address: adeyeye@uum.edu.my (oluwaseun adeyeye) (h-derivative), which was introduced in [3], the second is the seikkala derivative introduced in [4], and the third is the generalized derivative (g-derivative) introduced in [5]. this study focuses on the h-derivative in order to define the differential equations considered in this article, which follows the definition by the authors whose results were considered for comparison in the numerical examples with the newly developed block method. the second-order fode of the form given in the equation below is considered in this article, ŷ′′(x) = f (x, ŷ(x), ŷ′(x)),∀x ∈ [a, b] (1) 1 hussain et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1087 2 from equation 1, ŷ′′(x) = d 2 ŷ dt2 = f (x, ŷ(x), ŷ ′(x)) is a hderivative and ŷ is a fuzzy function of crisp variable x. since the function is fuzzy, there exist solutions known as lower and upper solutions because the parametric form of the α-level is given as ŷ ′′ (x,α) = f (x, ŷ(x,α), ŷ′(x,α)),∀α ∈ [0, 1], where f = min { f (x, ŷ(x,α), ŷ′(x,α)) } and f = max { f (x, ŷ(x,α), ŷ ′ (x,α)) } . the above types of problems in the parametric form of fuzzy function may be difficult to solve directly, and sometimes it is not possible to obtain exact solutions. as a result, researchers were interested in employing various numerical approaches to obtain an approximate solution for second-order fodes. several types of numerical methods developed by numerous researchers for second-order fodes with initial and boundary conditions include the homotopy analysis method in [6, 7], decomposition method [8], laplace and differential transformation method in [9, 10], least-square method [11], and rungekutta method in [12-14]. the biggest drawback of these approaches is the reduction of the second-order fodes to the system of first-order fodes, which leads to computational burden and also impacts solution accuracy. to bypass the rigor of reduction, block methods were introduced for the direct solution of second-order fodes in [15-17]. however, due to the order of the block methods developed by these studies, it is observed that there is still room to improve the accuracy of their obtained results in terms of absolute error. hence, the motivation of this study is to develop a new block method with the presence of two higher derivative terms with the aim of obtaining better accuracy. in comparison to existing methods, the newly developed method has the advantages of better accuracy, being self-starting, and incurring a low computational burden in the development and implementation of the block method. the following is how this article is structured: the essential definitions for fuzzy set theory are presented in section 2, and the construction of the two-step block method with third and fourth derivatives is presented in section 3 with the use of the linear block approach. section 4 highlights the block method’s properties, section 5 considers linear and nonlinear numerical examples, and section 6 concludes the article. 2. preliminaries this section recalls some definitions which will be adopted in this article. the section discusses basic definitions of triangular fuzzy numbers, trapezoidal fuzzy numbers, fuzzy set support, α-level set, and hukuhara differential. these concepts are required to establish the different parameters of the crisp theory’s uncertain behavior. these concepts play an important role when fuzzy differential equations model real-life situations. definition 1: triangular fuzzy number [18] consider three numbers (µ, v, w) ∈ r3,µ ≤ v ≤ w, then m(x) denotes the triangular fuzzy number given as: m(x,µ, v, w) =  0, x < µ x−µ v−µ , µ ≤ x ≤ v w−x w−v , v < x ≤ w 0, x > w (2) the corresponding α-level set is defined as mα = [ µ + α (v −µ) , w −α(w − v) ] ,α ∈ [0, 1]. (3) definition 2: trapezoidal fuzzy numbers [18] consider four numbers (µ, v, w,δ) ∈ r4,µ ≤ v ≤ w ≤ δ, then the trapezoidal fuzzy number m(x) is given as: m(x,µ, v, w,δ) =  0, x < µ x−µ v−µ , µ ≤ x < v 1, v ≤ x ≤ w w−x w−v , w < x ≤ δ 0, x > δ (4) the corresponding α-level set is defined as mα = [ µ + α (v −µ) ,δ−α(δ− w) ] ,α ∈ [0, 1]. (5) definition 3: fuzzy set support [18] a set â has fuzzy set support with x universal set defined as, s upp(â) = { x ∈ x|mâ(x) > 0 } (6) it contains all elements in x which have membership degree of fuzzy element greater than zero. definition 4: α-level set [18] consider that, m ∈ r f , the α-level set is defined as, mα = {x ∈ r|m(x) > 0} , α ∈ [0, 1]cl(suppm), α = 0 , (7) with its closed, bounded interval [m(x), m(x)]. m(x) and m(x) are lower and upper bound of mα respectively. definition 5: hukuhara differential [3] a function f : (u, v) → r f is called h-differentiable, if for h > 0 sufficiently small, then h-difference f (x) − f (x − h), f (x + h) − f (x) exists and ∃ an element f ′(x) ∈ r f such that, lim h→0 f (x) − f (x − h) h = lim h→0 f (x + h) − f (x) h = f ′(x). (8) then f ′(x) is called the h-derivative of f at x. 2 hussain et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1087 3 3. methodology given that the second-order fode defined in equation 1 be a mapping f : r f → r f and ŷ0 ∈ r f with α-level set ŷ0 ∈ (̂ y(0,α), ŷ(0,α) )α α ,α ∈ [0, 1]. the partition of the has the set of grid points 0 = x0 < x1 < x2 <,...,< xn = x with exact solution as ( ŷ (xn,α) )α α = ( ŷ (xn,α), ŷ (xn,α) )α α and approximation solution also denoted as (̂ y(xn,α) )α α = (̂ y(xn,α), ŷ(xn,α) )α α at which points, h = x−x0n , xn = x0 + nh, 0 ≤ n ≤ n. the two-step linear block method with the presence of third and fourth derivatives in second-order form is stated below as, (̂ yn+η )α α =  1∑ v=0 (ηh)v v! ŷ(v)n + 2∑ d=0  2∑ v=0 ψdvη f (d) n+v   α α ,η = 1, 2 (9) with the first derivative expression for the block method form given as (̂ y′n+η )α α = ̂y′n + 2∑ d=0  2∑ v=0 ωdvη f (d) n+v   α α ,η = 1, 2 (10) expanding equations 9 and 10 produces the expressions in equations 11, 12, 13, and , 14. (̂ yn+1 )α α =  ŷn + ĥy ′ n + [ψ001 fn + ψ011 fn+1 + ψ021 fn+2 +ψ101 f ′ n + ψ111 f ′ n+1 + ψ121 f ′ n+2 + ψ201 f ′′ n +ψ211 f ′′ n+1 + ψ221 f ′′ n+2]  α α (11) (̂ yn+2 )α α =  ŷn + 2ĥy ′ n + [ψ002 fn + ψ012 fn+1 + ψ022 fn+2 +ψ102 f ′ n+1 + ψ112 f ′ n+1 + ψ122 f ′ n+2 + ψ202 f ′′ n +ψ212 f ′′ n+1 + ψ222 f ′′ n+2]  α α (12) (̂ y ′ n+1 )α α =  ŷ′n + [ω001 fn + ω011 fn+1 + ω021 fn+2 + ω101 f ′ n +ω111 f ′ n+1 + ω121 f ′ n+2 + ω201 f ′′ n + ω211 f ′′ n+1 +ω221 f ′′ n+2]  α α (13) (̂ y ′ n+2 )α α =  ŷ′n + [ω002 fn + ω012 fn+1 + ω022 fn+2 + ω102 f ′ n +ω112 f ′ n+1 + ω122 f ′ n+2 + ω202 f ′′ n + ω212 f ′′ n+1 +ω222 f ′′ n+2]  α α (14) by applying taylor series expansions (̂ y(x + h; α) )α α =  n∑ i=0 hi i! f i(x; α) α α (15) which is given in [19] to expand each term in equations 11-14 yields (̂ yn+ j )α α = (̂ y(xn + jh; α) )α α =  n∑ i=0 ( jh)i i! f i(xn; α) α α , j = 0, 1, 2, (16) (̂ yn+ j )α α =  ŷ(xn; α) + jĥy ′(xn; α) + ( jh)2 2! ŷ′′(xn; α) + ( jh)3 3! ŷ′′′(xn; α) + .... + ( jh)n n! ŷn(xn; α)  α α . (17) after that, the unknown coefficients ψdvn and ωdvn are obtained from ψdvn = a−1 b and ωdvn = a−1 d, where a =  1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 h 2h 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 h 2 2! 22 h2 2! 0 h 2h 1 1 1 0 h 3 3! 23 h3 3! 0 h2 2! 22 h2 2! 0 h 2h 0 h 4 4! 24 h4 4! 0 h3 3! 23 h3 31 0 h2 2! 22 h2 2! 0 h 5 5! 25 h5 5! 0 h4 4! 24 h4 4! 0 h3 3! 23 h3 3! 0 h 6 6! 26 h6 6! 0 h5 5! 25 h5 5! 0 h4 4! 24 h4 4! 0 h 7 7! 27 h7 7! 0 h6 6! 26 h6 6! 0 h5 5! 25 h5 5! 0 h 8 8! 28 h8 8! 0 h7 7! 27 h7 7! 0 h6 61 26 h6 6!  α α , b = α (ηh)2 2! (ηh)3 3! (ηh)4 4! (ηh)5 5! (ηh)6 6! (ηh)7 7! (ηh)8 8! (ηh)9 9! (ηh)10 10!  α , d =  ηh (ηh)2 2! (ηh)3 3! (ηh)4 4! (ηh)5 5! (ηh)6 6! (ηh)7 7! (ηh)8 8! (ηh)9 9!  α α . therefore,  ψ001 ψ011 ψ021 ψ101 ψ111 ψ121 ψ201 ψ211 ψ221  α α =  19h2 60 h2 5 −h2 60 911h3 20160 −16h3 315 113h3 20160 53h4 20160 h4 80 −11h4 20160  ,  ψ002 ψ012 ψ022 ψ102 ψ112 ψ122 ψ202 ψ212 ψ222  α α =  76h2 105 128h2 105 2h2 35 34h3 315 −32h3 315 −2h3 315 2h4 315 16h4 315 0  ,  ω001 ω011 ω021 ω101 ω111 ω121 ω201 ω211 ω221  α α =  5669h 13440 64h 105 −42h 13440 303h2 4480 −1h2 8 47h2 4480 169h3 40320 8h3 315 −41h3 40320  ,  ω002 ω012 ω022 ω102 ω112 ω122 ω202 ω212 ω222  α α =  41h 105 128h 105 41h 105 2h2 35 0 −2h2 35 1h3 315 16h3 315 1h3 315  . the obtained values of the coefficients are substituted in equations 11-14 which is the required two-step block method 3 hussain et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1087 4 with the presence of third and fourth derivatives as given below.(̂ yn+1 )α α = ŷn + ĥy ′ n + h 2 [ 19 60 fn + 1 5 fn+1 − 1 60 fn+2 ] +h3 [ 911 20160 gn − 16 315 gn+1 + 113 20160 gn+2 ] +h4 [ 53 20160 mn + 1 80 mn+1 − 11 20160 mn+2 ] , (̂ yn+2 )α α = ŷn + 2ĥy ′ n + h 2 [ 76 105 fn + 128 105 fn+1 + 2 35 fn+2 ] +h3 [ 34 315 gn − 32 315 gn+1 − 2 315 gn+2 ] + h4 [ 2 315 mn + 16 315 mn+1 ] , (18) (̂ y′n+1 )α α = ŷ ′ n + h [ 5669 13440 fn + 64 105 fn+1 − 421 13440 fn+2 ] +h2 [ 303 4480 gn − 1 8 gn+1 + 47 4480 gn+2 ] +h3 [ 169 40320 mn + 8 315 mn+1 − 41 40320 mn+2 ] , (̂ y′n+2 )α α = ŷ ′ n + h [ 41 105 fn + 128 105 fn+1 + 41 105 fn+2 ] +h2 [ 2 35 gn − 2 35 gn+2 ] + h3 [ 1 315 mn + 16 315 mn+1 + 1 315 mn+2 ] (19) where g = d f (x,α)d x , m = d2 f (x,α) d x . the block method in equation 18 has corrector form,( a0ŷn+k )α α = ( a1ŷn−k )α α + h ( b1ŷ ′ n−k )α α + h2 ( c0 fn+k + c 1 fn−k )α α +h3 ( d0gn+k + d 1gn−k )α α + h4 ( e0 mn+k + e 1 mn−k )α α where, a0 = ( 1 0 0 1 )α α , a1 = ( 0 1 0 1 )α α , b1 = ( 0 1 0 2 )α α , c0 = ( 1 5 −1 60 128 105 2 35 )α α , c1 = ( 0 1960 0 76105 )α α , d0 = ( −16 315 113 20160 −32 315 −2 315 )α α , d1 = ( 0 91120160 0 34315 )α α , e0 = ( 1 80 −11 20160 16 315 −2 315 )α α , e1 = ( 0 5320160 0 2315 )α α , ŷn+k = (̂ yn+1 ŷn+2 )α α , ŷn−k = (̂ yn−1 ŷn )α α , ŷ′n−k = (̂ y′n−1 ŷ′n )α α , fn+k = ( fn+1 fn+2 )α α , fn−k = ( fn−1 fn )α α , gn+k = ( gn+1 gn+2 )α α gn−k = ( gn−1 gn )α α , mn+k = ( mn+1 mn+2 )α α , mn−k = ( mn−1 mn )α α . 4. properties of the proposed method this section will first mention the required definitions and theorems to investigate the properties of the developed two-step third-fourth derivative scheme, and thereafter apply these theorems and definitions to the method. 4.1. convergence and stability properties theorem 1: a block method is convergent iff it is consistent and zerostable. [22] proof the aim of the proof is to show that zero stability and consistency are necessary conditions for convergence. suppose that the block method defined in equation 9 is convergent, the first condition for zero-stability follows by considering equation 1 with a trivial solution ŷ(x) = 0. applying equation 9 to this problem yields the difference equation̂yn+η − 1∑ v=0 (ηh)v v! ŷ(v)n − 2∑ d=0  2∑ v=0 ψdvη f (d) n+v   α α ,η = 1, 2 (20) since the method is assumed to be convergent, for any x > 0, then lim h→0 nh→0 ŷn+η = 0 (21) for all solutions of equation 20 satisfying ŷs = ςs(h), s = 0, 1, ..., k − 1 where lim h→0 ŷs = 0 (22) let ψ = reiφ be a root of the first characteristic polynomial p(ψ) = 0, r ≥ 0, 0 ≤ φ ≤ 2π. it can be verified then that the numbers ŷn+η = hr n cos(nφ) (23) define a solution to equation 20 satisfying equation 22. if φ = 0, φ , π, then ŷn+η − ŷn − ŷ ′ n sin2φ = h2r2n (24) since the left-hand side of this identity converges to 0 as h → 0, n →∞, nh = x the same must be true of the right-hand side; therefore, lim n→∞ ( x n )∞ r2n = 0 (25) this implies that r ≤ 1. in other words, it is proven that any root of the first characteristic polynomial of (9) lies in the closed unit disc. note that any root of the first characteristic polynomial of equation 9 that lies on the unit circle must be simple. for the other condition, which is consistency, let us first show that c0 = 0. consider equation 1 with trivial solution, ŷ(x) = 1. applying equation 9 to this problem yields the difference equation equation 20. choose ŷs = 1, s = 0, 1, ..., k − 1. given that by hypothesis the method is convergent, it is deduced that lim h→0 ŷs = 1 (26) since in the present case ŷn is independent of the choice of h, equation 26 is equivalent to saying that lim h→∞ ŷn = 1, (27) 4 hussain et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1087 5 and passing to the limit n → ∞ in equation 20, it is deduced that αk + αk−1+, ..., +α0 = 0. (28) recalling the definition of c0, equation 28 is equivalent to c0 = 0 (i.e. p(1) = 0). to show that c1 = 0, consider equation 1 with trivial solution, ŷ(x) = x. applying equation 9 to this problem yields the difference equation in equation 20. for a convergent method every solution of equation 20 satisfying lim h→0 ςs(h) = 0, s = 0, 1, ..., k − 1 (29) where ŷs = ςs(h), s = 0, 1, ..., k − 1, must also satisfy lim h→0 ŷn+η = x. (30) since according to the previous theorem zero-stability is necessary for convergence, we may take it for granted that the first characteristic polynomial p(ψ) of the method does not have multiple roots on the unit circle |ψ| = 1, therefore p ′ (1) = kαk+, ..., +2α2 + α1 , 0. (31) let the sequence (xn) n n = 0 be defined by ŷn = knh, where k = ψdkη + ψd(k−1)η+, ..., +ψd2η + ψd1η + ψd0η kαk+, ..., +2α2 + α1 . (32) this sequence clearly satisfies equation 30 and is the solution of equation 20. furthermore, equation 31 implies that x = ŷ(x) = lim h→0 nh=x ŷn+η = lim h→0 nh=x knh = k x (33) c1 = (kαk+, ..., +2α2 + α1) −(ψdkη + ψd(k−1)η+, ..., +ψd2η + ψd1η + ψd0η) = 0. (34) equivalently, p ′ (1) = σ(1). thus, since the necessary conditions in terms of zero-stability and consistency is satisfied, so the block method is convergent. definition 6: consistency [20] a block method is consistent if it has order ρ ≥ 1. definition 7: zero-stability [20] a block method with matrix difference equation in the following form a0ŷn+k = a 1ŷn−k + b 1ŷ ′′ n−k + b 2ŷ ′′ n−k + · · · + b 1ŷ (m−1)n−k +hm ( c0ŷ mn+k + c 1ŷ mn−k )α α + h(m+1) ( d0ŷ (m+1)n+k + d 1ŷ (m+1)n−k )α α +h(m+2) ( e0ŷ (m+2)n+k + e 1ŷ (m+2)n−k )α α , (35) with ŷ an+k = (̂ yan+1, ŷ a n+2, ..., ŷ a n+k )t and ŷ an−k = (̂ yan1(k−1), ŷ a n−(k−2), ..., ŷ a n )t , is zero-stable if the first characteristic polynomial takes form p(ψ) = det(ψv a 0 − a1), (36) and the root of p(ψ) = 0 satisfy |ψv| ≤ 1, v = 1, ..., , k. definition 8: region of absolute stability [26] to obtain the polynomial for the absolute stability region of the block method. the expressions for the corrector take the form: det  −(w)k + a1 + q  k∑ j=0 b jwk− j  + q2  k∑ j=0 thec jwk− j  +q3  k∑ j=0 d jwk− j  + q4  k∑ j=0 e jwk− j    α α , q = λh. the absolute stability region is then obtained by plotting the polynomial roots using the boundary locus technique. if the obtained roots of the polynomial lie in the unit circle, then the block method is absolutely stable and its region is called the region of absolute stability. note that large absolute stability regions mean that large time-step size can be used during the implementation of the method to solve the differential equation [27-29]. definition 9: a-stable according to [20], a numerical method is said to be a-stable if its region of absolute stability contains the whole of the lefthand half-plane. definition 10: l-stable according to [20] a general linear multistep method is lstable if it is a-stable and, in addition, when applied to the scalar test equation ŷ ′ = λy, λ is a complex constant with reλ < 0, it yields ŷn+1 = r(hλ)̂yn, where, |r(hλ)|→ 0 as re(hλ) →∞. however, a clause is encountered as given in the following definition definition 11 according to [21] an a-stable linear multistep method cannot have an order greater than two. therefore, based on definition 8, the properties of a-stability and l-stability cannot be explored for the block methods developed in this article. this is because the block method developed have order greater than two. hence, the stability property with respect to choosing a stepsize value is limited to just absolute stability alone. although, much attention was not placed on choosing h-values from the stability region because the hvalues were chosen the same as the authors for comparison. these definitions for block methods in crisp form is adopted to the proposed method for fodes to prove the convergence properties for the proposed method in the next subsection. 4.2. convergence and stability analysis of proposed method order and error constant the linear operator associated with equation 9 is defined as: l(̂y(x), h) = ̂yn+η − 1∑ v=0 (ηh)v v! ŷ(v)n + 2∑ d=0  2∑ v=0 ψdvη f (d) n+v   α α , η = 1, 2, (37) 5 hussain et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1087 6 with l(̂y(x), h) = c0̂y(xn) + c1ĥy′(xn) + c2h2̂y′′(xn) + ... +cz+1h z+1̂yz+1(xn) + cz+2h z+2̂yz+2(xn)  α α . the method is said to be of order z if c0 = c1 = · · · = cz = cz+1 = 0, cz+2 , 0, and cz+2 is the error constant. following the approach by [28], the order of the two-step third-fourth derivatives block method with corrector equation 18 is nine with an error constant c11 = (3.8174e − 08, 7.617e − 08) t , and the order of the derivative part ten with an error constant c12 = (6.5076e − 08, −7.6349e − 09) t . the derivative formulae will be used to obtain the first derivative term in equation 1. expressing the corrector scheme 18 as blocks using previous definitions for the block methods. a simple iteration has been implemented to approximate the value of ŷn+1 and ŷn+2. in the code, we iterate the corrector to convergent and the convergence test employed, and the order of the correctors in nine [23] zero-stability applying above definition in fuzzy form for the proposed method gives p(ψ) = det(ψv a 0 − a1)αα, (38) p(ψ) = ∣∣∣∣∣∣ψv ( 1 0 0 1 ) − ( 0 1 0 1 )∣∣∣∣∣∣ α α . the root of p(ψ) = 0 satisfies the condition |ψv| ≤ 1, v = 1, 2. convergence the proposed method is convergent because it is zero stable and consistent. absolute stability region the polynomial of the proposed block method to plot its region of absolute stability is obtained as:  ∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣ ( w 0 0 w2 ) + ( 0 1 0 1 ) + q ( 0 1 0 2 ) +q2 [( 1w 5 1w2 60 128w 105 2w2 35 ) + ( 0 1960 0 76105 )] +q3 [( −16w 315 113w2 20160 −32w 315 −2w2 315 ) + ( 0 91120160 0 34315 )] +q4 [( 1w 80 −11w2 20160 16w 315 0 ) + ( 0 5320160 0 2315 )] ∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣  α α , (39) r(w) =   11q8 396900 − 37q7 88200 + 19q6 52920 + 44q5 4725 + 13q4 3600 − 2q3 35 − 9q2 35 + 1]w 3 + [ 43q 8 793800 + 53q7 52920 + 508327q6 33868800 − 31547q5 793800 − 35639q4 100800 − 44q3 45 − 20597q2 20160 − 2q − 1  w  α α the absolute stability region is thus plotted as shown in figure 1, which implies that large time-stepsizes can be utilised with the method. from figure 1, it is seen that for the absolute stability region, all the roots of polynomial lie on the unit circle. figure 1. absolute stability region of proposed method 5. results this section details the application of the developed block method for the solution of second-order (linear and nonlinear) fodes (fivps and fbvps) and the obtained results are compared with the exact solution and existing methods. comparisons between exact and approximate solutions are shown in tables and graphs. x−axis shows the value of the approximation solution, y−axis show the value of α-level values, ŷ, ŷ are the lower and upper bounds of the exact solution respectively, ŷ, ŷ are the lower and upper bounds of the approximate solution respectively, e = ∣∣∣∣ŷ − ŷ∣∣∣∣ computes the absolute error of the lower bound approximation, e = ∣∣∣∣∣ŷ − ŷ ∣∣∣∣∣ computes the absolute error of the upper bound approximation, h is the step size, tsbm: two-step block method with third and fourth derivatives, ebhdef: extended block hybrid backward differentiation formula [16], bdf: block differentiation formula [15], bbdf: block backward differentiation formula [15], oomb: optimization of one-step block method [17], rk5: runge kutta method order five [14], oham: optimal homotopy asymptotic method [7], fdm: finite difference method [30]. example 1. given the second-order linear fivp ŷ′′(x) = −̂y(x), ŷ(0,α) = 0, ŷ′(0,α) = (0.9 + 0.1α, 1.1 − 0.1α), with exact solution ŷ (x,α) = (0.9 + 0.1α) sin(x), ŷ (x,α) = (1.1 − 0.1α) sin(x), 6 hussain et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1087 7 table 1. lower and upper solution of example 1 α tsbm e ebhdef e bbdf e bdf e h = 0.1 h = 0.01 h = 0.01 h = 0.01 0 0.0000e+00 2.8094e-11 5.4048e-08 3.0991e-08 0.2 0.0000e+00 2.8719e-11 5.5249e-08 3.1647e-08 0.4 0.0000e+00 2.9343e-11 5.6450e-08 3.2335e-08 0.6 0.0000e+00 2.9966e-11 5.7651e-08 3.3023e-08 0.8 0.0000e+00 3.0592e-11 5.8853e-08 3.3711e-08 1 0.0000e+00 3.1216e-11 6.0054e-08 3.4399e-08 α tsbm e ebhdef e bbdf e bdf e h = 0.1 h = 0.01 h = 0.01 h = 0.01 0 1.1102e-16 3.4337e-11 5.4048e-08 3.7838e-08 0.2 1.1102e-16 3.3713e-11 5.5249e-08 3.7151e-08 0.4 1.1102e-16 3.3089e-11 5.6450e-08 3.6463e-08 0.6 0.0000e+00 3.2464e-11 5.7651e-08 3.5775e-08 0.8 0.0000e+00 3.1840e-11 6.1255e-08 3.5087e-08 1 0.0000e+00 3.1216e-11 6.0054e-08 3.4399e-08 figure 2. numerical solution of example 1 with lower/upper solution and at x = 1, ŷ (1,α) = [ y (1,α), y (1,α) ] , 0 ≤ α ≤ 1. the results obtained for example 1 are shown in table 1 and figure 2 displays the complete iterations graph with stepsize h = 0.1 and h = 0.01 partition of the time interval x ∈ [0, 1]. it is observed from table 1 that the approximate solution obtained by new proposed method in comparison to the exact solution in terms of absolute error is very impressive, as it give same results as the exact solution at certain points. the results are graphically shown in figure 2. in the figure the behaviour of the linear fivp solution is seen to monotonically increase as shown in the graph. this follows from the property that a function’s output will not appear more than once during the course of a monotonically rising interval. it is worth noting that y(x) rises in lockstep with x. the exact and approximate solutions are also compared using the graph and it shows the approximate solution completely overlapping the exact solution which indicates high accuracy of the proposed method. table 2. lower and upper solution of example 2 α tsbm e ebhdef e bbdf e bdf e h = 0.1 h = 0.01 h = 0.01 h = 0.01 0 6.661338e-16 9.8449e-14 2.4250e-10 1.5988e-10 0.2 3.663736e-15 3.4927e-13 5.7971e-10 3.9122e-10 0.4 1.532108e-14 9.7144e-13 1.2016e-09 3.7933e-09 0.6 5.129230e-14 2.2859e-12 2.2597e-09 2.6125e-09 0.8 1.498801e-13 6.4525e-12 3.9207e-09 6.6967e-08 1 3.850253e-13 4.7628e-12 6.3971e-09 1.1110e-08 α tsbm e ebhdef e bbdf e bdf e h = 0.1 h = 0.01 h = 0.01 h = 0.01 0 1.345191e-13 4.2267e-11 4.07084e-08 1.26440e-07 0.2 7.431833e-12 2.6623e-11 2.98235e-08 9.1889e-08 0.4 3.907541e-12 1.5982e-11 2.13238e-08 7.34552e-08 0.6 2.774669e-12 9.0485e-11 1.48046e-08 3.52946e-08 0.8 9.001688e-13 8.1274e-11 9.93257e-09 1.51728e-08 1 3.854694e-13 4.7628e-12 6.39707e-09 1.11097e-08 figure 3. numerical solution of example 2 with lower/upper solution example 2. given the second-order non-linear fivp ŷ′′(x) = −(̂y′(x))2, ŷ(0,α) = (α, 2 −α), ŷ′(0,α) = (1 + α, 3 −α), with exact solution ŷ (x,α) = ln((xα + x + 1)eα), ŷ (x,α) = ln((3x − xα + 1)eα−2), and at x = 1, ŷ (1,α) = [ y (1,α), y (1,α) ] , 0 ≤ α ≤ 1. the results obtained for example 2 are shown in table 2 and figure 3 displays the complete iterations graph with stepsize h = 0.1 and h = 0.01 partition of the time interval x ∈ [0, 1]. it is observed from table 2 that the approximate solution obtained by the new proposed method in comparison to the exact solution in terms of absolute error is very impressive. just as the previous example, the results graphically shown in figure 3 are monotonically increasing showing the behaviour of the nonlinear fivp. likewise, the approximate solution completely 7 hussain et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1087 8 table 3. lower and upper solution of example 3 α exact solution tsbm e ebhdef e h = 0.1 h = 0.1 0 -0.100004086851013030 1.94289e-16 4.131e-07 0.2 -0.080004095094799887 8.32667e-17 4.137e-07 0.4 -0.060004103338586523 1.59594e-16 4.141e-07 0.6 -0.040004111582373492 6.93889e-17 4.149e-07 0.8 -0.020004119826159905 2.56739e-16 4.149e-07 1 -0.000004128069946763 1.35559e-16 4.161e-07 α exact solution tsbm e ebhdef e h = 0.1 h = 0.1 0 0.100003908832573600 2.77555e-17 9.094e-03 0.2 0.080003917076360453 1.52655e-16 9.094e-03 0.4 0.060003925320147089 4.85722e-17 1.267e-01 0.6 0.040003933563933947 1.66533e-16 8.459e-02 0.8 0.020003941807720582 6.24500e-17 4.291e-02 1 -0.000004128069946763 1.35559e-16 4.161e-07 overlaps the exact solution which indicates high accuracy of the proposed method. example 3. given the second-order linear fbvp ŷ′′(x) + ŷ(x) + x = 0, ŷ(0,α) = ŷ(1,α) = (0.1α−0.1, 0.1−0.1α), with exact solution ŷ (x,α) = −x + (0.1α− 0.1) cos(x) + (1.13376 + 0.054630α) sin(x) ŷ (x,α) = −x + (0.1 − 0.1α) cos(x) + (1.24303 − 0.054630α) sin(x) and at x = 1, ŷ (1,α) = [ y (1,α), y (1,α) ] , 0 ≤ α ≤ 1. the results obtained for example 3 are shown in table 3 and figure 4 displays the complete iterations graph with stepsize h = 0.1 partition of the time interval x ∈ [0, 1]. from table 3 and the graph in figure 4, impressive monotonocally dereasing results are still observed. the absolute error accuracy is high compared with the existing ebhdef method and the overlapping behaviour of the approximate solution with the exact solution is evident. example 4. given the second-order non-linear fbvp ŷ′′(x) = − [̂y′(x)]2 ŷ(x) , x ∈ [0, 1], ŷ(0,α) = (0.9+0.1α, 1.1−0.1α), ŷ(1,α) = (0.9+0.1α, 2.1−0.1α), with exact solution ŷ (x,α) = √ 1.4 + 0.1α √ 0.1(9 + α)2 14 + α + 2x, ŷ (x,α) = √ 1.6 − 0.1α √ −0.1(−11 + α)2 −16 + α + 2x, figure 4. numerical solution of example 3 with lower/upper solution table 4. lower and upper solution of example 4 α tsbm e ebhdef e fdm e h = 0.1 h = 0.008 h = 0.008 0 0.000000e+00 0 0 0.2 4.4408920e-16 2.57e-06 9.27e-07 0.4 2.4424906e-15 2e-06 8.55e-07 0.6 1.5321077e-14 1.26e-06 5.92e-07 0.8 9.6207486e-12 5.88e-07 2.94e-07 1 0.000000e+00 0 0 α tsbm e ebhdef e fdm e h = 0.1 h = 0.1 h = 0.008 0 0.000000e+00 0 0 0.2 4.4408920e-16 2.05e-06 8.15e-07 0.4 8.8817841e-15 1.63e-06 7.65e-07 0.6 1.7763568e-15 1.03e-06 5.35e-07 0.8 1.3322676e-15 4.87e-07 2.67e-07 1 0.000000e+00 0 0 and at x = 1, ŷ (1,α) = [ y (1,α), y (1,α) ] , 0 ≤ α ≤ 1. the results obtained for example 4 are shown in table 4 and figure 5 displays the complete iterations graph with stepsize h = 0.1 and h = 0.008 partition of the time interval x ∈ [0, 1]. it is observed from table 4 that the approximate solution obtained by the new proposed method in comparison to the exact solution in terms of absolute error is very impressive as it give same results as the interval boundaries. the results are graphically shown in figure 5 and the behaviour of the nonlinear fbvp solution is seen to monotonically increase. the comparison of the exact and approximate solutions on the graph also shows high accuracy as the plots overlap. this indicates the high accuracy of the proposed method. in addition, the time in seconds required to compute the approximate solution of the numerical examples is given in the table below. the program code was written with matlab 2015a on a laptop with 8gb ram and intel core i5-3427u cpu. 8 hussain et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1087 9 figure 5. numerical solution of example 4 with lower/upper solution table 5. time taken to compute approximate solutions α example 1 example 2 example 3 example 4 time/sec time/sec time/sec time/sec 0 0.4767 2.0844 0.9204 0.4457 0.2 1.3682 1.9451 1.5024 0.4097 0.4 1.3742 2.0163 1.4550 0.4072 0.6 1.0563 1.9995 1.3675 0.3741 0.8 1.8364 2.1498 1.4603 0.3982 1 0.8937 2.0415 1.4031 0.3813 α example 1 example 2 example 3 example 4 time/sec time/sec time/sec time/sec 0 0.9037 2.2057 1.3941 0.3928 0.2 0.8487 2.0648 1.3404 0.3877 0.4 0.8703 2.7846 1.4259 0.4361 0.6 0.8650 2.1738 1.4331 0.2778 0.8 0.8650 1.9303 1.4310 0.3267 1 0.8937 2.0415 1.4031 0.3813 6. conclusion the major objective of this research to enhance the accuracy of the solution (in terms of absolute error) by developing a numerical technique for solving second order fodes (fivps and fbvps) directly. as a result, this article developed a twostep block method for second-order fodes with the presence of third and fourth derivatives. the proposed method outperforms other methods discovered in the literature as shown in the tables and graphs of the numerical results obtained. in addition, the method eliminates the requirement for complicated subroutines in conventional methods that require starting values or predictors. the proposed block method has proven to be a viable strategy with increased accuracy for solving both linear and nonlinear fivps and fbvps. the method developed using linear block approach with low computational complexity also satisfied all convergence conditions for the block methods. hence, the proposed method in this article is more suitable for obtaining the approximate solutions of second order fivps and fbvps. acknowledgments we thank the referees for 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general third order initial value problems of ordinary differential equations”, int. j. pure appl. math. 86 (2013) 365. http://dx.doi.org/10.12732/ijpam.v86i2.11 [29] j. o. kuboye & z. omar, “numerical solution of third order ordinary differential equations using a seven-step block method”, int. j. math. anal. 9 (2014) 743. http://dx.doi.org/10.12988/ijma.2015.5125 [30] a. f. jameel, a. saaban, & h. h. zureigat, “numerical solution of second-order fuzzy nonlinear two-point boundary value problems using combination of finite difference and newton’s methods”, neural. comput. appl. 30 (2018) 3167. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00521-017-2893-z 10 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1054 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences study of mhd swcnt-blood nanofluid flow in presence of viscous dissipation and radiation effects through porous medium m. ramanujaa,b,∗, j. kavithac, a. sudhakara, v. nagaradhikab adepartment of mathematics, marri laxman reddy institute of technology and management, dundigal, hyderabad – 500 043, india bdepartment of mathematics, gitam institute of technology and management, bangalore, karnataka – 561203, india cdepartment of mathematics d k, government college for women, spsr nellore-524003, india abstract in this analysis, a computational study is conducted to examine the two-dimensional flow of an incompressible mhd swcnt-blood nanofluid, saturated mass and porous medium .in addition to viscous dissipation, thermal radiation is taken into consideration. we developed the mathematical model and useful boundary intensity approximations to diminish the structure of partial differential equations based on the fluid for blood-based swcnt underflow assumptions. converted the partial differential equations by applying corresponding transformations to arrive at ode’s. the above results are solved numerically by the runge-kutta 4th order technique. noticed that there is desirable conformity when interpolated with the numerical one. the effects exhibited the velocity of swcnt-blood nanofluid enhanced for defined standards of the viscosity parameter. rise in temperature when various parameters like prandtl number, eckert number, and slip parameter are applied on swcnt-blood. the impact of fluid flow on blood-based swcnt is discussed graphically, and our results are tabulated along with illustrations. the design concepts, such as the nusselt quantity and the local skin friction, conform to the analytical approach. velocity reductions with an increase in cnt’s volume fraction, whereas enhancement in the blood temperature, is noted, which is directed to the rise in the heat mass transfer rates. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2023.1054 keywords: swcnt, blood, viscous dissipation, radiation, nusselt number, skin friction article history : received: 11 september 2022 received in revised form: 20 november 2022 accepted for publication: 28 november 2022 published: 14 january 2023 c© 2023 the author(s). published by the nigerian society of physical sciences under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and doi. communicated by: s. fadugba 1. introduction the study of non-newtonian fluids like water, mineral oil, and ethylene glycol was reported in many papers for more than a decade, and their applications could be found in industrial sectors such as chemical manufacturing, microelectronics, air ∗corresponding author tel. no: +91 9550754250 email address: mramanuja09@gmail.com (m. ramanuja) conditions, engineering, petroleum industry, paper production, aerodynamic heating, coating, and polymer processing, etc. a range of substances such as blood, mud, polymers, and paint depicts a non-newtonian fluid description. however, no single model in literature deals with multiple non-newtonian fluids. but the properties of these fluids are multiple in themselves because of their low thermal conductivity, which hampers their functions during heat exchangers. as a consequence, there may be a demand to expand its thermal conductivity. in contempo1 ramanuja et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1054 2 rary applications, due to commercial aspects, the flow involving casson nanofluid creates critical interest in present-day researchers. many substances in the actual field, like mud, malt, condensed milk, glues, sugar solution, emulsions, soaps, paints, etc., exhibit newtonian fluid properties. but the actual situation is to assemble a single constitutive equation that follows the defined casson nano -fluid’s properties. it also plays a vital function in nuclear physics within geographical flows. many researchers have identified different effects resting on casson nanofluid. salman et al. [1] developed a combination of viscous dissipation with radiation parameters. the cone angle has a significant result on heat transfer and fluid flow conduct within the porous medium. the consequences of viscous dissipation, holmic dissipation, thermal radiation, and mass exchange outcomes on uneven hydromagnetic boundary thickness float of a stretching plane were developed by anjali devi et al. [2]. abd el aziz [3] is interested in the impact of thermal radiation along with mixed heat and mass transfer on hydromagnetic with the flow over a porous stretching level. mhd float was scientifically clarified with radiation via a stretching sheet surrounded by a porous medium, as specified and examined by anjali et al. [4]. makinde et al. [5] have analyzed the chemical response results from the stretching surface in the existence of interior heat invention. the radiation and chemical response outcomes on the mhd boundary layer glide of a stretching surface were examined by seini et al. [6]. abdul et al. [7] have investigated, via a stretching flat surface, the effect of thermal radiation on mhd fluid flow. the pressure of thermal radiation on the mhd flow via the stretching surface was discussed by chen et al. [8]. further, raju et al. [9] concentrated on resting the movement of casson fluid through a slippery wedge and noticed a decrease in the increasing temperature area estimations of the eckert number. electrically directing casson liquid flow over an item that is neither a perfect level/vertical slanted/cone in the presence of a steady, attractive field is also a significant concern. sabetha et al. [10] determined the thermal radiation results on hydromagnetic free convection drift previously and impetuously began vertical plate. hiteesh [11] studied the absence of transverse magnetic discipline, the border layer regular drift and heat transfer of a viscous incompressible fluid resulting from stretching plate with viscous dissipation impact. the convection heat transfer side by way of a constantly shifting heated vertical plate, including suction or injection analyzed by al-sanea [12]. unsteady free convection and mass change glide over a limitless vertical permeable plate in the commentary of suction/injection are to come upon with learning about by takhar et al. [14]. the impact of suction /injection on unsteady free convection couette float and warmth switch of an active viscous fluid with vertical permeable plate is explained by jha et al. [16]. shamshuddin et al. [17] developed a particular cover of flow that isn’t dissipative, and in-depth graphical illustrations are offered for the fine of the magnetic subject parameter. further, shah et al. employed the dissimilar case of nanoparticles. additionally, entropy optimization with activation electricity and chemical response is also studied. the 2nd regulation of thermodynamics is utilized to discover the entropy technology in velocity. heat and mass switch of williamson nanofluid causes a magnetohydrodynamic perimeter layer to move with the flow across a stretched sheet explored by reddy et al. [19]. the magnetohydrodynamic (mhd) flow of casson nanofluid impact over an extended surface was developed by hayat et al. [20]. dawar et al.[22] investigated the mhd casson-nanofluid, carbon nanotube, and radioactive heat transfer revolving channels. ali et al. [21] studied the blood moves with the casson fluid below the influence of mhd magnetohydrodynamics in axis-symmetric cylindrical tubes. the mhd williamson fluid via a bent sheet and below the influence of non-thermal heat source or sink cnts is analyzed by kumar et al. [23]. c. sus [24] for the first time, nanofluids were proposed by elevating nanometer and sized particles interested in the bottom fluid. the (swcnts) single-walled carbon annotates own a better heat transfer assessment, and surface drag compels (mwcnts) multiwall carbon annotates described by haq et al. [25]. further, liu et al. [26] examined glycol, ethylene, and engine oil with the existence of mwcnts, and they concluded that cnts with ethylene glycol have an advanced thermal conductivity. recently, the approach of nanofluid precedent above a stretching sheet was obtained by needed and lee [27]. the boundary deposit flow of nanoparticles concluded a stretching/shrinking exterior had been examined by nadeem bejan [28]. further, hayat et al.[29] obtained the nonmaterial fluid flow in a circulating method. the nanofluid flow throughout the entropy generation considers the circular heat source, which is studied by nouri et al. [30]. das et al. [31] have analyzed the mhd flow of nanofluid through a porous medium. further, sheremet et al. [32] examined the identical fluid in the crimped cavity. the flow of nanofluid in an enlarged porous sheet is observed by alharbi et al. [33]. zueco[34] exploited a community simulation technique (nsm) to check the consequences of viscous dissipation and radiation on unsteady free convection mhd on a vertical porous plate. hamzeh et al. [45] aims to investigate the properties of heat transfer and magnetohydrodynamics casson nanofluid in the presence of a free convection boundary layer fluid flow on a stretching sheet using cnts in human water/blood as the base fluid. the unsteady separated stagnation-point flow of hybrid nanofluid with viscous dissipation and joule heating is investigated numerically in this examined by amira zainal et al. [46]. zainal et al. [47] have investigated viscous dissipation and mhd hybrid nanofluid flow towards an exponentially stretching/shrinking surface. taza et al. [48] have studied heat and mass transmission more conveniently, such as in hybrid-powered engines, pharmaceutical processes, microelectronics, domestic refrigerators, and engine cooling. aditya et al. [49] have been examined by considering buongiorno’s two-component non-homogeneous model with the inclusion of electrification of nanoparticles and viscous dissipation. adedire et al. [50] examined the concentration profiles in the single and the interconnected multiple-compartment systems with sievepartitions to transport chemical species with second-order chemical re2 ramanuja et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1054 3 action kinetics. ramanuja et al. [51] have examined casson nanofluid flow over a growing or contracting porous medium with different permeability and thermal radiation.[54] have obtained numerical experiments show that the methods compete favourably with existing processes and efficiently solve stiff and oscillatory problems. nanofluids are obtained by reacting oxides, metals, carbides, or carbon nanotubes (cnts) with nanoparticles. generally, in base fluids, nanoparticles are regularly floating, consisting of water, kerosene, ethylene glycol, and engine oil in some areas. cnts used inner nanofluids, which are available in two types in carbon nanotubes (swcnts), and colloidal deferment of nanoparticles in a base fluid is used to create these fluids. this model investigates the stagnation flow on swcnt and blood nanofluids of mhd fluid in the existence of a porous medium, viscous dissipation, and investigation under the impact of injection/suction in addition to thermal radiation parameters are studied and analyzed through this examination. numerical techniques solved the resulting equations. symbolic computational software such as matlab bvp4c solver is used. the effects are presented graphically. 2. formation of the problem the physical description of the problem is illustrated in fullydeveloped steady-mixed convection flow of human blood utilized as base fluid, and swcnt as the nanoparticles over a state, incompressible, laminar flow of swcnt-based nanofluids saturated with human blood is embedded in the medium porous surface that allows the liquid to enter or exit during progressive developments or constrictions. the porous plates are separated by distancea. one part of the cross-segment converse to separation by 2a (t)between the walls, which is to a great extent less than the channel’s width and length. a consistent segment of the flow field is shown in the cartesian coordinate system, which is chosen within such a manner as exposed in fig.1. one and the other channel partitions are perceived to have distinct permeability issues and expansion or convention are systematically at a dependents-time velocity v0which represents the uniform suction v0 > 0 and injection v0 < 0channel which is supposed to be infinite in the distance. because of their magnetic characteristics, these nanoparticles are considered. in the proposed issue, the casson liquid model is exposed to blood and swcnts nanoparticles which are scattered into it for upgraded heat move. the above assumptions portrays leading equations in support of the nanofluid flow by 2-dimensional boundary cover equations are assumed as a continuity equation, momentum equation, and the energy equations as mentioned by vijayalakshmi et al. [41]; bestman [42]; srinivas et al. [43] and radha krinshnama charya et al.[44]. ∂u ∂x + ∂v ∂y = 0 (1) figure 1. schematic of problem ∂u ∂t + u ∂u ∂x + v ∂u ∂y = µn f ρn f ( 1 + 1 β ) ( ∂2u ∂x2 + ∂2u ∂y2 ) − µn f φ ρn f k ( 1 + 1 β ) u − b20σn f µn f u ρn f − 1 ρn f ∂p ∂x (2) ∂v ∂t + u ∂v ∂x + v ∂v ∂y = µn f ρn f ( 1 + 1 β ) ( ∂2v ∂x2 + ∂2v ∂y2 ) − µn f φ ρn f k ( 1 + 1 β ) v − b20σn f µn f u ρn f − 1 ρn f ∂p ∂y (3) ∂t ∂t + u ∂t ∂x + v ∂t ∂y = kn f (ρcp )n f ( ∂2t ∂y2 ) − 1 (ρcp )n f ∂qr ∂y + µn f (ρcp )n f ( 1 + 1 β ) ( ∂u ∂y )2 + q′′′ (ρcp )n f + q0 (ρcp )n f (t − t0) (4) where uand v denote the velocity fundamental quantities, with the directions of x-axis andy-axis, pdenote the dimensional pressure t be the time,φ&k are the permeability and porosity of the permeable medium, φ (η) is the dimensionless concentration of the fluid, temperature t ,kn f denote the thermal conductivity of the nanofluid, β be the blood casson fluid parameter,ρn f be the efficient density of the nanofluid, the efficient dynamic viscosity of the nanofluid be µn f , (ρcp )n f denote the heat electrical condenser of the nanofluid, and vdenote the kinematic viscosity. the non-uniform heat absorbed by generation per unit volume q′′′is defined as: q′′′ = b(x0)m+1k vx0 [ f 1(η)a∗(t1 − t0) + b ∗(t − t0)] here a∗represents the velocity of heat transfer for the spacedependent and b∗ represents an exponentially decaying parameter of space and internal temperature-dependent heat absorption. where a0 = v0a−1 and a1 = v1a−1 are the wall permeability quantities;t0, t1are the temperature of the upper and lower 3 ramanuja et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1054 4 walls;twis the temperature taking place at the wall;t∞is the temperature of free stream fluid flow. the substantial effects of the such as nanofluid ρn f ,µn f , (ρcp)n f , and kn f are involved in the outcomes of the distance distribution on cnts are compensated for using spinning oblique nanotubes with a very large axial ratio and given as, which might be outlined. 2.1. mathematical model for the thermal physcial property of a nanofluid table 1 mathematical model for the thermal physical property of a nanofluid the viscosity, density, heat capacitance and the effective thermal conductivity of the nanofluid are defined as given by h.c. brikman [52] and r. i. hamilton et al. [53] respectively: where, nthe nanoparticle is shape factor , vn f = µn f ρn f ,φthe volume of the utility of nanoparticles,ρ f concentration of the base fluid, ρs-be the density of the nanoparticle, µ f -viscosity of the base fluid, (ρc p) f , (ρc p)sthe capacitance heat of the base fluid along with nanoparticle is a combination with solid nanoparticles, and k f ; ksthermal conductivities of the base fluid and nanoparticle correspondingly. the thermo-physical properties of changed base fluids and nano-particles are revealed in table 1. by introducing the complimentary flow utility, the same represents flow velocity components u and v can be written through conditions of the free flow function in flow. u = ∂ψ ∂y and v = − ∂ψ ∂x (5) partial differential equations that are non-linear and condensed addicted to non-linear ode’s deliberated for that purpose the stream function whereψ = ψ(x, y)routinely satisfy continuity equation, indicates stream function appropriate to mass conservation and f (η) is dimensionless flow function. u = xva−2 fn(η, t), v = −va −1 f(η, t) ; ψ = xvf(η, t)/a (6) here η = ya , fn = ∂f ∂η the governing equations (2) are based on these assumptions are given by vijayalakshmi et al. [41]: ∂u ∂t = µn f ρn f ( 1 + 1 β ) ∂2u ∂y2 − µn f φ ρn f k ( 1 + 1 β ) u − b20σn f µn f u ρn f − 1 ρn f ∂p ∂x (7) usage of the irradiative heat flux is basic in rosseland’s estimate for radiation brewster [39], and the thermal flux is defined as: qr = − 4σ∗ 3k∗ ∂t 4 ∂y (8) here and k∗ be the “absorption specific” coefficient, σ∗be the stefan-boltzmann constant. we had been constrained that the temperature variations contained by using the glide are satisfactorily slighter such that the term t 4strength is stated as a direct function of temperature. this is consummated by increasing t 4 in taylor’s sequence about t∞ and ignoring higher-order expressions, thus assuming a small temperature difference in flow given below: t 4 � 4t 3∞t − 3t 4 ∞ (9) using eqs(9) and eqs(8) becomes ∂qr ∂y = −16σ∗t 3∞ 3k∗ ∂2t ∂y2 (10) under these assumptions, the leading equations are given by vijayalakshmi et al. [41]; bestman [42]; srinivas et al. [43] ∂t ∂t = kn f (ρcp )n f ( ∂2t ∂y2 ) + 1 (ρcp )n f  16σ∗t 313k∗ ∂ 2t ∂y2  + µn f (ρcp )n f ( 1 + 1 β ) ( ∂u ∂y )2 + q′′′ (ρcp )n f + q0 (ρcp )n f (t − t0) (11) the temperature of the nanofluid in the channel can be calculated as follows: tw = t∞ + b ( x a )m1 θ(η) (12) the dimensionless form of temperature from eq. (12) where θdimensionless temperature function, ηsimilarity variable, m1 denote the index power-law of the temperature and b is the constant of the fluid. the pressure gradient of the kind by vijayalakshmi et al. [41]; bestman [42]; srinivas et al. [43] and radhakrinshnama charya et al. [44] is thought to generate the pulsatile flow. a(1 + ceiwt) = − 1 ρn f ∂p ∂x (13) by inserting the dimensionless variables and parameters listed below: x = x h , y = y a , t = ωt ′ , p = p aρn f h u = ωu ′ a ,θ(η) = t − t0 t1 − t0 (14) at this moment, we eliminate pressure commencing from equations(12) using (13) and (14) with reference from vijayalakshmi et al. [41] the following is obtained; (1 + ceiωt) = − ∂p ∂x (15) a2 a1r (1 + 1 β ) ∂2u ∂y2 − 1 a1 ∂p ∂x − 1 a1 ( a5 m 2 + a2 da ) u − ∂u ∂t = 0 (16) eqs(12) using (14) (15) eqs becomes:( a4 a3 + 4 3a3 rd ) 1 r pr θ ′′ + a2 a3 eca∗ r ( ∂u ∂y )2 + b∗qh a3r θ− ( ∂θ ∂t ) = 0 (17) 4 ramanuja et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1054 5 table 1. mathematical model for the thermal physical property of a nanofluid physical quantity mathematical model influential dynamic viscosity of the nanofluid µn f = µ f (1 −φ) −2.5 the influential density of the nanofluids ρn f = φps + (1 −φ)p f the heat capacitance of nanofluid (ρcp)n f = φ (ρcp)s + (1 −φ)(ρcp) f thermal conductivity of sphericalnanoparticles approximated kn f = k f [ 2k f +ks−2φ(k f −ks ) 2k f +ks +φ(k f −ks ) ] the electrical conductivity σn f = σ f [ 1 + 3(σ−1)(σ+2)−(σ−1)ϕ ] using the following dimensionless similarity variables, where darcy parameter, the frequency parameter, eckert number, prandtl number, heat source parameter, radiation parameter. da = k a2 , r = ωh2 v f , ec = a2 (c p) f ω2(t1 − t0) pr = (pc p) f vn f k f , qh = q0a2 (ρc f ) f v f , a1 = φ ρs ρ f + (1 −φ) , a2 = (1 −φ) 2.5 , a3 = φ (ρcp)s (ρcp) f (1 −φ), rd = 4t 31 σ ∗ k f k∗ a4 = [ 2k f + ks − 2φ(k f − ks) 2k f + ks + φ(k f − ks) ] a5 = 1 + 3 ( σs σ f − 1 ) φ( 2 + σs σ f ) + ( − σs σ f + 1 ) ϕ  (18) the corresponding boundary conditions are: f (1) = 1, f (−1) = 1, f ′ (1) = 0, and f ′ (−1) = 0. (19) θ(−1) = 1,θ(1) = 0, i f θ(0) = 1 + δθ′(0) (20) it was once initiated that there is an appropriate settlement between analytical and numerical solutions. dimensionless shear stress at the partitions is described as heat transfer. the pace of the partitions is a prerequisite for nusselt quantity non-dimensional, which is characterized by hatami et al. [40] τ = x(1 −φ)−2.5 r ( f ′′(η) ) η=−1,1 (21) nux = − kn f k f ∂t ∂η /(t1 − t0) = −φ2θ(η)η = −1, 1 c f = 2µn f ρ f (uw (x)) ( ∂u ∂y ) y=0 = −φ2θ(η)η = −1, 1 qw = −kn f ∂t ∂y /y = 0 3. results and discussion we investigated in this study the combined property of thermal radiation, heat generation, and viscous dissipation resting on the swcnt and blood nanofluid flow modal that incorporates nanoparticle volume fraction. within the numerical computation, the properties of the blood and swcnt are utilized (reference table 2). the consistency and accuracy of our accurate solutions and numerical trials of the significant parameters are highlighted through graphs in this section. the governing equation (15) and (16) through the boundary conditions (18) and (19) were worked out by employing the rungekutta strategy through the shooting method (matlab solver, bvp4c package software). to achieve these results, mathematical computations are exposed by making an allowance for a distinct norm of non-dimensional governing parameters. the impacts of governing substantial parameters are explored in detail. specifically; eckert number(ec), magnetic parameter (m), nanoparticle volume parameter(φ), heat generation parameter (qh ), prandtl number (pr), darcy number (da), casson parameter (β), and a∗, b∗ are velocities of heat transfer for the spacedependent; with the following assigned values to the respective parameters: \ m = 2, a = 0.5, b = 0.1, m1 = 0.2, r = 2, da = 0.5, qh = 0.1, a ∗ = 0.2, b∗ = 0.2, nr = 0.5, ec = 0.2 through figure 2, the result ofa∗on the temperature distribution θ(ς) is illustrated and from this, we conclude that a∗ starts declining against the temperature profile which is being enlarged after a certain range. it is observed from figure 3 that the impact of b∗on temperature profile θ(ς) decreases. after these factors, the speed profiles are accelerated. it can be seen from figure 4 the difference of eckert number (ec) through the temperature profile. the incidence of eckert number in casson nanofluids enhances the development of thermal vitality, which results in the advance with temperature distributions and in consequence of thermal deposit thickness. the result of the undeniable viscosity of nanofluids supplies vitality from the waft because of the rise in heat electricity through frictional heating and transforms it into interior electricity. variations of various heat-generating parameter values are dependent on the temperature; the profile is revealed in figure.5. when qh grows positively, heat production takes up residence in the thermal limit layer. the casson nanofluid thermal electricity improves due to a large amount of heat. this process raises the thickness of the thermal boundary layer, implying that 5 ramanuja et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1054 6 figure 2. impact ofa∗onθ(ς) figure 3. impact ofb∗on θ(ς) warmness strength is activated and, as a result, the temperature of the fluid rises. the impression of the thermal slip parameter δon the temperature profile and the velocity profile is depicted through figure 6. we observed that the thermal slip parameter leads to increases in the temperature distribution and the thermal boundary layer thickness; besides, this outmost impact is noticed at the outside of the channel. figure 7 shows the impact of the slip parameter on the rate of casson nanofluid. we noticed that the slip parameter δ at a certain point the velocity of the casson fluid enhanced. figure 8 depicts the effect of da on velocity profiles of casson nanofluid, and it is observed that velocity accelerates with rising values of darcy number. the impact of attractive boundary m on velocity and temperature profiles is shown through figure 9 and figure 10. from this, we noticed that the velocfigure 4. impact ofecon θ(ς) figure 5. impact of qh on θ(ς) figure 6. impact of δ on θ(ς) 6 ramanuja et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1054 7 figure 7. impact ofδ on f ′(ζ) figure 8. impact ofdaon f ′(ζ) ity profiles decline for swcnt with rising values of m resulting thickness of the boundary layer is reduced at a faster rate. physically, the lorentz energy, which opposes movement, occurs due to the used transverse magnetic flow and is responsible for reducing fluid velocity. besides, as the temperature profiles are improved, the temperate limit layer thickness expands. the impact of blood parameters β on the velocity and temperature distributions is shown in figure 11 and figure 12; it is noticed that for the increasing value ofβ, the velocity profile decreases for swcnt. it is because of blood with β will increase the plasticity of blood fluid expands with motive the deceleration in velocity. it’s due to the blood’s malleability, when β decreases, the flexibility of the fluid increases, causing the pace to slow down. in addition, the temperature profile of the flow escalates for increasing values of m. in figure 13, the impact of volume fraction φon the temperature profile for human blood-based nanofluid with swcnt is displayed; it is noticed that for both human blood flow and swcnt, as the φ rises, the temperature of the nano-fluid also increases. it is additionally referred to as those changes in φ infigure 9. impact of m on f ′(ζ) figure 10. impact of m on θ(ς) dicating the adjustments in temperature after which shows the significance of nanofluid. the impact of a on velocity and temperature profiles are portrayed through figure 14 and figure 15; it is noticed that the temperature profile θ(ς)escalates and the velocity profile f ′(ζ) decelerates with the impact ofa. in figure 16, the outcomes of the m1 on the temperature profile are displayed; the temperature of the nanofluid decreases to swcnt with increasing value of m1, which leads to a decline in velocity boundary deposit thickness. 3.1. physical properties of base fluid and nano-particles thermo substantial properties regarding the base fluid and nanoparticles of carrier fluid human blood and swcnt nanoparticles are given below table 2 3.2. skin friction and nusselt number for the cases of unsteady contraction/expansion from table 3 it is seen that the coefficients of space with temperature-dependent a∗and b∗with relatively high-temperature 7 ramanuja et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1054 8 table 2. physical properties of base fluid & nanoparticles (blood and swcnt) physical properties solid nanoparticles swcnt base fluid blood cp(j/kg k) 425 3617 κ(w/m k) 6600 0.52 ρ (kg/m3) 2600 1050 figure 11. impact of β on f ′(ζ) figure 12. impact ofβon θ(ς) source/sink, the skin friction coefficient stable in nature whereas the nuselt number will be enhanced. with the improved values of da, both skin friction and nusullt number decrease. the enhanced values βreduce skin friction on velocity, in addition, to enhancing the heat transfer moderately. the pores of skin friction remain stable, convenient and incomplete gradual reduction inside heat transfer velocity used with increasing values ofnr &qh . in this case of m, friction (c f )and nusselts numfigure 13. impact of φon θ(ς) figure 14. impact of a on f ′(ζ) ber decrease. for the effect of the parameters ec, φ anda, both the values of skin friction, nusselts number declines, whereas form1, both skin friction and nusselt number increases. 3.3. skin friction and nusselt number for steady contraction situation in the above table 4, we can see that the enhanced values of a∗as well as b∗have no impact resting on skin friction, although these values concentrated the heat transfer velocity. the skin friction values for the variations in daremained constant whereas local nusselt number values will be increasing. the enhanced values of β covers the oscillatory nature for pores 8 ramanuja et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1054 9 table 3. the impact of various parameters on skin friction ( c f ) and nusselt number (nux)for the cases of unsteady contraction/expansion a∗ b∗ da β nr qh m ec δ φ a m1 c f nux 0.0 19.471388 3.193296 0.2 19.471388 3.290621 0.4 19.471388 3.387946 0.0 19.471388 3.015712 0.2 19.471388 3.290621 0.4 19.471388 3.646890 0.001 66.175569 3.259443 0.05 24.559828 3.307261 0.1 21.627181 3.298364 0.1 19.471388 3.290621 0.3 8.683747 3.562513 0.5 6.435490 3.624260 0.5 19.471388 3290621 1.0 19.471388 5.542735 1.5 19.471388 7.858197 -0.1 19.471388 3.015712 0.0 19.471388 3.144902 0.1 19.471388 3.290621 1 19.246748 3.292558 10 21.302554 3.274551 20 23.677717 3.252965 0.1 19.471388 3.516654 0.2 19.471388 3.290621 0.3 19.471388 3.064588 -0.2 8.072545 3.021844 0.0 11423853 3.118250 0.2 19.471388 3.290621 0.1 19.471388 3.290621 0.3 35.873231 8.780344 0.5 19.180772 27.79143 0.1 34.402685 4.064004 0.3 27.006243 3.661321 0.5 18.710125 3.254065 0.0 19.471388 3.267488 1.0 19.471388 3.401005 2.0 19.471388 3.579480 and skin friction although there is an insignificant variation for heat transfer rate. influence of mis not affecting skin friction whereas heat transfer velocity is decreased for the same m values. there is an oscillatory characteristic in pores and skin friction and a fast increased within the heat transfer velocity which is meant for rising values ofa. raising values of the slip parameter φescalate the both skin friction and nusselt number. for the influence ofm1, the skin friction values remain constant and the local nusselt number decrease. 4. validation similarly, table 4 is organized to explain nu at the employing the runge-kutta strategy through the shooting method estimated for different values of relevant model variables for both swcnts and mwcnts nano fluids. from table 3 and table 4, it can be observed that the weight of rate of heat transport accelerates for a high magnitude of both φ and pr and declines for a higher value of the eckert number(ec). eckert number (ec) is related to the dissipation term, and the more considerable importance of eckert number (ec) enhances the thermal field. therefore, the opposite result for the higher significance of the eckert number (ec) verses nu is perceived table 5 5. conclusion in this article, the stagnation flow on swcnt and blood nanofluids of mhd fluid in the existence of a porous medium, viscous dissipation, and injection/suction in addition to thermal radiation parameters are studied and analyzed through this examination. the resulting equations were solved by numerical techniques. the tables and graph values for the tempera9 ramanuja et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1054 10 table 4. the impact of various parameters on skin friction ( c f ) and nusselt number (nux)for steady contraction situation a∗ b∗ da β nr qh m ec δ φ a m1 c f nux 0.0 19.997073 2.555168 0.2 19.997073 2.647360 0.4 19.997073 2.739552 0.0 19.997073 2.462266 0.2 19.997073 2.647360 0.4 19.997073 2.880635 0.001 68.577628 2.542118 0.05 25.222523 2.654748 0.1 22.208947 2.651121 0.1 19.997073 2.647360 0.3 9.274754 2.907525 0.5 7.085115 2.970431 0.5 19.997073 2.647360 1.0 19.997073 4.751474 1.5 19.997073 6.972890 -0.1 19.997073 2.462266 0.0 19.997073 2.549819 0.1 19.997073 2.647360 1 19.769175 2.649027 10 21.854765 2.633497 20 24.264288 2.614779 0.1 19.997073 2.860118 0.2 19.997073 2.647360 0.3 19.997073 2.434603 0.2 8.119202 2.475313 0.0 11.560063 2.542268 0.2 19.997073 2.647360 0.1 19.997073 2.647360 0.3 36.522610 6.779180 0.5 91.966641 20.72406 0.1 35.32447 3.026218 0.3 27.732563 2.846351 0.5 19.215453 2.625739 0.0 19.997073 2.765707 1.0 19.997073 2.328076 2.0 19.997073 2.100096 table 5. the numerical values of the nusselt number −φ ′ (1) pr ec φ −φ ′ (1) swcnts mwcnts 20 1.5 0.01 0.067257 0.201779 21 0.107184 0.254538 22 0.127169 0.307473 20 1.6 0.067655 0.202565 1.6 0.068047 0.203369 1.5 0.02 0.246742 0.517264 0.03 0.427643 0.835802 ture field, skin-friction coefficient, velocity profiles, local nusselt number with the effects of parameters magnetic enclosure thermal radiation, thermophoresis, prandtl number, permeability parameter, and eckert number are exposed and obtained. the numerous observations of the current examined about the following conclusions. 1. human blood as well as the base fluid is drastically utilised first time to attain the solution for casson nano-fluids. it’s extremely noticed that rate decreases with increasing cnt quantity portion, and advances in cnt quantity division will increase the blood temperature, which affects in and gives an improvement to the heat transfer velocity. 2. the velocity expressed increases through increasing the velocity fraction parameter about the temperature and concentration profiles are decreased and increased bya. 3. an increase of the swcnt solid φquantity section and eckert quantity yields an addition with nano-fluids tem10 ramanuja et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1054 11 figure 15. impact of a on θ(ς) figure 16. iimpact of m1 on θ(ς) perature, leading to the direction of sudden radiation in the heat transfer rates. 4. increasing values of the slip parameterδreduces the pace subject. the concept of base fluid provides parameter enhancement in the temperature. 5. the viscous dissipation affects the flow within the temperature profile and decreases with the insignificant value of the (pr)prandtl quantity. 6. an eckert number (ec)shows a small effect c f decreased but nux has increased with the enlargement of the (ec) eckert number. the temperature distribution θ(η) is increased as the eckert number (ec) and radiation parameter increase. 7. the thermal radiation, heat generation/absorption, and permeability parameters throughout decreases with advancement in prenatal number, the unsteadiness, the suction, and the magnetic parameter. 8. as an essential position in dissipating heat the temperature of the fluid decreases through enhancement with nanoparticle quantity section for swcnt as a result of elevated thermal conductivity. an expansion in the swcnt’s quantity suction increases the casson-nanofluid temperature, which affects inflation in the heat transfer 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[54] m. kida, s. adam, o. o. aduroja & t. p. pantuvo, “numerical solution of stiff and oscillatory problems using third derivative trigonometrically fitted block method”,.j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 34. appendix u & v fluid flow velocity µ dynamic viscosity ρ density of the fluid ρs be the density of the nanoparticle, p dimensional pressure β blood casson fluid parameter kn f thermal conductivity µ f viscosity of the base fluid k f ; ks thermal conductivities 12 ramanuja et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1054 13 ρn f efficient density of the nanofluid (ρcp )n f heat electrical condenser of the nanofluid v kinematic viscosity k f ; ks thermal conductivities t fluid temperature k porous permeability r radiation da darcy number λ1 jeffrey parameter θ dimensionless temperature 13 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1116 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences analysis of the bioactive compounds from carica papaya in the management of psoriasis using computational techniques misbaudeen abdul-hammed∗, ibrahim olaide adedotun, tolulope irapada afolabi, ubeydat temitope ismail, praise toluwalase akande, balqees funmilayo issa computational and biophysical chemistry laboratory, department of pure and applied chemistry, ladoke akintola university of technology, p.m.b. 4000, ogbomoso, nigeria abstract psoriasis is a persistent and mysterious autoimmune skin condition that affects 2-3% of the world’s population. currently, topical therapies, light therapy, and systemic drugs are the three main forms of treatment used to lessen inflammation and skin irritation/itching. however, all these treatments are only used to manage the disease each time it surfaces. therefore, the main target of this work is to search for a safer and more effective remedy for psoriasis from the reservoir of phytochemicals present in carica papaya via in silico studies due to its anti-psoriatic and anti-inflammatory properties. reported phytochemicals isolated from carica papaya were subjected to computational simulations using the pyrx docking tool and were docked against janus kinase 1 (jak1) and tumor necrosis factor α (tnfα) target receptors. the results obtained were visualized using pymol, and biovia 2019. analysis of the results identified both chlorogenic acid and coumaroylquinic-acid with docking scores (-8.6 kcal/mol and -7.9 kcal/mol) respectively as potential inhibitors for the jak1 receptor. the identified compounds also possessed excellent admet, drug-likeness, bioactivity, and activity spectra for substances (pass) prediction properties. their binding mode and the molecular interactions with the targets also affirmed their potency. in comparison with the standards (methotrexate and cyclosporine), chlorogenic acid and coumaroylquinic-acid have better admet properties, binding affinities, drug-likeness, pass properties, bioactivities, oral bioavailability, binding mechanism, and interactions with the active site of the target receptor and are hereby recommended for further analysis towards the development of a new therapeutic agent for psoriasis treatment and management. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2023.1116 keywords: psoriasis, carica papaya, molecular docking, anti-inflammatory, skin disorder article history : received: 12 october 2022 received in revised form: 26 december 2022 accepted for publication: 05 january 2023 published: 27 february 2023 © 2023 the author(s). published by the nigerian society of physical sciences under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and doi. communicated by: k. sakthipandi 1. introduction psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory noncontagious autoimmune skin condition that results in a rash with itchy, burning, ∗corresponding author tel. no: +234 8069151819 email address: mabdul-hammed@lautech.edu.ng (misbaudeen abdul-hammed) and scaly patches [1]. this disease is common on the skin of the scalp, knees, elbows, lumbosacral regions, and trunks and may appear anywhere on the body’s skin [2]. psoriasis affects 2 to 3% of the world population of any age, skin color, and sex but is more prevalent in adults than children. the condition often starts to manifest around the age of 20. psoriatic arthritis affects 10 to 15% of the population and about 7 mil1 abdul-hammed et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1116 2 lion americans (2%–3% of the population) suffer from psoriasis. each year, between 150,000 and 260,000 new cases are diagnosed [3]. some conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes tend to increase the risk of developing psoriasis [4], while several conditions are linked to psoriasis which includes cardiovascular disease, severe depression, and lymphoma [5, 6]. chronic interactions between invading, activated immune cells and hyperproliferative keratinocytes cause it to occur, which depend heavily on the immune system. psoriatic lesions have high levels of t cells, especially th1 and th17 [7], while dendritic cells that produce tnf and inos also heavily infiltrate psoriatic skin and polarize t cells to the th1 and th17 subtypes [8]. psoriasis can be in minor patches or complete body coverage depending on the degree of severity and type. the degree of severity of psoriasis depends on environmental exposure and family history [9]. as the rate of occurrence of psoriasis is between 2 to 4% of the world’s population, researchers are on the verge of seeking permanent treatments for the disease. the treatment presently available for psoriasis is only used to manage the disease, which are; topical medications, these are often used to treat mild to moderate psoriasis. they include the use of topical corticosteroids, vitamin d analogs, anthralin, retinoids, and calcineurin inhibitors. the skin thins due to the abuse of corticosteroids. anthralin and vitamin d analogs (calcipotriene and calcitriol) slow the development of skin cells, get rid of scales, and smooth the skin. along with other therapies, these analogs relieve mild to severe psoriasis, but they also irritate the skin. similar to topical retinoids, which may reduce inflammation but irritate skin and heighten sensitivity to sunlight. additionally, oral retinoids increase the risk of birth abnormalities and are not advised for use by women who are pregnant or nursing. tacrolimus and pimecrolimus are two calcineurin inhibitors that similarly lessen inflammation and plaque buildup, but they also come with a higher risk of skin cancer [10]. phototherapy (ultraviolet light) which uses uv can lead to thinning of the skin on exposure. although skin cell turnover is slowed by uv exposure, which also lessens scaling and irritation, also small quantities of sunshine each day may help with psoriasis, prolonged contact with the sun can exacerbate the condition and harm the skin [11]. systemic treatments (retinoids, methotrexate, cyclosporine, acitretin, hydroxyurea, fumarates) are used to treat patients with severe psoriasis, but they come with serious side effects. retinoids may result in hair loss and lip irritation. methotrexate treats psoriasis by reducing the growth of skin cells and reducing inflammation, but it can also make you tired and upset your stomach. methotrexate can harm the liver over time and reduce the synthesis of platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells. cyclosporine has comparable immunosuppressive effects as methotrexate, but it should only be used temporarily due to the danger of infection, cancer, renal issues, and high blood pressure when taken at large dosages or ongoing treatment [12]. each time the disease manifests, all of these therapies are solely employed to control it [13]. so, to effectively treat psoriasis, new and safer chemical agents are thus urgently needed. the need to manage psoriasis has usually been a lifelong one which used to result in a significant cost to mental wellbeing such as higher rates of depression and negative impact on individuals in a society. social exclusion, discrimination, and stigmatization have always been associated. in the research and development of new drugs, phytochemicals are rapidly emerging as significant alternative medicinal and pharmacological agents. as opposed to synthetic medications, they have fewer or no adverse effects after administration, a unique mode of action, and a wide range of chemical constituents, all of which improve their therapeutic interaction with a variety of biological targets [14]. phytochemicals derived from papayas such as flavonoids, terpenoids, tannins, and phenols have been found to have anti-psoriatic and antiinflammatory effects associated with psoriasis [15]. this study aims at investigating the anti-psoriatic and antiinflammatory potential phytochemicals found in the papaya plant against two psoriasis targeted enzymes; jak1 (pdb id: 6n7b) and tnfα (pdb id: 2az5) through molecular docking coupled with admet studies, pharmacokinetic evaluation, drug likeliness among other analyses at a therapeutic dose as used previously in the study on enzyme inhibitors of sarscov2 main protease [16, 17] and human tyrosinase-related protein [18]. 2. materials and methods 2.1. preparation of ligands one hundred and three phytochemicals extracted from carica papaya with their various classes of phytochemicals which are, 18 phenols, 5 amino acids, 2 carotenoids, 9 fatty acyls, 24 fatty acids, 24 flavonoids, 9 steroids, 4 terpenoids, and 3 glycoside, 2 lactones and 3 organosulfur compounds were used in this investigation study. methotrexate and cyclosporine are used as standard. pubchem database (https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nhi.gov) [19] was used to obtain the 2d/3d conformers of these ligands and the standard used. the 2d structure of these 103 ligands was converted to 3d using spartan’14 software and the conformational search was also implemented using spartan’14 as well with molecular mechanics in which the stable conformers were carefully chosen and optimized using density functional theory (dft) with b3lyp function and 631+g(d) as a basis. 2.2. preparation of the target receptor the xray structure of tumor necrosis factor alpha (tnf alpha) (pdb id: 2az5) and human janus kinase jak1 (pdb id: 6n7b) (fig 1) was downloaded from the protein data bank with a resolution of the retrieved structure given as 2.10å and 1.81å respectively in protein data bank (pdb) file format. the protein was prepared by removing the impurities including water molecules present using discovery studio software to escape interference. the binding pocket of the initial inhibitors present in 2az5 and 6n7b was used to determine the binding parameters as preferences. 2 abdul-hammed et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1116 3 figure 1. the crystal structure of (a) tumor necrosis factor alpha (tnf-alpha) (pdb id: 2az5) and (b) human janus kinase jak1 (pdb id: 6n7b) 2.3. determination of receptors’ active sites tumor necrosis factor alpha (tnf-alpha) (pdb id: 2az5) and human janus kinase jak1 (pdb id: 6n7b) binding pockets, ligand interactions, and all amino acids in the active site were established using castp (http://sts.bioe.uic.edu/castp/index.html) and biovia discovery studio [20]. concerning the two receptor active sites complexed with their respective ligands, the obtained data were compared and validated against the previously published experimental data [21-23] 2.4. admet profiling and drug likeness analysis absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (admet) of the docked ligands were evaluated using the admet sar2 database (http://1mmd.ecust.edeu.cn/admetar2/) (www.admetexp.org) [24], which is a free web tool used in evaluating admet properties while drug-likeness (lipinski rule of 5) were inspected using molinspiration online tool (http://molinspiration.com/) [25]. 2.5. ligands oral bioavailability assessments oral bioavailability assessments of the ligands were achieved using the swissadme web server (http://www.swissadme.ch/) [26]. 2.6. prediction of activity spectra for substances (pass) the biological activities of the ligands and the standard drugs used in this research study were carried out using a web server [27]. 2.7. molecular docking protocol molecular docking and scoring of optimized ligands and the standard drugs against tumor necrosis factor alpha (tnfalpha) (pdb id: 2az5) and human janus kinase jak1 (pdb id: 6n7b) were obtained using pyrx software. the inhibition constants (ki) in µm of the ligands and the standard method were obtained using their binding affinities (∆g) in kcal/mol as shown in (equation 1), thus showing their potency against the target receptors (2az5 and 6n7b). ki = ex p(∆g/rt ) (1) where r= gas constant (1.987×103 kcal/mol); t=298.15k (absolute temperature); ki= inhibition constant and ∆g = binding energy . 3. results and discussion 3.1. structural and active site analysis of prostate cancer target receptors 3.1.1. tumor necrosis factor alpha (tnf alpha) the xray crystallographic structure of tumor necrosis factor alpha (tnf alpha) (pdb id: 2az5) (fig. 1) contains 148 amino acid residues complexed with an inhibitor (6,7 dimethyl3-[(methyl-{2[methyl-({1-[3(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-1hindol3yl}methyl)-amino] ethyl}amino)methyl]-4-chrome-4-one). the resolution of the protease as revealed by xray diffraction was 2.10 å, crystal dimension is a = 165.25 å, b = 165.25 å, and c = 63.72 å with angles α (900), β (900), and γ (120) respectively. r values (free, work, and observed) are 0.278, 0.220, and 0.2127 respectively. tnfα plays a crucial role in the exacerbation of inflammation in psoriasis. its main function is to control the immune system’s cells. tnf is an endogenous pyrogen that can cause fever, apoptotic cell death, inflammation, cachexia, and cancer while also inhibiting virus replication and triggering il1 and il6producing cells in response to sepsis. several human disorders, including alzheimer’s disease, cancer, severe depression, psoriasis, and inflammatory bowel disease have been linked to dysregulation of tnf production [28-31]. amino acid residue at the active site is as follows leu57, tyr59, ser60, gln61, tyr119, leu120, gly122, tyr151 [21]. 3.1.2. human janus kinase jak1 the x-ray crystallographic structure of human janus kinase jak1 (pdb id: 6n7b) (fig.1) contains 302 amino acid residues complexed with n[3(5chloro2methoxyphenyl)1methyl1hpyrazol4yl]1hpyrazolo[4,3c]pyridine7carboxamide. the resolution of the protease as revealed by x-ray diffraction was 1.81å, crystal dimension is a = 170.28 å, b = 42.78 å, and c = 44.98 å with angles α (900), β (900), and γ (900) respectively. rvalues (free, work, and observed) are 0.264, 0.220, and 0.222 respectively. through interactions with signal transducers and transcriptional activators, the janus kinase (jak) family, which consists of four receptor associated protein tyrosine kinases (jak1, jak2, jak3, and tyk2), is involved in the interferon and cytokine signaling process [32]. seven jak homology domains make up the jak kinases (120130 kda) [33]. the catalytically active region of the protein that is in charge of its physiological action is known as the c-terminal kinase module (jh1) and it has been demonstrated that the catalytically inactive jh2 domain controls the jh1 domain’s activity [34]. two src homology 2 (sh2) domains (jh3 and jh4) are located at the n-terminus, followed by the ferm domain (jh5–jh7). the atp binding site, which is located in the jh1 domain, has been targeted by several small molecule inhibitors. amino acid residue at the active site is as follows leu881, gly887, glu883, gly884, gly887, lys908, glu957, leu959, gly962, glu966, arg1007, asn1008, leu1010, gly1020, asp1021 [21, 22]. 3 abdul-hammed et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1116 4 table 1. admet profiling of the selected hit compounds and standard drug ligands absorption and distribution metabolism extn. toxicity bbb hia logs caco-2 2c19 1a2 3a4 2c9 2d6 b am aot ei ec hi c l-1 0.96 0.99 -1.85 0.79 + + iii + + l-2 -0.44 0.98 -0.56 0.55 + iii + l-3 0.97 0.97 -2.42 0.93 + iii + + l-4 0.9 0.98 -2.58 0.53 iii + l-5 -0.99 0.99 -1.61 0.93 + iii + + l-6 -0.44 0.96 -1.69 0.5 iv + l-7 -0.76 0.98 -1.35 0.92 + iii + + l-8 -0.73 0.97 -0.22 0.85 + iii + + l-9 -0.24 0.91 -2.48 -0.92 iii l-10 0.98 0.96 -1.75 0.62 iii + l-11 -0.3 0.9 -2.46 -0.92 iii l-12 -0.39 0.99 -3.74 -0.95 + iii + l-13 -0.31 0.77 0.45 -0.84 + iii + l-14 -0.44 0.77 0.28 -0.96 + iii + l-15 0.97 0.84 -3.5 0.71 + + iv + + l-16 0.99 0.84 -0.14 0.83 + iii + + l-17 0.56 0.91 -4.04 0.9 + + iv + + l-18 0.96 0.91 -4.04 0.71 + + iv + + l-19 0.97 0.84 -3.5 0.71 + + iv + + l-20 0.99 0.84 -0.14 0.83 + + iii + + l-21 0.97 0.84 -3.5 0.86 + + iv + + l-22 0.97 0.84 -3.5 0.77 + + iv + + l-23 0.97 0.84 -3.5 0.59 + + iv + + l-24 0.97 0.84 -2.02 0.86 + + iii + + l-25 0.98 0.92 -3.67 0.68 iii + + l-26 0.95 0.89 -2.75 -0.7 iii l-27 0.94 0.89 -2.59 -0.66 iii sd-1 -0.99 0.9 -3.06 -0.86 iii sd-2 0.91 0.93 -1.76 -0.85 + iii bbb= blood brain barrier, hia=human intestinal absorption, as =aqueous solubility. extn. = excretion; b=biodegradation (+/-) biodegradable (+), non-biodegradable (-). am =ames mutagenesis (+/-); aot= acute oral toxicity(+/-) acute toxic (+), non acute-toxic (-); hi = human either-a-go-go inhibition (+/-), c=carcinogenicity (+/-) carcinogenic (+), non-carcinogenic (). l1 = 2,6dimethoxyphenol, l2 = gentisyl alcohol, l3 = cinnamic acid, l4 = sinapinic acid, l5 = salicylic acid, l6 = caffeic acid, l7=phydroxybenzoic acid, l8=pcoumaric acid, l9=coumaroylquinic acid, l10=chlorogenic acid, l11=translinalool oxide, l12 = phydroxyl benzoic, l1 = citric acid , l14 = malic acid, l15= nhexadecanoic acid, l16= butanoic acid, l17=linoleic acid, l18=oleic acid, l19=palmitic acid, l20=nbutyric acidl, l21=noctanoic acid, l22=myristic acid l23=stearic acid, l24=nhexanoic acid, l25=cisvaccenic, l26=dehydrocarpaine i, l27=dehydrocarpaine ii, sd1=methotrexate, sd2=cyclosporine 3.2. admet (pharmacokinetics) analysis of the selected compounds adsorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (admet) profiling of ligands is a crucial step in the early stages of the drug discovery process for expediting the conversion of hits and lead compounds into approved candidates for therapeutic development. a high-quality drug candidate is highlighted by drugs’ efficacies against therapeutic targets in conjunction with good admet profiling at a therapeutic dose [35, 36]. as part of the drug admet profile, a drug must possess good human intestinal absorption (hia), solubility (log s) which ranges between 1 and 5, should be a non-inhibitor of cytochrome p450 enzymes, and should be non-ames toxic (am), non-carcinogenic(c), non-inhibitor of herg(hi), and no or low level of toxicity [37]. all the 103 compounds isolated from carica papaya understudies were screened using admet sar2 webserver, 27 passed the analysis, the result was shown in table 1 and they were subjected to further analysis. notably, all the selected hit compounds and the standard (std) have excellent chances of being absorbed in the human intestine (hia), some of the selected hit compounds and std2 can penetrate the blood brain barrier (bbb+), although only drugs that are specifically targeted for the central nervous sys4 abdul-hammed et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1116 5 table 2. drug likeness properties of the best hits and two standard drugs (sd) compounds heavy atoms (ha) molecular weight (mw) ro5 violations hydrogen bond donor (hbd) hydrogen bond acceptor (hba) milogp l1 10 138.12 0 2 3 1.37 l2 12 164.16 0 2 3 1.43 l3 24 338.31 0 5 8 0.04 l4 11 146.15 0 0 2 2.01 l5 11 154.16 0 1 3 1.34 l6 10 140.14 0 3 3 0.71 l7 11 148.16 0 1 2 1.91 l8 16 224.21 0 2 5 1.26 l9 10 138.12 0 2 3 1.87 l10 12 170.25 0 1 2 1.94 l11 25 354.31 1 6 9 0.45 l12 16 222.28 0 2 3 3.83 l13 13 192.12 0 4 7 1.98 l14 9 134.09 0 3 5 1.57 l15 18 256.43 1 1 2 7.06 l16 6 88.11 0 1 2 1.00 l17 20 280.45 1 1 2 6.86 l18 20 282.47 1 1 2 7.58 l19 18 256.43 1 1 2 7.06 l20 6 88.11 0 1 2 1.00 l21 10 144.21 0 1 2 3.02 l22 16 228.38 1 1 2 6.05 l23 20 284.48 1 1 2 8.07 l24 8 116.16 0 1 2 2.01 l25 27 396.73 1 0 2 9.36 l26 34 476.70 1 1 6 6.60 l27 34 474.69 1 0 6 6.79 sd1 33 454.45 2 7 13 1.97 sd2 85 1202.63 2 5 23 3.61 l1 = 2,6dimethoxyphenol, l2 = gentisyl alcohol, l3 = cinnamic acid, l4 = sinapinic acid, l5 = salicylic acid, l6 = caffeic acid, l7= phydroxybenzoic acid, l8=pcoumaric acid, l9=coumaroylquinic acid, l10=chlorogenic acid, l11=translinalool oxide, l12 = phydroxyl benzoic, l13 = citric acid , l14 = malic acid, l15= nhexadecanoic acid, l16= butanoic acid, l17=linoleic acid, l18=oleic acid, l19=palmitic acid, l20=nbutyric acidl, l21=noctanoic acid, l22=myristic acid l23=stearic acid, l24=nhexanoic acid, l25=cisvaccenic, l26=dehydrocarpaine i, l27=dehydrocarpaine ii, sd1=methotrexate, sd2=cyclosporine tem must penetrate the blood brain barrier; oral drug may not always require to achieve this [38]. and all the hit compounds and std have excellent aqueous solubility (logs) values, falling within the recommended range of (-1 to -5). this shows that the selected hit compounds and the standard have good absorption and distribution potential. the metabolic activities of the selected hit compounds were assessed using microsomal enzyme (cytochrome p450 inhibitors) which catalysed reactions involved in the metabolic activities of the drug. as observed in table 1, l1, l15 to l24 are non-inhibitors of all the cyp450 inhibitors. moreover, critical observation of the results obtained in the table 1 revealed that all the selected hits are non-carcinogenic, furthermore, the potential of a drug molecule to cause mutation in dna is revealed by ames toxicity value and could be a major reason for excluding a drug molecule along the discovery process, as shown in table 1, all the selected hit compounds are non-ames toxic. similarly, the majority of the hit compounds possess type iii acute oral toxicity (ld50) values (slightly toxic) which could easily be converted to type iv (non-toxic) during hit lead optimization. l6, l15, l17, l18, l19, l21, l22, and l23 possess type iv which makes it nontoxic while sd1 possesses type ii which means it is highly toxic. interaction of drug candidates with human ether a-go-go (herg) is one of the important factors to consider in selecting a good drug candidate. a good drug candidate is expected to be a non-inhibitor of herg, because herg inhibition may lead to blockage of the potassium ion channel of the myocardium, which will affect the heart, causing chronic health challenges, and that may lead to death [39]. as observed in table 1, all selected hits and stds are non-herg in5 abdul-hammed et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1116 6 table 3. the docking scoring, binding affinities, and inhibition constant (ki) of the interaction of passed ligands and the standard drug with human janus kinase jak1 (pdb id: 6n7b) compounds binding affinity (∆g), kcal/mol inhibition constant (ki), µm dehydrocarpaine-ii -10.5±0.0 0.02 chlorogenic-acid -8.6±0.0 0.50 dehydrocarpaine-i -7.9±0.0 1.60 coumaroylquinicacid -7.9±0.0 1.60 cis-vaccenic -6.9±0.0 8.8 sinapinic-acid -6.5±0.0 18.8 caffeic-acid -6.6±0.0 15.9 pcoumaric-acid -6.3±0.0 24.2 phydroxyl-benzoicacid -6.4±0.0 20.4 cinnamic-acid -6.1±0.0 33.9 linoleic acid -5.8±0.0 56.2 oleic-acid -5.7±0.0 66.5 translinalool-oxide -5.6±0.0 85.7 stearic acid -5.6±0.0 78.8 citric-acid -5.5±0.0 101.4 myristic-acid -5.4±0.0 110.4 gentisyl alcohol -5.4±0.0 110.4 palmitic-acid -5.3±0.0 130.7 nhexadecanoic-acid -5.2±0.0 168.3 2,6dimethoxyphenol -5.2±0.0 168.3 octanoic-acid -5.1±0.0 183.1 hexanoic-acid -4.5±0.0 504.0 malic-acid -4.4±0.0 596.6 nbutyric-acid -3.9±0.0 1387.0 butanoic-acid -3.9±0.0 1387.0 methotrexate -8.9±0.0 0.36 cyclosporine -8.0±0.0 1.62 hibitors. summarily, all the selected hit compounds and stds show excellent admet properties and are better drug candidates against the target receptors. 3.3. drug-likeness analysis of the selected ligands as proffer by lipinski 2004, orally active drugs must obey the rule of five (ro5) which are, molecular weight (mw) ≤ 500, octanolwater partition coefficient (log p) ≤ 5, hydrogen bond donor (hbd) ≤ 5, and hydrogen bond acceptor ≤ 10 and no more than one violation is allowed [40]. drug-likeness of the selected phytochemicals with standard drugs was carried out to make a model that can successfully predict whether a molecule is druglike or not [20]. out of 27 ligands isolated from carica papaya that passed admet screening, all of them obeyed the lipinski ro5 with violations of 1 and 0 except the two standard drugs having a violation of 2. these properties were estimated by an online server called molinspiration table 4. the docking scoring, binding affinities, and inhibition constant (ki) of the interaction of passed ligands and the standard drug with tumor necrosis factor alpha (tnf alpha) (pdb id: 2az5) compounds binding affinity (∆g), kcal/mol inhibition constant (ki), µm dehydrocarpaine-ii -7.6±0.0 2.7 dehydrocarpaine-i -7.5±0.0 3.2 chlorogenic-acid -6.2±0.0 28.7 coumaroylquinicacid -5.5±0.0 93.3 cinnamic-acid -5.0±0.0 215.0 sinapinic-acid -4.9±0.0 256.9 pcoumaric-acid -4.9±0.0 256.9 cis-vaccenic -4.9±0.0 256.9 caffeic-acid -4.8±0.0 304.1 phydroxyl benzoicacid -4.8±0.0 304.1 translinalool oxide -4.8±0.0 304.1 linoleic acid -4.5±0.0 504.7 stearic acid -4.4±0.0 597.1 oleic-acid -4.4±0.0 649.0 nhexadecanoicacid -4.4±0.0 649.0 palmitic-acid -4.2±0.0 836.8 noctanoic-acid -4.2±0.0 836.8 myristic-acid -4.2±0.0 836.8 citric-acid -4.1±0.0 990.5 gentisyl alcohol -4.0±0.0 1172.6 2,6dimethoxyphenol -3.8±0.0 1643.2 nhexanoic-acid -3.7±0.0 1945.2 malic-acid -3.3±0.0 3819.8 nbutyricacid -3.2±0.0 4521.9 butanoic-acid -3.2±0.0 4521.9 methotrexate -6.4±0.0 23.3 cyclosporine -4.3±0.0 770.9 (http://www.molinspiration.com/) [41], and are shown in table 2. 3.4. molecular docking analysis molecular docking procedures can be used to recognize the interaction between a small ligand and a target molecule and to determine if they could behave in combination as the binding site of two or more constituent molecules with a given structure. a potential active drug is expected to have inhibitory values from 0.1 and 1.0µm and it should not be greater than 10nm. the inhibition constant was calculated using ki = exp [ ∆g/rt]. where ki = inhibition constant, ∆g = binding energy, r = gas constant (1.937×103kcal/mol); t=298.15k (absolute temperature) [42]. figure 1 shows the structure of tumor necrosis factor alpha (tnf alpha) (pdb id: 2az5) and human janus kinase jak1 (pdb id: 6n7b) that was used as the target proteins for this research. the 27 ligands that passed both admet and druglikeness parameters were docked separately with the 6 abdul-hammed et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1116 7 table 5. oral bioavailability analysis of the selected compounds and the standard drug ligands m.f m.w tpsa #r.b xlog p3 esol logs b.s. frac. csp3 #pain alert s.a c1 c28h46n2o4 474.68 77.32å² 0 5.66 -6.35 0.55 0.86 0 7.34 c2 c16h18o9 354.31 164.75å² 5 -0.42 -1.62 0.11 0.38 1 4.16 c3 c28h48n2o4 476.69 76.99å² 0 5.97 -6.56 0.55 0.89 0 7.45 c4 c16h18o8 338.31 144.52å² 5 -0.07 -1.75 0.56 0.38 0 4.07 sd1 c20h22n8o5 454.44 210.54å² 10 -1.85 -1.19 0.11 0.25 0 3.58 sd2 c62h111n11o12 1202.61 278.80å² 15 2.92 -8.15 0.17 0.79 0 10.00 m. f = molecular formular, m.w = molecular weight, #rb = rotatable bond, b.s = bioavailability score, s.a = synthetic accessibility c1=dehydrocarpaine ii, c2=chlorogenic acid , c3=dehydrocarpaine i , c4=coumaroylquinic acid, sd1=methotrexate , sd2=cyclosporine table 6. bioactivity properties of the selected ligands and standard drug with human janus kinase jak1 (pdb id: 6n7b) bioactivity c1 c2 c3 c4 sd1 sd2 autodock vina docking score (kcal/mol) -10.5 -8.6 -7.9 -7.9 -8.9 -8.0 ki (µm) 0.02 0.50 1.60 1.60 0.36 1.62 milog p 6.60 1.94 6.79 1.87 -1.97 3.6f1 ligand efficiency (le)/kcal/mol/heavy atom) 0.31 0.72 0.23 0.79 0.27 0.09 le scale 0.30 0.58 0.30 0.61 0.31 0.03 fit quality (fq) 1.04 1.25 0.78 1.30 0.88 2.96 ligand efficiency dependent lipophilicity (lelp) 21.37 2.71 29.22 2.37 -7.30 38.36 c1=dehydrocarpaine-ii, c2=chlorogenic-acid, c3=dehydrocarpaine-i , c4=coumaroylquinic-acid , sd1=methotrexate, sd2=cyclosporine table 7. bioactivity properties of the selected ligands and standard drug with tumor necrosis factor alpha (tnf alpha) (pdb id: 2az5) bioactivity c1 c2 sd1 sd2 autodock vina docking score (kcal/mol) -7.6 -7.5 -6.4 -4.3 ki (µm) 2.70 3.20 23.30 770.9 milog p 6.60 6.79 -1.97 3.61 ligand efficiency (le) /kcal/mol/heavy atom) 0.22 0.22 0.19 0.05 lescale 0.30 0.30 0.31 0.03 fit quality (fq) 0.75 0.74 0.63 1.59 ligand efficiency dependent lipophilicity (lelp) 30.338 29.92 10.16 71.36 c1=dehydrocarpaine ii, c2=dehydrocarpaine i, sd1=methotrexate, sd2=cyclosporine receptors, (pdb id: 2az5) and (pdb id: 6n7b), the major cytokines (tnfα) exacerbated in psoriasis, and inflammatory pathways particularly jak1 which are responsible for the initiation, progression, and exacerbating the disease’s development. the docking results of the passed ligands with both good admet and drug-likeness profiles were reported in table 3 and 4. dehydrocarpaine-ii had -10.5kcal/mol, chlorogenic-acid had 8.6kcal/mol, dehydrocarpaine-i and coumaroylquinic-acid had -7.9kcal/mol, cis-vaccenic had 6.9kcal/mol while methotrexate and cyclosporine had -8.9kcal/mol and -8.0kcal/mol binding energy values with the target protein (pdb id: 6n7b). dehydrocarpaine-ii and dehydrocarpaine-i had -7.6kcal/mol and -7.5kcal/mol while methotrexate and cyclosporine had table 8. pass prediction of the passed ligands and standards compounds pa pi activity chlorogenic-acid 0.52 0.02 antipsoriatic 0.6 0.03 antiinflammatory 0.7 0.02 immunosuppressant coumaroylquinic-acid 0.51 0.02 antipsoriatic 0.71 0.02 immunosuppressant 0.65 0.02 antiinflammatory methotrexate 0.23 0.11 antipsoriatic cyclosporine 0.86 0 immunosuppressant 0.42 0.19 antieczematic 0.27 0.09 antipsoriatic 0.28 0.18 antiinflammatory -6.4kcal/mol and -4.3kcal/mol binding energy values with the second target protein (pdb id: 2az5). this show that dehydrocarpaine-ii, chlorogenic-acid, and dehydrocarpaine-i have higher binding affinity than the two standard drugs, methotrexate and cyclosporine. 3.5. oral bioavailability analysis of the selected ligands and standard the compounds with good admet and drug-likeness profiles were docked with the choice target receptor. and the compounds that interact with the amino acid residue in the active site pocket were subjected to oral bioavailability analysis obtained through the swissadme web tool (http://www.swissadme.ch/) [26]. the bioavailability radar of the compounds and the standard is presented in figure 2, showing the pink area of the 7 abdul-hammed et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1116 8 table 9. receptor amino acids forming hydrogen bond and other electrostatic/ hydrophobic interaction with passed ligands compounds binding affinity (∆g), kcal/mol 6n7b receptor amino acids forming hbond ligands electrostatic/hydrophobic interactions involved inhibition constant (ki), µm chlorogenic acid -8.6±0.0 phe282, leu959, asn1008, arg1007, val889, leu1010, asp1021, lys908 0.50 coumaroylquinicacid -7.9±0.0 lys908, asp1021, gly887, asp1003, arg1007, glu925 gly1023 1.60 methotrexate -8.9±0.0 his918, gly887, phe886, asp1021, gly1020 ala906, leu1010, met956, gly1023, arg1007, asn1008, val889 0.36 cyclosporine -8.0±0.0 asp880, glu883, arg879, pro960 his918, asn1008, leu1010, ala906, val889, gly882, asp1021, asp921, phe958, leu959, arg1007, leu881, glu966, lys970, asp1003, 886 1.62 radar for the optimum zone for each of the properties (polar, flex, lipo, size, insolu, and insatu). the recommended ranges for the properties as revealed in table 4 are -0.7 and +5.0 for lipophilicity (xlogp3), 500g/mol for molecular weight (mw), 20-130 å2 for total polar surface area (tpsa), ≤6 for solubility (logs), 0.25-1.0 for fraction of carbon in the sp3 hybridization (insatu), and ≤9 for rotatable bond for an effective drug candidate [38]. the molecular weight (<500), as well as the solubility of water (esol logs) for the selected compounds, were analyzed in the acceptable range with an exception for sd2 (1202.61 g/mol). the partition coefficient (xlog p3), a very crucial parameter ranges for all the compounds from -0.07 to 5.66 with an exception for c3 (5.97). the saturation; a fraction of carbons in the sp3 hybridization range from 0.25 to 0.86 and both sd1 and sd2 has rotatable bonds of more than 9 while c2, c4, sd1, and sd2 failed the polarity with tpsa value of 164.75å², 144.52å², 210.54å², and 278.80å² respectively. c2 and c4 can still be orally bioavailable because they are not too flexible while the two standards are predicted not to be orally bioavailable, because too flexible and too polar [26]. the passed ligands are further subjected to other analyses. 3.6. bioactivity test of the selected ligands and standard drug table 3 reveals the bioactivity properties of the selected ligands and standards showing the ligand efficiency (le) with a recommended range of ≥0.3, fit quality (fq) with a recommended range of ≥0.8, and ligand efficiency dependent lipophilicity (lelp) with a recommended range of -10 to 10 [43], which was calculated using eqn, 2-5. all the selected ligands were reported in table 6 and 7, only c2 and c4 in table 6 has an excellent bioactivity profile with all their values within the recfigure 2. the bioavailability radar for the selected hit compounds and standards (c1) dehydrocarpaine-ii; (c2) chlorogenic-acid; (c3) dehydrocarpainei; (c4) coumaroylquinic-acid; (sd1) methotrexate; and (sd2) cyclosporine ommended range and are subjected to further analysis. ligand efficiency (le) = −(b.e)÷heavy atoms (h.a)(2) l.e scale = 0.873e − 0.026 × h.a − 0.064 (3) fq = le ÷ lescale (4) lelp = logp ÷ le (5) 3.7. prediction of activity spectra for substances (pass) biological activity prediction of the selected compounds and standard a computer-based program for an online web server pass software [27] was used for the prediction of the biological activity of the selected compounds. as shown in table 8 the 8 abdul-hammed et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1116 9 table 10. binding mode and binding interaction for passed ligands ligands binding interaction binding mode chlorogenic acid coumaroylquinic acid methotrexate cyclosporine value of the probability to be active must be greater than the probability to be inactive. this works in hand with the activity spectrum concerning the high probability to be active (pa) to the probability to be inactive (pa > pi). all the ligands in table 8 show excellent biological activity against psoriasis, chlorogenic-acid, and coumaroylquinic-acid displayed antipsoriatic activity, anti-inflammatory, and immunosuppressant activity. they both can be further explored in the development of novel drugs for the management, prevention, and curing of psoriasis. 9 abdul-hammed et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1116 10 3.8. binding mode and molecular interactions of the best hit compound and the standard in the lead optimization stage of drug development, the molecular interactions and binding mode involved in the binding of ligands to the target receptors’ active site are of utmost importance. it aids in improving the potency and efficacy of the selected hit compounds. notably, all analyses performed so far on the phytochemicals from carica papaya, chlorogenic-acid, and coumaroylquinic-acid showed outstanding results owing to their excellent binding affinities and inhibition constant, excellent admet properties, drug-likeness properties, bioactive, orally bioavailable analysis and pass analysis. the binding modes of chlorogenic-acid and coumaroylquinic-acid suggest that these compounds neatly fit at the active site of jak1 where lys908, arg1007, asn1008, leu959, gly887, asp1003, and asp1021 particularly stabilize these compounds through conventional h-bonding. hydrophobic/electrostatic interactions are also reported to participate and for 6n7b chlorogenic-acid, the hydrophobic interactions include val889, leu1010, asp1021, and lys908 while for 6n7b coumaroylquinic-acid we have gly1023. similarly, the standard drugs (methotrexate and cyclosporine) formed a conventional hydrogen bond with his918, gly887, phe886, asp1021, gly1020, and asp880, glu883, arg879, pro960. hydrophobic/electrostatic interactions with ala906, leu1010, met956, gly1023, arg1007, asn1008, val889 and his918, phe958, asn1008, leu959, leu1010, arg1007, ala906, leu881, val889, glu966, gly882, lys970, asp1021, asp1003, asp921, phe886. as expected, arg1007 and some other important amino acid residues are common to chlorogenicacid, coumaroylquinic-acid, and the standard drugs (methotrexate and cyclosporine) showing that they shared similar binding pockets and interactions with the active site of human janus kinase jak1. the molecular interaction and binding mode are displayed in the tables below. 4. conclusion the anti-psoriatic potential of carica papaya was explored via in silico studies. the structure-based screening was employed by using molecular docking simulation, admet profiling, lipinski rule of 5 (ro5), and other analysis for the target fishing of phytochemicals isolated from papaya against 2 possible targets of psoriasis. major cytokines, tumor necrosis factorα (tnf-α) exacerbated in psoriasis and inflammatory pathways particularly janus kinase 1 (jak 1). this computational analysis reflects that papaya can serve as excellent antipsoriatic and anti-inflammatory agents by targeting human antiinflammatory molecular targets (jak 1). the results obtained revealed chlorogenic acid (8.6 kcal/mol) and coumaroylquinic acid (7.9 kcal/mol) as probable inhibitors of janus kinase 1 (jak 1) compare to the two standard methotrexate (8.9 kcal/mol) and cyclosporine (8.0 kcal/mol) due to their excellent binding energies, admet profile, drug-likeness, oral bioavailability properties, pass properties, bioactivity, outstanding binding mode and molecular interactions with the target receptor and can serve as promising chemical scaffolds for the development and improvement of inhibitors to treat psoriasis. acknowledgements the authors are thankful to all the members of the computational and biophysical chemistry research group, department of pure and applied chemistry, ladoke akintola university of technology, ogbomoso nigeria who helped in the completion of this manuscript. references [1] c. e. m. griffiths & j. n. w. n. barker, “pathogenesis and clinical features of psoriasis”, the lancet 370 (2007) 263. 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[43] a. l. hopkins, g. m. keserü, p. d. leeson, d. c. rees & c. h. reynolds, “the role of ligand efficiency metrics in drug discovery”, nature reviews drug discovery 13 (2014) 105. 11 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 205–217 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences effect of benzophenone on the physicochemical properties of n-cnts synthesized from 1-ferrocenylmethyl (2-methylimidazole) catalyst ayomide hassan labuloa,∗, elijah temitope adesujia, charles ojiefoh oseghalea, elias emeka elemikeb, adamu usmana, akinola kehinde akinolac, enock olugbenga darec adepartment of chemistry, federal university of lafia, lafia, nasarawa state, nigeria bdepartment of chemistry, federal university of petroleum, nigeria cdepartment of chemistry federal university of agriculture, abeokuta, ogun state, nigeria abstract vertically-aligned nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (v-n-cnts) were synthesized via the chemical vapour deposition (cvd) technique. 1ferrocenylmethyl(2-methylimidazole) was employed as the source of the fe catalyst and was dissolved in different ratios of acetonitrile/benzophenone feedstock which served as both the carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen sources. the morphological difference in n-cnts was as a result of increased oxygen concentration in the reaction mix and not due to water vapour formation as observed in the oxygen-free experiment, indicating specifically, the impact of oxygen. raman and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (xps) revealed surface defects and grafting of oxygen functional groups on the sidewall of n-cnts. the ftir data showed little or no effect as oxygen concentration increases. xps analysis detected the type of nitrogen species (i.e. pyridinic, pyrrolic, graphitic, or molecular nitrogen forms) incorporated in the n-cnt samples. pyrrolic nitrogen was dominant and increased (from 8.6 to 11.8 at.%) as oxygen concentration increases in the reaction precursor. an increase in n content was observed with the introduction of a lower concentration of oxygen, followed by a gradual decrease at higher oxygen concentration. our result suggested that effective control of the reactant mixtures can manipulate the morphology of n-cnts. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2020.105 keywords: chemical vapour deposition, nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes, 1-ferrocenylmethyl(2-methylimidazole), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy article history : received: 11 may 2020 received in revised form: 08 august 2020 accepted for publication: 09 august 2020 published: 15 november 2020 c©2020 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: b. j. falaye 1. introduction vertically-aligned carbon nanotubes (v-cnts) have been found to be fascinating for various range of applications, such as catalysis (as catalyst support) [1, 2, 3], electronics [4, 5, 7] ∗corresponding author tel. no: +234 8062295936 email address: labulo@yahoo.com (ayomide hassan labulo ) and biological [8, 9, 10] devices. this is as a result of the controllable diameter and surface area of v-cnts [11] which can be explored in the fabrication of materials of particular interest. the major drawbacks of v-cnts are their low selectivity and reactivity at the surface. these drawbacks can be overcome by surface functionalization and nitrogen-doping which tailor their physicochemical properties [12]. doping of cnts 205 labulo et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 205–217 206 with heteroatoms, such as b, p, s and n, into the sp2 carbon framework has been reported [13, 14, 15, 16]. these electronrich atoms help fine-tune the electronic properties of cnts [2]. also, nitrogen incorporation into cnts alters the wall thickness, crystallinity and diameter of cnts [17]. the nitrogen embedded into cnts can take various forms. the most common are graphitic-nitrogen, pyrrolic-nitrogen, pyridinic-nitrogen and molecular n2 stuck in the interior of cnt structures [18, 19, 20]. the nitrogen composition largely depends on the solubility of nitrogen in the catalyst nanoparticle during the reaction at a specified temperature. it has been shown that the type and concentration of nitrogen obtained depend on the nature of the catalyst employed (i.e. ferrocene or ferrocenyl derivatives), synthetic temperature, gas flow rate and type of nitrogencontaining precursors [21, 22, 23]. several methods have been employed in the synthesis of n-cnts; namely arc-discharge [24], laser deposition [25] and chemical vapour deposition (cvd) [26]. of these, the cvd technique has been the method commonly used for large-scale n-cnt synthesis [27]. however, the control of the reaction conditions in cvd technique is somewhat tricky, as catalyst poisoning due to limiting carbon diffusion rate and formation of amorphous carbon on fe substrate surface is common [28, 29]. many researchers have reported the introduction of oxygen [30], water [31, 32] and co2 [33], ethyl benzoate [34] among other reaction gases to improve n-cnts quality and catalyst activity [35]. however, an excess level of oxygen-containing species could lead to n-cnts etching [29, 32, 36]. recently, sakurai et al. [37] reported that the introduction of the oxygencontaining molecule (e.g. h2o) during cvd synthesis enhanced the growth of cnts and prolong catalyst lifetime at temperatures above 750 ◦c. this resulted in the removal of amorphous carbon through water vapour etching to give a graphitic nanostructured carbon network [26]. fatuba et al. [38] also reported that the addition of oxygen-containing aromatic compounds (i.e. growth enhancer), such as methyl benzoate and benzaldehyde into the reaction mixture tailored the size and controlled the n-cnts wall numbers and alignment [38]. the essential role of the growth enhancer compared to previously reported approach (such as h2o), is to control the wall numbers, diameters and to reactivate catalyst particles [39, 40, 41]. in this study, we report for the first time, the use of benzophenone in the reactant mixture to modify n-cnts growth and morphology. benzophenone was also employed to improve the solubility of the ferrocenyl imidazolium catalyst in acetonitrile. we elucidate the effect of oxygen on the type of nitrogen incorporated in n-cnts. the morphology, surface area and stability of n-cnts were studied at varying oxygen concentration levels. 2. experimental 2.1. materials and characterization ferrocene (≥ 97%), ferrocenemethanol (98%), 2-methylimidazole (≥ 98.2%) and sodium borohydride (95%), potassium hydrogen phthalate (≥ 99.5%) were obtained from sigma aldrich ltd. south africa. acetonitrile (hplc grade, 99.9%), toluene (≥99.5%) and ethanol (98%) were purchased from merck chemicals south africa. nitric acid (55%) and sulphuric acid (98%) were purchased from saarchem, south africa. 10% hydrogen in argon (purchased from afrox gases, south africa) was used as a carrier gas for the synthesis of n-cnts. images of the synthesized n-cnts were obtained by using scanning electron microscopy (sem) (joel jem 1010) and transmission electron microscopy (tem) (joel jsm 6100). higher magnification images of n-cnts were obtained from high-resolution transmission electron microscope (hrtem). elemental analysis was conducted on a leco chns elemental analyser. the crystallinity of the n-cnts was determined with a rigaku/dmax rb powder x-ray diffractometer using graphite monochromatized high-density cu kα radiation (λ= 0.15406). the thermal stabilities of n-cnts were determined using a q seriest m thermal analyzer tga/dsc (q600). the fourier transform infrared (ftir) spectra of n-cnts were recorded on a perkinelmer spectrum rx1 ftir spectrometer by embedding the samples into kbr pellets. the adsorption-desorption isotherms and surface area of n-cnts were determined on a micrometrics tristar ii surface area analyser. the graphitic nature of the n-cnts was determined by a raman spectrometer (deltanu advantage 532tm). four accumulated spectra were collected to access the homogeneity of the samples. the synthesized n-cnts were purified in nitric acid under microwave irradiation using a cem discover sp microwave instrument. the surface chemical composition of n-cnts was analysed using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (xps). xps analysis was conducted on a quantum 2000 instrument using a monochromated al kα source and charge neutralizer, with a pass energy of 117.4 ev. the peaks were deconvoluted using casaxps programme. the surface charge on the n-cnts in ultra-pure water was determined with a malvern zetasizer (ns500). boehm titration was conducted to quantify the acidic functional groups on the n-cnt surfaces. potassium hydrogen phthalate (khp) was used as the primary standard for the standardization of naoh solutions using phenolphthalein as the indicator [42]. 0.20 g of each n-cnts samples were placed in separate bottles. 25 ml naoh (0.05 m), na2co3 (0.025m) and nahco3 (0.05 m) were added to the bottle, sealed and shaken for 24 h. the solutions were then filtered and titrated against standardized hcl or naoh [43]. different functional groups (i.e. phenolic, carboxylic, lactonic and hydroxyl groups) were calculated based on the amount of acid or base consumed. 206 labulo et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 205–217 207 2.2. synthesis of 1-ferrocenylmethyl(2-methylimidazole) (fcmech3) the general procedure described by pan et al. [44] was used to synthesize fcmech3. briefly, ferrocenemethanol (1 mm) and 2-methyl-1h-imidazole (1.1 mm) was refluxed in acetic acid for 9 h at 60 ◦c. the product formation was monitored using preparative tlc plates with a solvent system of ch2cl2/meoh (4:1). the product was neutralized with 50% koh in distilled water to remove the acetic acid and then puried by column chromatography. the final product was washed in na2so4 and finally dried under vacuum to obtain yellow crystals. detailed characterization of fcmech3 has been reported in our previous work [45]. 2.3. synthesis of n-cnts n-cnts were synthesized by pyrolyzing fcmech3 catalysts in acetonitrile at 850 oc using the cvd method. in the experiment, different concentrations of benzophenone were added to the reaction mixture to study the effect of oxygen on the growth of n-cnts. the cvd procedure and set-up described by oosthuizen et al. [46] was followed. briefly, 0.25 g of the catalyst was added to 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 g of benzophenone to produce 1, 2, 3 and 4 wt.% oxygen, respectively. the mixture was dissolved in acetonitrile (as carbon and nitrogen source) to make a 10 g solution . the reactant mixture was injected using a syringe at 0.8 ml min−1 through the quartz tube placed in a muffle furnace. the mixture was swept through the tube by 10% hydrogen in argon carrier gas for 100 ml min−1. after 30 min of reaction, the furnace was allowed to cool to room temperature, and the product was collected from the hot region of the furnace. n-cnts from 1-4 wt.% oxygen is denoted as n-cnts-1%, n-cnts-2%, n-cnts-3% and ncnts-4%, respectively. n-cnts-0% was synthesised by dissolving fcmech3 catalyst in acetonitrile. for comparison, ncnts-fe was synthesized using ferrocene and toluene as catalyst and solvent, respectively. 2.4. purification procedure for n-cnts n-cnts were purified using microwave digestion. briefly, n-cnts (0.8 g) were dispersed in nitric acid (6 m) by ultrasonic agitation for 45 min. after sonication, each sample was purified by a microwave assisted irradiation. this was done by placing 50 ml of the dispersed sample in a thermal resistant teflon (milestone (tfm)) vessel on a sample rotor available for 4 vessels. the microwave was set at 100 w power and ramped from room temperature to 100 oc for 30 min. after digestion, the obtained suspension was filtered on 0.1 µm ptfe membrane. the collected solid samples were washed with deionized water until a neutral ph was obtained. afterwards, the n-cnts were washed with alcohol and dried in an oven at 100 ◦c for 24 h. 3. results and discussion 3.1. tem analysis the morphology of n-cnts was studied by tem. the obtained images are shown in figure 1. the incorporation of nitrogen correlated with the bamboo-like structure typical of ncnts [47] (figure 1a-f). the use of fcmech3 as a catalyst in acetonitrile and benzophenone gave mainly clean n-cnts (figure 1) and in good yield (table 1). this could be attributed to the cleaning effect of oxygen as it reacts with amorphous carbon to form co2. n-cnts and carbon sphere (cs) are obtained in toluene solvent. table 1. summary of the effect of oxygen from benzophenone on the yield of n-cnts synthesized by using 1-ferrocenylmethyl[2-methylimidazole] catalyst in acetonitrile at 850 ◦c samples yield (%) n-cnts-0% 74 n-cnts-1% 68 n-cnts-2% 63 n-cnts-3% 61 n-cnts-4% 58 the n-cnts yields decrease as the concentration of oxygen increases due to the formation of co2 from unreacted carbon and oxygen. the tem images of n-cnts-1% and n-cnts2% (figure 1a and b) showed a curly tubular structure. this could be as a result of fe catalyst left inside the n-cnts with smaller diameters [48]. the bamboo compartment of n-cnts1%, n-cnts-2%, n-cnts-3% and n-cnts-4% decreased as the concentration of oxygen increased (table reftab2). all ncnts obtained are opened at the tips, while some region along the tube gave stacked cup-like cones. this suggests that the bamboo structures were obtained by tip growth mechanism [49]. the cup-like cones appear to be more prominent as the oxygen concentrations increased (figure 1c and e). n-cnts-0% and n-cnts-fe exhibit relatively straight tubes and a wall thickness of ∼15 nm. the wall thickness decreases as the concentration of oxygen from benzophenone increases (table 2). this is due to a reduction in the number of corrugated carbon layers and the closure of tubes which resulted in reduced compartment distances [50]. table 2 shows the effect of oxygen on the inner diameter (id) and outer diameter (od) of the synthesized n-cnts. from the results, it is believed that oxygen plays a vital role in modulating the morphology and diameters of n-cnt [39]. the od decrease as the oxygen content in the reaction mixtures increases. this is due to the effect of oxygen on the catalyst leading to a decrease in fe particle size as a result of catalyst migration, sintering, and precipitation processes [51, 52]. it was suggested that oxygen enhances the catalyst activity by removing amorphous carbon which prevents n-cnts surface 207 labulo et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 205–217 208 figure 1. tem images of n-cnts obtained from (a) n-cnts-0%, (b) n-cnts-1%, (c) n-cnts-2%, (d) n-cnts-3%, (e) n-cnts-4% and (f) n-cnts-fe poisoning [41]. n-cnts-1%, n-cnts-2% and n-cnts-3% gave smaller id (14±7 nm to 16±5 nm). however, larger id n-cnts was obtained for n-cnts-4% (i.e. 33±8 nm). this is due to excess oxygen content, leading to etching of the outer walls which largely affects n-cnts quality. figure 2 shows the hrtem images of n-cnts with varying oxygen contents. an increase in the d002 interlayer spacing of the graphitic carbon was observed as the od decreases. the interlayer d-spacing increased from 0.339 nm (n-cnts1%) (figure 2b) to 0.344 nm (n-cnts-3%) (figure 2d). the increase in the d002 spacing is due to the curvature of smaller diameter n-cnts and higher strain caused by the structural defect on the nanotube walls [53]. also, the regular bamboo compartment for n-cnts-4% (figure 2f) was destroyed. this is attributed to supersaturation of molten fe catalyst particles with carbon [54]. it could also be as a result of highly reactive oxygen at the surface or within the molten fe nanoparticles which form feo (i.e. fe + o2 →feo + o), leading to etching of the graphitic carbon. 3.2. sem analysis the morphology of n-cnts was analysed using sem. the obtained images are shown in figure 3 (a-f). figure 3 a-e manifested the effect of oxygen on n-cnts growth and alignment. this was as a result of the reaction of oxygen with very reactive hydrogen radical involved in the hydrocarbon-based growth of nanotubes [20]. this helps to scavenge unreactive hydrogen which inhibits the growth of sp2 like graphitic sheets [30]. for example, the vertical alignment was observed for n-cnts-1%, n-cnts-2% and n-cnts-3% (figure 3 b-d) compared to ncnts-fe (figure 3f) the alignment was depleted at higher oxygen concentration (as observed in n-cnts-4%). this could be attributed to the partial oxidization fe-catalyst which reduced catalyst density, leading to reduced n-cnts nucleation [55]. figure 2. eect of oxygen on n-cnt wall thickness and diameters: hrtem images of (a) n-cnts-0%, (b) n-cnts-1%, (c) n-cnts2%, (d) n-cnts-3%, (e) n-cnts-4% and (f) etched wall of n-cnts4% at moderate oxygen concentration (i.e. n-cnts-2%), the nanotubes walls are free of amorphous carbon (figure 3c) as compared to n-cnts-4% (figure 3e) with more amorphous carbon and lesser tubes (table 1). 3.3. thermal studies the thermal stabilities of n-cnts with different oxygen wt.% loading was studied as shown in figure 4. tga analysis was measured in air at 25-1000 ◦c to give an idea of the oxygen content and the purity of the samples. the first mass loss due to loss of water appears before 100 ◦c. n-cnts-1% shows a significant weight loss at 386 ◦c while n-cnts with 2-4 wt.% oxygen showed a weight loss between 390-530 ◦c. n-cnts-0% is the most thermally stable with the decomposition temperature at 589 ◦c. the oxygen treated n-cnts started to decompose at the on-set point between 334 and 430 ◦c (table 3). all n-cnts showed weight loss after decomposition above 87% with a residual mass between 9.6-0.5%. from dtg curves, the maximum mass loss temperature for 1-4% oxygentreated n-cnts is between 392 and 514 ◦c. further investigation by raman, xps and ftir analysis was done. 3.4. crystallinity of n-cnts figure 5 shows the raman spectra of n-cnts-0%, n-cnts1%, n-cnts-2%, n-cnts-3%, n-cnts-4% and n-cnts-fe. the two prominent peaks observed at ∼1330 and ∼1573 cm−1 are assigned to the dand g-bands, respectively. the intensity ratios of the dand g-bands (id/ig ) shows the defect level of graphitic carbon materials [56, 57, 58]. the id/ig ratio of ncnts-0% and n-cnt-fe is 0.74 and 0.66, respectively (table 4). after introduction of oxygen from benzophenone in the reactant precursor, the id/ig ratio increased to 0.97, 0.93, 0.85 and 0.79 for n-cnts-1%, n-cnts-2%, n-cnts-3% and n-cnts4%, respectively. this is as a result of incorporation of surface 208 labulo et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 205–217 209 table 2. effect of oxygen on n-cnts diameter and wall thickness oxygen wt. % ave. od±sd (nm) ave. id±sd (nm) wall thickness (nm) ave. compartment distance (nm) n-cnts (%) n-cnts-0% 48±25 38±31 15 18±11 90 n-cnts-1% 37±31 19±5 11 17±9 85 n-cnts-2% 33±21 14±7 9 15±8 76 n-cnts-3% 34±19 16±5 8 13±9 74 n-cnts-4% 41±15 33±8 7 11±8 65 n-cnts-fe 75±16 48±12 14 20±12 83 table 3. thermal features of n-cnts at different oxygen concentration. toxidation refers to the temperature of primary oxidation. entry catalyst on set point (oc) toxidation (oc ) 1 n-cnts-0% 430 572 2 n-cnts-1% 378 450 3 n-cnts-2% 397 410 4 n-cnts-3% 346 428 5 n-cnts-4% 334 420, 514 6 n-cnts-fe 386 392 oxygen functionalities and n atoms which produces more defects and disorders on the graphitic structure of the n-cnts. the lower id/ig ratio in n-cnt-fe and n-cnts-0% indicates that fewer defects are introduced in the carbon lattices due to less nitrogen atom intrusion into the graphitic carbon network compared to n-cnts-1%, n-cnts-2% and n-cnts-3%, respectively. the width of the g-band peak also indicates the level of doping in n-cnts [59, 60]. table 4 shows that the gband width of n-cnts with varying concentrations of oxygen follows the order of n-cnts-1% > n-cnts-2% > n-cnts3% > n-cnts-4% > n-cnts-0% > n-cnts-fe. this result suggested a possible increase in n-doping at lower oxygen concentration. table 4. ig /id ratios of the n-cnts samples d g id/ig n-cnts-0% 1341 1591 0.74 n-cnts-1% 1342 1601 0.97 n-cnts-2% 1354 1599 0.93 n-cnts-3% 1365 1595 0.85 n-cnts-4% 1369 1590 0.79 n-cnt-fe 1374 1581 0.66 3.5. surface chemistry of n-cnts figure 6 shows the ftir spectra of n-cnts from 0-4% of oxygen and n-cnts-fe. peaks at around 2927 and 2625 cm−1 are assigned to the o–h and ch3 stretching vibrations [61], respectively. the prominent band at 2381 cm−1 is assigned to the characteristic absorbance of co2 groups [62], while peaks at 1763, 1567 and 1030 cm−1 are assigned to stretching vibrations of c=o, c=n and c-o functional groups, respectively [63]. the peaks at 1375 cm−1 are assigned to stretching vibrations of c-nh3 [64]. the presence of c=n and c-n functional group on the purified n-cnts indicates the substitution of graphitic sp2 carbon with nitrogen, leading to the bamboo configuration observed in tem images [65]. for n-cnts-0%, the intensity of the c=o band peak at 1763 cm−1 was weaker than that from 1-4% oxygen, which becomes broader as the concentration of 209 labulo et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 205–217 210 figure 3. sem images of (a) n-cnts-0%, (b) n-cnts-1%, (c) n-cnts-2%, (d) n-cnts-3%, (e) n-cnts-4% and (f) n-cnts-fe oxygen increases. the increase in the intensity of the c=n peak at 1567 cm−1 for n-cnts from 1-4% oxygen can be related to the increase in nitrogen-doping level, which correlates with raman analysis results (table 4). the results of boehm titration of n-cnts-0%, n-cnts-1%, n-cnts-2%, n-cnts-3%, ncnts-4% and n-cnts-fe are shown in table 5. according to this method, nahco3, na2co3 and naoh, neutralize carboxyl groups, carboxyl groups and lactones; and carboxyl groups, lac210 labulo et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 205–217 211 figure 4. (a) tga curves and (b) dta of purified n-cnts synthesized from 0-4% wt. oxygen figure 5. raman spectra of n-cnts tones and phenols, respectively. therefore, different functional groups can be calculated from the volume of acid and bases used. the acid functional groups on n-cnts-1%, n-cnts2%, n-cnts-3% increases a little as the oxygen concentration increases compared to n-cnts-0% and n-cnts-fe, while the amount of basic functional groups significantly increases. this indicates that the oxygen functionalities on the surface of ncnts synthesized in the presence of oxygen are more basic than n-cnts synthesized in acetonitrile only [66]. from the results, n-cnts-1%, n-cnts-2%, n-cnts-3% contains high concentration of basic group (≥ 1.025 mmol/g) (table 5). additionally, n-cnts-2% has the highest concentration of the phenolic group. zeta potential (ζ ) measurement provides information on the adsorption of ions (h+ and oh−) from aqueous suspension and dispersibility which lead to the formation of net charge on figure 6. ftir spectra of n-cnts the n-cnts [67]. these net charges lead to the formation of the electrical double layer which stabilizes the suspension and prevents particle aggregation. the properties of nanoparticles are largely affected by their colloidal stability. nanoparticles with zeta potential less than -25 mv or above +25 mv are said to have a high degree of stability [67]. table 6 shows the variation in the zeta potential of n-cnts-0%, n-cnts1%, n-cnts-2%, n-cnts-3%, n-cnts-4% and n-cnts-fe nanofluids. our result showed that the zeta potential follows the 211 labulo et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 205–217 212 table 5. boehm titration of n-cnts samples acidic groups (mmol/g) basic groups (mmol/g) phenolic carboxylic lactonic n-cnts-0% 0.766 0.813 0.070 0.889 n-cnts-1% 0.085 1.025 0.680 1.025 n-cnts-2% 0.181 1.142 0.0826 1.542 n-cnts-3% 0.062 0.851 0.348 1.416 n-cnts-4% 0.016 0.664 0.529 0.784 n-cnts-fe 0.0860 0.612 0.481 0.741 table 6. zeta potentials of n-cnts in ultrapure water samples zeta potential (mv) n-cnts-0% -37.6 n-cnts-1% -51.4 n-cnts-2% -57.0 n-cnts-3% -54.0 n-cnts-4% -43.2 n-cnts-fe -38.8 order n-cnts-2% > n-cnts-1% > n-cnts-3% > n-cntsfe > n-cnts-0% > n-cnts-4%. the zeta potential increases as the concentration of oxygen increases but drops sharply at higher oxygen concentration. according to this measurement, the oxidized n-cnts are negatively charged in the aqueous phase as a result of oxygen-containing functional group ionization [68]. the effect of oxygen on the porosity of n-cnts-0%, ncnts-1%, n-cnts-2%, n-cnts-3% and n-cnts-4% was characterized by bet analysis. the nitrogen-adsorption isotherms of all n-cnts are of type iv with different hysteresis loops in the high-pressure regions (p/po = 0.7–1), suggesting the presence of mesoporous structure [69]. as shown in table 7, the surface areas of n-cnts follows the order: n-cnts-2% > ncnts-1% > n-cnts-3% > n-cnts-fe > n-cnts-0% > ntable 7. bet surface area and pore volume of n-cnts-0%, n-cnts-1%, ncnts-2%, n-cnts-3%, n-cnts-4% and n-cnts-fe samples surface area (m2g−1) pore volume (cm3 g−1) n-cnts-0% 95 0.37 n-cnts-1% 127 0.35 n-cnts-2% 130 0.57 n-cnts-3% 122 0.53 n-cnts-4% 89 0.39 n-cnts-fe 110 0.46 cnts-4%. this indicates that the surface area of the n-cnts can be modified by the introduction of oxygen into the reactant mixture. 3.6. elemental analysis the elemental composition and the bonding environment of the c, o and n species were determined by xps analysis, and the result is presented in table 8. figure 7 shows the highresolution n 1s energy region of selected n-cnts (n-cnts0%, n-cnts-3%, and n-cnts-fe). the deconvolution of the spectra gave three distinct n 1s peaks centred at 398.50, 400.18 and 401.20 ev assigned to pyridinic, pyrrolic and graphitic nitrogen, respectively [70]. a steady increase in the level of nitrogen-doping was observed during the cvd synthesis, followed by a gradual decrease due to an increase in oxygen con212 labulo et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 205–217 213 figure 7. xps n 1s spectra of (a) n-cnts-0%, (b) n-cnts-3% and (c) n-cnts-fe centration (table 8); a result consistent with raman and tga data. compared with n-cnts-0% and n-cnts-fe, the ncnts-3% gave higher pyrrolic-nitrogen species which could be attributed to the presence of active site caused by the lower amount of oxygenated species on the graphitic carbon framework [71]. at a low oxygen concentration in benzophenone, pyridinic-n species was formed (table 8). at a high oxygen content, pyrrolic-n was obtained [72]. this may be due to the change in the elemental ratio (c: n: o) in the precursor mixture. the amount of nitrogen incorporated into n-cnts obtained in our study is higher compared to other studies [34, 73]. this was attributed to the higher amount of nitrogen contained in the ferrocenyl imidazolium catalyst. additionally, the decrease in nitrogen content could be ascribed to the presence of o in benzophenone which we believe inhibits nitrogen incorporation into n-cnts. deconvolution of o 1s spectra of n-cnts-0%, n-cnts-3% and n-cnts-fe peaks gave two bands centred at 531.26 and 533.40 ev assigned to c=o and c-o [74], respectively. the elemental analysis results (table 8) corroborate xps result with increased nitrogen-doping triggered by addition of varying amount of oxygen. table 9 shows the detailed analysis of c 1s peaks of ncnts-0%, n-cnts-3% and n-cnts-fe. the deconvoluted c 1s peaks produced five components at 284.3, 285.8, 287.0, 287.9 and 289.4 ev, assigned to c=c, c-c, hydroxyl, carbonyl and carboxyl functional groups, respectively [75, 76]. from the figure 8. xrd patterns of the n-cnts xps analysis, the carboxyl and carbonyl functional groups increase as the sp2 carbon decreases. for example, the atomic percentage of c=o increased from 3.8 (n-cnts-0%) to 8.8% (n-cnts-3%). the oxidation of c=c is confirmed by an increase in c-c components, which led to the formation of new functional groups on n-cnt surfaces. 3.7. powder xrd pattern studies the xrd profiles of n-cnts (i.e. 0-4 wt.% oxygen) and n-cnts-fe showed the crystalline nature of n-cnts (figure 8). all diffraction patterns showed the formation of (002) crystalline carbon plane (i.e. 26◦), indicative of cnts formation [77]. other peaks at 44.5◦, 49.1◦ and 77.6◦ correspond to (100), (221) and (401) reflections of the graphite structure of n-cnts, respectively. the weak peaks at 37.6◦ and 43.5◦ are assigned to fe3c and fe2o3, respectively, which are stuck inside the core of n-cnts [78, 79]. the xrd diffraction pattern for n-cnts showed a decrease in the intensities of (002) peaks as the alignment increases, particularly, from n-cnts-1% to n-cnts-3%. also, the diffraction peak intensities of the (002) plane for ncnts-1%, n-cnts-2% and n-cnts-3% are weaker than those of n-cnts-0% and n-cnts-fe. this shows that n-cnts-fe and n-cnts-0% have fewer structural defects since n-doping create faults in the graphitic layers. this result agrees with the raman results (table 4). the interlayer d-spacing increases from 0.339 to 0.352 nm as oxygen concentration increases (table 10). the increase in the d002 spacing is due to curvature of smaller diameter n-cnts and higher strain caused by the structural defect on the nanotube walls. this result is consistent with d002 spacing obtained from hrtem analysis. 213 labulo et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 205–217 214 table 8. relative atomic concentration and nitrogen species distribution from elemental and xps analysis elemental analysis xps analysis samples c (at.%) o (at.%) n (at.%) c (at.%) o (at.%) n (at.%) pyrrolic (at.%) pyridinic (at.%) graphitic (at.%) nitrogen molecule (at. %) n-cnts-0% 80.36 11.62 8.02 72.72 8.36 9.92 8.60 2.30 0.70 0.30 n-cnts-3% 71.82 13.04 15.14 77.00 9.40 13.36 11.80 1.24 0.80 0.20 n-cnts-fe 79.35 15.35 7.30 84.54 7.72 8.27 7.50 0.27 0.60 0.10 table 9. intensities of c 1s peaks samples 284.3 ev 285.8 ev 287.0 ev 287.9 ev 289.4 ev c=c sp2 (%) c-c sp3 (%) c-o (%) c=o (%) cooh (%) n-cnts-0% 75.5 5.9 13.6 3.8 1.2 n-cnts-3% 75.3 4.7 11.4 8.8 0.8 n-cnts-fe 76.9 4.2 14.8 2.5 1.6 table 10. x-ray structural parameters of n-cnts-0%, n-cnts-1%, n-cnts2%, n-cnts-3%, n-cnts-4% and n-cnts-fe. d002 values are obtained from hrtem and correlated with those from the xrd analysis entry samples d002 values (nm) intensity of c002 peaks fwhm at c002 peaks crystalline size (nm) 1 n-cnt-fe 0.348 488.41 2.446 3.06 2 n-cnt-0% 0.333 181.49 1.461 1.17 3 n-cnt-1% 0.339 129.72 1.548 1.41 4 n-cnt-2% 0.340 256.25 2.400 2.54 5 n-cnt-3% 0.344 247.13 2.616 2.61 6 n-cnt-4% 0.352 185.92 2.637 1.91 4. conclusion this study presented the role of oxygen and nitrogen-doping as a promising method to improve the physicochemical properties of n-cnts. this has critical implications for reproducibility in n-cnt synthesis, particularly on the effect of oxygen in diameter and wall thickness control. it can be concluded that the introduction of an appropriate amount of oxygen promotes n-cnts growth with clean walls and reduced diameters. from xps analysis, pyrrolic-n was predominantly incorporated into the crystalline cnt structure at a high oxygen concentration. nitrogen-doping was further confirmed by tga analysis and raman spectroscopy. lastly, the understanding of the effect of oxygen species on the morphology and surface area of ncnts during synthesis is critical in vast numbers of industrially promising supported metal nanoparticles catalyst design. acknowledgments this research was financially supported by the national research foundation (nrf) south africa. we are grateful to the school of chemistry and physics, university of kwazulu-natal (ukzn) for creating a conducive research laboratory for this work. ayomide is grateful to prof. vincent nyamori, prof. 214 labulo et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 205–217 215 bernand omondi and mrs rashidat labulo for proofreading this manuscript. references 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[79] t .fu, r. liu, j. lv & z. li, “influence of acid treatment on n-doped multi-walled carbon nanotube supports for fischer-tropsch performance on cobalt catalyst”, fuel process technol 122 (2014) 49. 217 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1028 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences evaluation of anfis predictive ability using computed sediment from gullies and dam stephen olushola oladosua,∗, alfred sunday alademomib,c, james bolarinwa olaleyeb, joseph olalekan olusinab, tosin julius salamib adepartment of geomatics, faculty of environmental sciences, university of benin, p.m.b. 1154, edo state, nigeria bdepartment of surveying and geoinformatics, faculty of engineering, university of lagos, p.m.b. 12003, akoka, lagos state, nigeria ccentre for multidisciplinary research and innovation, suite c59, new bannex plaza, wuze 2, abuja, nigeria abstract the study proposed an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (anfis) model capable of predicting sediment deposited in a dam and sediment loss-in-transit (slit) using the potential of a formulated mathematical relation. the input parameters consist of five members viz: the rainfall, the slope, the particle size, the velocity, and the computed total volume of sediment exited from two prominent gullies for 2017, 2018, and 2019. the outputs are the total volume of sediment deposited at the adjoining ikpoba dam for 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively. the ordinary least square (ols) regression model on sediment volume retained all covariates with p<0.05, explaining 93.8% of the variability in the dataset. the multicollinearity effect on the dataset was assessed using the variance inflation factor (vif) which was found not to pose a problem for (vif<5). the model was validated using the (mse), the (mae), and the correlation coefficient (r). the best prediction was obtained as: (rmse = 0.0423; r2 = 0.947). the predicted volume of sediment was 842,895.8547m3 with an error of -0.3295344% and the predicted volume of slit was 57,787.98m3 which is an indication that anfis performs satisfactorily in predicting sediment volume for the gullies and the dam respectively. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2023.1028 keywords: anfis, gully erosion, ikpoba dam, sedimentation article history : received: 23 september 2022 received in revised form: 21 october 2022 accepted for publication: 21 october 2022 published: 21 may 2023 © 2023 the author(s). published by the nigerian society of physical sciences under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and doi. communicated by: o. j. abimbola 1. introduction there are different ways in which artificial neural networks (ann) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (anfis) find application in solving real-life problems that are subject to interpretation using differential or partial differential equations numerically [1]. water resource is one key area where ∗corresponding author tel. no: email address: olushola.oladosu@uniben.edu (stephen olushola oladosu) soft computing, or machine learning and techniques have become indispensable for the modelling of complex, non-linear, and dynamic processes in a hydrological system domain [2]. however, their applications are found in other areas [34]. the aspect of the application of soft computing methodologies in sediment study and water resources in nigeria is quite scanty in literature [5]. gully erosion, one of the major contributor to channel sediment is more profound in the southern part of nigeria and is known to have contributed sizable amount of sediment as in1 oladosu et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1028 2 take into dams such as the one under investigation in this work. notable studies have been conducted in the region in various capacities on gully initiation, development, and remediation in the past as obtained in [6-11]. in 2013, the nigerian government established the nigeria erosion and watershed management project (newmap) to oversee how best to mitigate soil erosion (particularly gully erosion) and land degradation in specific watersheds by inclusive approach [12-13]. most often, actions to salvage the havoc pose by such environmental problem are delayed due to bureaucracy in governance. approximately 6% of nigeria’s total landmass, relied upon by many other sectors of the economy, has either been badly damaged or degraded by gullying activities [13]. the 2% per annum growth in the population as noted by [13] is an indication that more demand will be on land use; hence, more efforts are required in addressing the issue of land degradation and gullying in the country. gully erosion is a process by which soil’s cohesive forces are drastically weakened at particular thresholds by the action of an active run-off leading to the commencement of mass movement and the eventual creation of deep channels with a substantial amount of sediment deposited downslope [14-15]. the development of gullies causes a substantial amount of soil loss, especially in badland where sediment from gullies finds its way into the river channel and is later transported as bedload into a dam. the negative impact, in the long run, is the speedy rate of siltation and a drastic reduction in the useful life of a reservoir which when occurring will require serious attention. gully erosion has wreaked havoc globally and has been a threat to a free, safe, and life-sustaining environment [16-20]. the motivating variables and drivers of gully initiation and development in distinct catchments are present in previous works [21-22]. on a global scale, as reported by [15], [22-23], gully erosion caused between 10 to 94 percent of soil loss, most of which finds its way downstream into a reservoir. sediment modeling using soft computing methodologies, such as ann, wavelet, ga, anfis, c-anfis, and others, is described in the literature. a researcher’s objective is to ascertain whether combining or complementing any models will produce an improved outcome. according to [24-26], ann in a broad sense, encompasses a wide range of network designs and configurations. the most common ann in literature is the multilayer feedforward neural network (mlffnn), which adopts a form of an interconnected perceptron that makes data and calculations flow ultimately in one direction, starting from the input data to the outputs. the most common attributes of an mlffnn consist of an input layer, a single or multiple hidden layers, and an output layer [27-28]. during anfis internal training of the ann network, the inputs of the first layer multiply an initial random weight coefficient. this development prompts the network to progress to the neurons in subsequent layers. the resulting sum is then forwarded to an activation function, which processes and transforms it to the required output. the network error of the predicted output and target output is calculated and again sent from the last layer to the previous one, thereby updating the weight coefficients. this process is called “error-back-propagation” [2829]. in the history of the anfis soft computing technique, [2425] were pioneers. because of its ability to deal with nonlinear phenomena, it is preferred for simulating and modelling complex hydrological systems [29-32]. applications of anfis in diverse fields are quite numerous in the literature. [33], applied an anfis-based approach for the prediction of sediment transport in clean sewers and affirmed a satisfactory result with (r2 = 0.98 and rmse = 0.002431) in comparison to other existing predictors. [31-33], adopted an anfis-based approach for predicting the bed load for four moderately-sized rivers. while other equations failed to produce an accurate result, the anfis results showed an accurate prediction for measured bed-load data based on a regression method used for comparison. this research is aimed at proposing an anfis model capable of utilising five input parameters in determining the volume of sediment deposited in ikpoba dam and the amount not reaching the dam at the time when observations were conducted tagged “sediment-loss-in-transit” (slit). the model design links the input parameters to aggregate the devastating effect of sediment volume intake of the dam which contribute significantly to early loss of storage capacity. sediment evaluation at the dam based on the quantity of soil loss from gully erosion transported through the river channel can serve as guide to the water resource managers, hydraulic engineers, and dam operators in taking appropriate decisions on dam water-sharing routine, dam useful life monitoring, dam rejuvenation efforts, cost-effective sediment remediation method, dam management planning, and so on. 2. materials and methods 2.1. study area the study area captured the upstream part of the ikopba river dam where two prominent gullies, namely, (the university of benin gully and the iguosa-oluku gully) are exiting their massive sediment into the ikpoba river channel within the same catchment in benin city, edo state, southern nigeria. the geographical location of the study area falls within utm zone 31n, 789050.75 me; 705200.22 mn, and 795500.96 me; 715950.26 mn). by koppen classification, benin city has a tropical savanna climate with rainfall intensities reaching up to 2680mm annually in most cases. the rainfall lasts between eight to nine months, starting in march through october at varying degrees, resulting in a substantial amount of overland flow with impactful erosive energy. the average annual temperature at this location was 25.6 ◦c. the benin city region is characterized by the sedimentary formation underlay of what is called the “south sedimentary basin,” with the geology marked by the presence of reddish earth on top, composed of ferruginized or literalized clay sand [34]. the geologic formations in the region are classified into four basic categories: the benin formation; alluvium; drift/topsoil and azagba-ogwashi. the type of soil in this region, which has low cohesive aggregate binding force, is highly susceptible to erosion influence, therefore gully formation is always prevalent. the study area including the immediate catchment is shown in figure 1. 2 oladosu et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1028 3 figure 1. map showing the study area 2.2. the description of the gullies the university of benin gully and the iguosa-oluku gully hereafter referred to as gully (a) and gully (b), respectively, are located in the upper part of the ikpoba dam. although there is no specific documentation on the exact date on which gully (a) began, it started earlier than the year 2005 as captured by google earth historical images. its development has caused some buildings to be completely or partly eroded at the senior staff quarters of the university due to the gradual landslide resulting in gully sidewall collapse. the guest house of the university is presently under threat. figure 2 reveals the impacts of gully erosion on some properties and the immediate surroundings of the invested environment. according to an anonymous resident, the rehabilitation of the benin/lagos expressway in 2014 caused the start of the gully (b). its initiation and subsequent development are tied to the volume of run-off diverted to a drainage system not appropriately designed to convey such an amount. hence, the water created an alternative path across the existing settlement, actively creating a bigger and deeper channel. six years of no visible remedial intervention led to the destruction of more than fifty buildings, including a police station and other utilities. the federal housing estate located close to where the gully extension has reached is now in grave danger of being eroded. figure 3 shows the devastation caused by gully erosion (left) and table 1. construction information of ikpoba dam s/no name of dam: ikpoba remark 1 type of dam earth fill 2 water production per pump day 34080 m3 3 catchment area 120 km2 4 crest level height 35 m (a.m.s.l) 5 dam length 610 m 6 active storage capacity 1.5 x 106 m3 7 reservoir surface area 1.07 x 106m2 8 service spillway length 60 m 9 emergency spillway length 4 m 10 water supply capacity 90,000 m3/day 11 average monthly discharge 31.9m3/s 12 average annual run-off 0.9285 x 109m3 13 population at design 1.0 million 14 first impoundment year 1975 15 commission year 1987 source: [38] the massive soil loss deposited along the ikpoba river course (right). 2.3. description of ikpoba river and dam the ikpoba river originated from the oluku settlement area in an extension of benin city’s western highland towards the northern and north-eastern parts [35]. from the identified source, the river flows from east to west; reverses its course and meanders through utekon before changing direction to the southern and eastern banks through the following axes (ekosodin, ugbowo, okhoro, and new benin). the river has some level of interactions with the exited sediment from the gullies under consideration. the ikpoba dam is an earth dam that is located along the river reach between okhoro and teboga. it is a small dam according to the classification of the international commission on large dams [36]. the construction work of the dam began in 1977 and was commissioned in 1987. the benin-owena river basin of nigeria manages the dam in conjunction with the edo state urban water board. the geological terrain is tertiary and the foundation is pile-based. four stations are present before reaching the dam’s head [34-37]. these are (okhoro, midpoint, low-lift pump, and ekiuwa). according to [38], the dam has a length of 610 meters. table 1 provides useful information on the physical characteristics and parameters of the dam. 2.4. gully data acquisition and preparation a trimble m3 dr 3” total station and a trimble juno 3b handheld gnss receiver were used for data collection. existing ground controls on sites were subjected to an integrity test and found to be stable before proceeding to observations. the cross-sectional design was done in autocad civil 3d for 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively. samples are presented in figure 4. the volume of each gully segment at chainage 20m apart was computed by the average area of the up and downstream cross sections multiplied by their respective segment lengths. 3 oladosu et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1028 4 figure 2. gully (a) and its negative impacts on settlement figure 3. devastating impact and soil loss from gully b the cumulative sum of all sectional volumes represents the total sediment volume contributed by gullies. see table 2. 2.5. bathymetric data acquisition and preparation the bathymetric surveys of the reservoir were conducted in 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively. the procedure involved the coupling of the 15-hp yamaha engine to the fiber boat and pushing it away from the bank to gain enough depth to allow for the attachment of the transducer and the mounting of the gnss receiver firmly to their respective positions. the position fixing was done in rtk mode using the hi-target gnss receiver while depths were measured simultaneously with the aid of the hi-target marine hd-max echo sounder powered by a 12-volt battery. the appropriate bar checks were observed against the standard marks at 1 m, 2 m, and 3 m for consistency and the eradication of false depth records. this check was done before and after the bathymetric surveys. twenty-five transect lines (25) and two longitudinal cross lines (2) were traversed. the output from the rtk-gnss receiver are precise 3-d (x, y, z) coordinates with obtained accuracies in the order of 0.02m for horizontal and 0.05m for vertical, respectively. corrections for pitch roll and heave were applied at the software interface on board to get the corrected depths. during the different campaigns, water level monitoring was performed by planting a levelling staff at the bank of the river, and readings were taken with the aid of nikon automatic ac-2s leveling instrument before and after the bathymetric surveys. for the three campaigns, the average water level recorded at the beginning of work was 3.360m and at the end of work, it was 3.361m. the difference gave 0.001m. this result showed that the water at the dam was non-tidal and relatively calm throughout the time of observations. note, that water level measurement may not pose a problem with the rtk technique, but when it is taken, it can be used for verification or validation purposes. we computed the volume of sediment accumulated in the dam using equation 1 [39]. table 2, contains the technical parameters of the hi-target marine hd-max echo sounder, while table 3 provides the summary of the total volume of sediment accumulated in the dam for the three years investigated. figure 5 shows 4 oladosu et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1028 5 figure 4. sample of cross-sectional design for gullies table 2. summary of calculated volume of sediment from gullies year gully id vol. loss (m3) cumulative vol. loss (m3) total vol. (m3) 2017 256791.548 000000.000 2018 a 268363.430 525154.978 2019 277543.350 802698.328* 802698.328 2017 375478.830 000000.000 2018 b 414810.690 790289.520 2019 475275.954 1265565.474* 1265565.474 grand total 2068263.802 2068263.802 2068263.802 note: **are the only final yearly volumes considered in column 4 for to get the grand total the water level monitoring effort at the dam’s location. rannua = v1 − v f t (1) where rannual, represents the annual mean reservoir sedimentation volume in (mm3/year); vi, refers to the initial reservoir volume in (mm3); v f , signifies the final reservoir volume in (mm3); t, is the number of years since dam had been operated. t v u = ± √ a2 + (b × d)2 (2) 2.6. the anfis architecture the input data, the hidden layers, and the output layer are the three fundamental components of the anfis architecture. the anfis model type used in this study is the sugeno, with five layers. what necessitate its use was because of its compactness and efficient computational capability [42]. instead of working with linguistic variables on the consequent part as in the mamdani model, the tsk model [41-45] uses rules as a function of input variables to represent the consequent parts. its success is due mainly to the ease of generating a set of system equations for the consequent parts, the parameters of which are simple to estimate using traditional optimization methods. however, the interpretation of the obtained rules is somewhat difficult, which shows their principal shortcoming. the tsk learning algorithm consists of two processes, the forward and the backward stage. the forward phase goes through the five layers to be discussed after in text while the backward stage fine tune the weights of a neural network by using the error rate previous epoch [24]. in a first-order sugeno fuzzy model, a typical fuzzy rule statement takes the form of say where: a and b are fuzzy sets in the antecedent, is a crisp function in the consequent. the five layers are simplified further to briefly explain what takes place at each layers of the anfis model. (i) layer-1 this layer is the first, and is very critical to the overall process. equations 3 or 4 represent what takes place at this phase [42]. o1,i = µai(x) for i = 1, 2 (3) or o1,i = µ(bi−2)(y) for i = 3, 4 (4) where: x or y -represents the input taken by node i, ai or bi−2 -signifies a form of linguistic descriptions (e.g. high, low 5 oladosu et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1028 6 figure 5. bathymetric survey and water level monitoring exercise at ikpoba dam table 3. technical parameters of hd-max echo sounder s/no (a) technical parameters 1 cpu speed: 1.6g*2 2 ram: 2gb 3 memory space: 16gb ssd 4 display screen size: 17” 5 display resolution: 1280*1024 6 starting time: < 40s 7 high frequency emitted from the probe: 200khz 8 point-positioning precision: <2.5m (built-in gps function) 9 input voltage: 10 30v 10 average power consumption: <40w 11 operating temperature: 0 50°c (b) bathymetric accuracy 12 horizontal = 0.506m, at 95% confidence level. 13 vertical = 5m + (-0.30m) at 95% confidence level. note: we applied the formula provided by the international hydrographic organisation, [40] for the determination of horizontal and vertical uncertainties in depth measurement. the maximum depth obtained during sounding was 6.0m, while a and b are constants provided for in the formula. to compute total horizontal uncertainty, we used, thu = 5m + 5/100 of depth. equation 2 was used to compute the total vertical uncertainty, tvu. the results are contained in the last two rows of table 3. and so on) assigned to node i, o1,i -represents the membership function of fuzzy set ai which signifies the extent to which the input x or y under consideration satisfies the quantifier ai. µai(x) and µbi−2(y) can accommodate any fuzzy membership function assumed to spread between 0 and 1. for example, if the bell-shaped membership function is adopted, µai(x) follows the equation 5 µai (x) = 1 1 + [( x−ci ai )2] bi , i = 1, 2 (5) 6 oladosu et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1028 7 table 4. summary of calculated volume of sediment in dam year ikpoba dam annual sed. vol. (m3) cumul. sed. vol. (m3) comp. bed-load sed. vol. (m3) 1987 base year n/a 000000.000 2017 1st observation 217336.704 217336.704 2018 2nd observation 222790.642 440127.346 2019 3rd observation 400000.000 840127.346* grand total 840127.346 840127.346 840127.346 note:*is the only one considered under column 4 for the ground total where: ai, bi, and ci in equation 5 are the premise parameters set of the generalized bell shape membership function (mf). the current study adopted the gaussian membership function (mf) defined by equation 6. µai (x) = ex p − ( x − ci ai )2 (6) where: ai and ci in equations 6 are the premise parameters set of the gaussian mf. changing the values of these parameters would cause a corresponding change in the generalize bell-shape behaviour and the gaussian shape that will make the fuzzy set “ai” to exhibit various forms of membership functions. in this layer, parameters are commonly called premise parameters [4245]. (ii) layer-2 at this layer, each anfis node represents a fixed node with an output signal as the product of the contributions of the incoming signals. o1,i = wi = µai (x) ∗µ(bi−2) (y) , f or i = 1, 2 (7) each node output in this context is a representation of a rule’s firing strength capacity. the node function in this layer will typically be any other t-norm operator that can execute fuzzy (and). (iii) layer-3 this layer has a fixed node labeled n. here, the ith node computes the ratio of the ith rule’s firing strength to the sum of all rules’ firing strengths. the outputs of this layer are the normalized firing strengths, represented as follows: o3, i = wi = wi w1 + w2 : f or i = 1, 2. (8) (iv) layer-4 every node i contained in this layer represents an adaptive node with a node function: o4, i = wi fi = wi( pi x + qiy + ri), (9) where: the anfis in this layer represents a normalized firing strength inherited from layer-3, and the quantities represented as: (pi, qi and ri) are the parameters set of this node. parameters here are termed consequent [4145]. (v) layer-5 this layer is an anfis with a fixed node label and a single node that sums all incoming signals to produce the overall output: o5, i = ∑ i wi fi = ∑ i wi fi∑ i wi = the overall out put (10) figure 6. anfis architecture. source: [41] these five steps simplify a functional takagi-sugeno fuzzy model for an adaptive network design. the backward stage is a useful process in estimating the database; this consists of the parameters of the membership functions in the antecedent part and the coefficients of linear equations in the consequent part. the least-squares method assists greatly in parameter learning by utilizing standard fuzzy reasoning to anticipate the outcome of the tsk model in the prediction phase [4145]. figure 6 shows the anfis architecture. 2.7. description of anfis input parameters the parameters used for the anfis model contain the five most important site-specific variables that are either observed, measured, or determined through laboratory analysis for the study area. rainfall: rainfall data were collected using two tipping bucket rain gauges located within the catchment of the ikpoba river close to where gully a and gully b exit their sediment into the river channel in conjunction with rainfall data obtained from the nigerian meteorological agency (nimet). the collected rainfall data was used for validation. the data was resampled and gridded to 220 to comply with the gully crosssection. volume: for the three years specified earlier, gully a and gully b had 109 and 111 cross-sectional segments, adding up to 220 for which volumes of sediment were calculated and cumulated to derive the cumulative volume of sediment deposited. slope: the slope length was determined as run over the rise at each gully cross-section. the depth of gullies taken at each cross-sections varied from 6.0 m to 11.23 m. particle size: particle size was obtained from soil samples taken at 1m to 3m from 20 borehole points dug with a hand 7 oladosu et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1028 8 huger at the two gully sites. sieve analysis was carried out at the university of benin civil engineering laboratory. velocity: the velocity was measured manually at pre-defined sections along the gullies on rainy days. the widths were measured with 100 m graduated steel tape, and the upper and lower boundaries of each section were defined with wooden pegs wrapped with caution tape. this information was recorded and kept for further use. on two different rainy days, a floating material (cork) was released from the gully’s head and the time taken for it to travel between the flags was recorded with a stopwatch. five observers were stationed in succession to record time with a stopwatch until the process was completed. to find the velocity in (m/s2), we divided the distance traveled by the average travel time and multiplied the result by a chosen correction factor of 0.9 which is mostly adopted for rivers or flowing water whose bottom consists of smooth mud, and sand, or bedrock. the summary of the description of the anfis input parameters in terms of their minimum and maximum limits and their respective membership functions is presented in table 5. each parameter has three (3) membership functions. 2.8. preliminary investigation on input parameters ordinary least squares (ols) regression models on sediment volume retained all covariates with p<0.05, explaining 93.8% variability in the dataset. assessment of the multicollinearity related to the dataset using the variance inflation factor was found not to pose a problem (vif<5) obtained throughout for covariates is sufficient [46-49]. 2.9. data normalisation avoiding data normalisation may lead to a complex situation in the training process and non-convergence of the algorithm. the min-max normalisation technique that scales the variables in the interval between (0, 1). the data was randomised (the purpose is to reduced bias and make the output more reliable). the data was further divided into training and testing datasets after normalisation. after making a good number of data sharing attempts by trial and error, the choice of 75% was made and used for training, while the remaining 25% was used for testing. this sharing ratio gave the optimal result and accuracy compared to others where less or greater value of sharing resulted in large error. the training data performed the role of the anfis training process and the generation of the fuzzy rule-based systems (frbs), whereas, the testing data served the purpose of verifying the accuracy and effectiveness of the trained anfis model. for efficient anfis processing, the input dataset used was processed in a data frame in form of a matrix (m × n), where m is the number of instances, n is the number of variables, while the last column in the matrix represents the output. tables 6 and 7 are excerpts from the normalized training and testing data respectively. 2.10. training process the process began by obtaining a training data set (input/output data pairs) and checking of the data sets. two vectors are used to train the anfis system: the input vector and the output vector. anfis training rules used was a hybrid learning, which combines the gradient descent and the least-squares method. the training proceeds by determining the fuzzy sets and the number of sets for each input variable and the shape of their membership function. all the training data passes through the neural network, to adjust the input parameters so as to find the relationships between input/output, and to minimize errors propagation. the parameters associated with each membership function kept changing throughout the learning process and a threshold value for the error between the actual and the desired output was determined. if the error is larger than the set threshold value, then the premise parameters are updated using the gradient descent method. the consequent parameters are found using the least-squares method. the process is terminated when the error becomes less than the threshold value. we used the checking data set to compare the model with the actual system. the input node received signals from each of the five predictor nodes, connected through intervening hidden nodes. above each line is the displayed of the respective synoptic weights. the blue circles indicate bias, corresponding to the intercept in the conventional regression model. the variable “sediment volume” represents the output neuron. the network converged when the error reached 0.190791, after 417 steps. the mathematics involved in this process is shown in equations 11 and 12. figures 7 and 8 show the ann network topology and the flow diagram of the ann training process, respectively. wi j (t + 1) = wi j (t) + ηδpiop j (11) δpiwi j (t + 1) = wi j (t)+ηδpiop j+α [ wi j (t) − wi j (t − 1) ] (12) where: weight coefficient in step t+1, from neuron i to neuron j weight coefficient in step t, from neuron i to neuron j : learning coefficient : difference between desired output and network output in neuron p of layer j : output of neuron p of layer j : momentum coefficient : weight coefficient in step t-1, from neuron i to neuron j. 2.11. model validation metrics in this work, model validation was carried out using the mean squared error (mse), the mean absolute error (mae), and the correlation coefficient (r). for simplicity of use, ease of training, and better performance, the rectified linear unit (relu) activation function was used. it is a piecewise linear function that will output the input directly if it is positive, otherwise, it will output zero. equations 13 15 are the statistical models adopted in model validation. rms e = √ ∑n i=0(di − yi) 2 n (13) r = ∑ (yi−ȳ)(di−d̄) n √∑ i (di−d̄)2 n √∑ i (yi−ȳ)2 n (14) 8 oladosu et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1028 9 table 5. brief description of input parameters gully a (109 c.s) gully b (111 c.s) = 220 parameters min. max. min. max. mf rainfall (mm) 55.85 104.49 167.80 215.70 3 slope-length (m) 29.89 71.99 30.85 63.27 3 depth (m) 6.45 11.23 4.70 9.61 3 velocity (m/s) 0.51 1.84 0.44 1.86 3 particle size (µm) 28.77 41.69 34.85 47.90 3 gullies sed.vol. x 104 (m3) 5651 8473 8652 13370 3 note: c.s = cross-section, mf = membership function table 6. excerpt from normalised training data index rainfall(mm) slope(mm) depth(mm) velocity(m/s) p.size(µm) volume(m3) 139 0.952312 0.325011 0.398463 0.514887 0.60261 0.673596 98 0.003783 0.286023 0.533673 0.78711 0.373132 0.220773 112 0.785692 0.205318 0.206067 0.396444 0.645918 0.756984 144 0.979885 0.646603 0.443222 0.099204 0.763262 0.900655 126 0.864056 0.298648 0.32029 0.365815 0.673003 0.817199 209 0.869185 0.089084 0.251222 0.281811 0.753548 0.860469 35 0.269768 0.842347 0.693181 0.1207 0.446288 0.236462 123 0.818387 0.622698 0.445846 0.925704 0.610277 0.618824 177 0.819464 0.238152 0.499117 0.182115 0.509774 0.612393 212 0.840235 0.554263 0.499378 0.074061 1 1 table 7. excerpt from normalised test data index rainfall(mm) slope(mm) depth(mm) velocity(m/s) p.size(µm) volume(m3) 7 0.214163 0.958774 0.722309 0.520943 0.491623 0.271775 109 0.074786 0.497832 0.675136 0.925770 0.395535 0.190251 140 0.883963 0.322317 0.279409 0.314403 0.804152 0.706681 74 0.136978 0.710343 0.793520 0.452986 0.266164 0.117517 205 0.725127 0.308324 0.531787 0.103523 0.842459 0.869096 111 0.753561 0.242328 0.000000 0.000000 0.548667 0.693910 187 0.812660 0.211266 0.441200 0.466538 0.485644 0.623276 100 0.152822 0.205663 0.491521 0.274293 0.426886 0.261896 189 0.892676 0.359164 0.323424 0.951899 0.597544 0.580190 88 0.237729 0.535238 0.651543 0.947341 0.349382 0.198406 mae = 1 n j=1∑ n |yi − ŷi| (15) where: di : desired output of i-th data yi : network output of i-th data n: number of dataset d̄ : mean of desired output ȳ : mean of network outputs rmse: root mean square error mae: mean absolute error r: correlation coefficient the summary of the investigated neural network algorithms presented in table 5 shows that: i.) all models have two hidden layer-nodes (5, 3) with relu activation function ii.) the learning rule used for model 1 (nn-1) is resilient backward propagation. iii) levenberg algorithm was adopted for model 2 (nn-2), while iv) backward propagation algorithm was adopted for model 3 (nn-3). a model that meets all the required evaluation criteria would be the desired model. therefore, the model with the least rmse and mae errors (approaching 0) and the coefficient of determination ”r” (tending to 1) obtained from nn-3 as highlighted in table 8 is the most acceptable network result chosen. the predictive capability of the best model has an rmse of 0.0423 with an r2 of 0.947. table 9 shows the random points to demonstrate normalised and de-normalised for the training and testing datasets. table 9 presents the comparison of the actual test data and their predicted values based on the fitted training model. the 9 oladosu et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1028 10 figure 7. ann training network topology table 8. summary of network algorithms training test model hidden layer nodes activation function (f) learning rule mae rmse r mae rmse r nn-1 2 8 relu resilient backpropagation (rprop+) 0.755 0.578 0.903 0.785 0.594 0.916 nn-2 2 8 relu leverberg algorithm 0.644 0.546 0.924 0.687 0.548 0.919 nn-3 2 8 relu backpropagation (backprop) 0.0456 0.059 0.944 0.048 0.0423 0.947 remaining 25% of input parameters from the test data were fed into the trained anfis model to predict the output. it can be observed from the table that the predicted values were close to the original test data. the error rarely exceeds 10%, so the model was able to predict with an acceptable accuracy. the regression plot in figure 9 (left) displays the network outputs concerning the training and test data. for a perfect fit, the data should fall along a 45-degree line, where the network outputs are equal to the targets. for this particular problem, the fit is reasonably good for all data sets, with a trained coefficient of determination (r2) value in each case of 0.947. figure 9 (right) depicts the anfis training versus validation plot for the test dataset. a close overlap implies a high predictive power of the trained model on the new dataset. i.e., the predicted (purple 10 oladosu et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1028 11 table 9. the predictive power of the model on test data normalised de-normalised randomized index actual predicted actual predicted %error 7 0.2718 0.2676 7748.541 7716.455 0.414 109 0.1903 0.1923 7119.224 7135.055 -0.222 140 0.7067 0.8422 11105.789 12152.114 -9.421 74 0.1175 0.1527 6557.752 6829.093 -4.138 205 0.8691 0.7942 12359.551 11781.385 4.678 111 0.6939 0.6133 11007.203 10385.319 5.650 187 0.6233 0.5879 10461.952 10189.188 2.607 100 0.2619 0.2948 7672.287 7926.644 -3.315 189 0.5802 0.6580 10129.345 10729.688 -5.927 88 0.1984 0.2140 7182.175 7302.460 -1.675 186 0.6273 0.7331 10492.945 11310.069 -7.787 137 0.7870 0.8188 11725.892 11971.350 -2.093 32 0.1499 0.2065 6807.912 7244.302 -6.410 71 0.2234 0.2255 7375.058 7391.463 -0.222 210 0.7040 0.6087 11084.715 10349.643 6.631 line) has 94.7% predictive accuracy as reported from the value of r2. the attained training error for the test model is obtained as 0.0423. 3. results and discussions 3.1. sediment deposit in dam the total volume of sediment contributed for three years by gullies was 2068263.802 m3. similarly, the calculated volume of bed-load sediment gained by the dam was 840127.346 m3 (refer to tables 2 and 4). here, we are faced with using the model to reproduce the amount of sediment deposited in the dam. mathematical relationship: vgully − vt ransit = vdam (16) based on the preamble at the start of this sub-section. let, 2068263.802vgully = 840127.346vdam therefore, vdam = ( 2068263.802 840127.346 ) ×γ ⇒ vdam = 2.4618vgullyγ (17) where: γ is the smoothing parameter or correction factor with value ranging as (0 < γ < 1). %error = vdampredicted vdam × 100% (18) where: vdampredicted refers to the expected volume of sediment obtainable at the dam that would correspond to the volume computed and vdam is the final volume calculated at the dam’s end. the smoothing parameter is the correction term applied to correct unmeasured external factors such as channel gradient, channel roughness, or corrosion. it helps in computing the volume of sediment in the dam for every combination of hyperparameters specified by evaluating against a specified (dam volume constant of 840127.346 m3). the appropriate value of the correction factor can either be learned by trials and error or through cross-validation. this study adopted a cross-validation sequence combining (0.1 and 0.2 step size of 0.005) for hyperparameters. table 10 showed the percentage error and the predicted volume of the dam at each iteration of table 10, reveals the predicted volume of sediment by the anfis model. a grid search predicted value of 842895.8547 m3 obtained at 0.165 yielded the best smoothing value for predicting volume of sediment present in the dam with a percentage error of -0.3295344%. the original volume of sediment computed at the dam was 840127.346 m3 being used as constant all through. initially, the error rate decreases as increases until it attains an optimal value of 0.165. by iterating beyond this value, the error rate starts increasing in the opposite direction. 3.2. sediment loss-in-transit sediment loss-in-transit per-unit volume is the difference between the calculated amount of sediment exited (deposited) from the gullies and the amount of sediment gained by the dam. this concept forms the basis of the proposed model. equation 18 expresses another form of equation 15, obtained by making the volume of sediment loss-in-transit the subject of the formula of the relation. the deduction from the model shows that it is capable of estimating the computed volume of sediment loss-in-transit by using equation 19. vt ransit = vgully − vdam (19) total volume of soil loss (sediment) from gully = 2068263.802 m3= vgully 11 oladosu et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1028 12 figure 8. flow diagram of anfis training process total volume of bed-load sediment gained by dam = 840127.346 m3= vdam total volume of soil loss-in-transit (difference) = 1228136.456 m3= vt ransit note: the difference is the volume of sediment regarded as ”loss-in-transit,” which could not be accounted for at the dam’s end during field campaigns. therefore, we are faced with the task of using the model to predict the volume of (sediment) lossin-transit given an array or matrix of input parameters. the proposed anfis model was trained to reproduce the table 10. percentage error and predicted volume of dam at each iteration of γ γ vdam (m3) vdampredicted (m3) %error 0.100 840127.346 510845.9726 39.19422157 0.105 840127.346 536388.2712 36.15393265 0.110 840127.346 561930.5698 33.11364373 0.115 840127.346 587472.8684 30.0733548 0.120 840127.346 613015.1671 27.03306588 0.125 840127.346 638557.4657 23.99277696 0.130 840127.346 664099.7643 20.95248804 0.135 840127.346 689642.0629 17.91219912 0.140 840127.346 715184.3616 14.8719102 0.145 840127.346 740726.6602 11.83162127 0.150 840127.346 766268.9588 8.791332352 0.155 840127.346 791811.2575 5.751043431 0.160 840127.346 817353.5561 2.710754509 0.165 840127.346 842895.8547 -0.3295344** 0.170 840127.346 868438.1533 -3.369823334 0.175 840127.346 893980.452 -6.410112256 0.180 840127.346 919522.7506 -9.450401177 0.185 840127.346 945065.0492 -12.4906901 0.190 840127.346 970607.3479 -15.53097902 0.195 840127.346 996149.6465 -18.57126794 0.200 840127.346 1021691.945 -21.61155686 ** optimum smoothing parameter volume of sediment loss-in-transit at 10 randomly selected data points from the test data for (predicted gully volume and predicted dam volume) each, respectively. the results generated by the model for the predicted gully volume, the predicted dam volume, and the volume of sediment loss-in-transit including the final summation for each of the last three column variables are presented in table 11. from the 11 randomly selected points tested, the was calculated using the mathematical relationship of equation 15. hence, for a predicted gully volume of 97318.44 m3, a calculated (predicted) volume of 39530.46 m3 would be deposited in the dam. then, predicted volume loss-in-transit is therefore given as (97318.44 39530.46) m3 = 57787.98 m3. this shows that the proposed model is capable of generation output for every instance where predicted gully sediment volume and dam’s sediment volume exist. 4. conclusion this work was carried out to examine the capability of the anfis hybrid model to predict sediment volume supplied from upstream by two prominent gullies through the ikpoba river channel and the amount of sediment accumulated (gained), as much as can be accounted for at the ikpoba dam’s end. threeyear consecutive field campaigns at the gullies’ location and dam’s end enabled us to prepare, refine, normalise, and modify the input parameters for optimum model performance. we first applied the anfis model to reproduce the volume of sediment deposited in the dam as calculated and proposed a mathematical relationship that incorporated the anfis model 12 oladosu et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1028 13 figure 9. regression (left) and validation (right) plots table 11. predicted volume loss-in-transit from a random selection of 10 data points index rainfall (mm) slope (mm) depth (m) velocity (m/s) p. size (µm) volume (m3) predicted gully volume (m3) predicted dam volume (m3) volume loss-intransit (m3) 100 80.280 38.545 7.908 0.827 36.934 7672.287 7926.644 3219.779 4706.865 186 202.963 38.118 6.522 1.412 41.182 10492.945 11310.07 4594.116 6715.953 189 198.573 45.008 6.811 1.791 40.199 10129.345 10729.69 4358.367 6371.321 210 176.937 37.126 5.928 1.210 39.141 11084.715 10349.64 4203.994 6145.649 159 193.554 39.714 6.411 1.463 38.102 9951.850 10079.82 4094.394 5985.429 13 84.328 53.774 8.771 1.823 38.317 7544.943 7750.151 3148.088 4602.063 131 203.851 57.883 8.819 1.505 45.722 11620.630 12271.57 4984.675 7286.895 205 171.784 42.867 8.170 0.584 44.885 12359.551 11781.39 4785.563 6995.822 51 78.476 60.745 9.439 1.320 36.152 7370.700 7215.381 2930.866 4284.515 52 82.163 64.956 9.576 1.656 39.972 8256.199 7904.086 3210.616 4693.470 sum 97318.44 39530.46 57787.98 to generate output in form of a computed volume of sediment loss-in-transit as a function of the normalised gully sectional sediment loss and dam’s sediment accumulation. our investigations showed that the anfis model could estimate sediment deposited in the dam effectively while, at the same time, it was able to determine the volume of sediment loss-in-transit using the established mathematical equation. the best ann model with the least error and the most accurate predictive result was selected and presented. however, we made some assumptions. for example, we assume no silt (sediment) escapes from the dam by any means, (that is, the dam traps all the sediment behind it). the combined volume of sediment exited from the two gullies was treated as stagnant to be able to arrive at a numerical value. the volume of sediment deposited in the dam is treated as being localized (i. e. confined); such that numerical values can be obtained for location-based sediment volume actualisation. for these reasons, sediment transport equations were not incorporated. furthermore, rather than converting the estimated sediment volume to weight equivalent, we left it in meters cubed to save processing time and computational space. 4.1. recommendations according to our discoveries in this work, we recommend the following: due to the fast rate of siltation, there is an urgent need to dredge the dam. at present, sediment impact has rendered the ikpoba dam a failed infrastructure, hence we propose a holistic desilting or dredging for the rejuvenation of the dam to return it back to its original purpose of providing domestic water for the teeming population. gully remediation action should be prioritize and attracts necessary attention from relevant government agencies and decision13 oladosu et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1028 14 makers to enhance a safe environment devoid of land degradation. acknowledgements the authors are grateful to iterlen industrial services ltd, km 1 effurun-dsc express road, ugbolokposo, delta state for the release of the hi-target echo-sounder and accessories, the department of geomatics, university of benin, for the assistance with the total station equipment used for data collection, the department of civil engineering for allowing the laboratory to be used for soil analysis. the authors are also grateful to the federal government of nigeria for providing part of the funding for this research through the tertiary education trust fund (tetfund) initiative with grant no: reg/ssa/p.15799/83 (2018 intervention). references [1] s. 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[49] r. m. o’brien, “a caution regarding rule of thumb for variance inflation factor”, qual quant. 41 (2007) 673. 15 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 340–343 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences preparation and characterization of zinc metal soap from shea butter (vitellaria paradoxa) o. amosa,∗, t. e. odetoyeb, d. s. ogunniyib adepartment of industrial chemistry, federal university, lokoja, p.m.b 1154, lokoja, nigeria bdepartment of chemical engineering, university of ilorin, p.m.b 1515, ilorin, nigeria abstract zinc metal soaps are of great importance in the manufacture of personal care products and other industrial applications. variations in the soaps and their properties are usually due to the type of oil used in the synthesis. shea butter (vitellaria paradoxa), being a valuable industrial raw material, was investigated for the synthesis of zinc metal soap. locally obtained shea butter was characterized, refined and used to synthesize metal soap of zinc which was characterized. the zinc soap produced exhibited an off-white appearance, ph of 7.8, non-foaming, and no free alkalinity present. the functional groups in the soap were confirmed by ftir. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2021.238 keywords: zinc metal soap, shea butter, fitr. article history : received: 2 august 2021 received in revised form: 7 october 2021 accepted for publication: 8 october 2021 published: 29 november 2021 c©2021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: e. a. emile 1. introduction shea butter is a common fat extracted from the fruit of the african shea tree (vitellaria paradoxa) that is available in many african countries in the wild [1]. the shea tree fruits are usually collected by women while the fat is obtained traditionally by boiling the kernel in water and scooping the solidified fats after cooling. the butter is also obtained by screw press. it usually presents yellow colour in the raw form with the processed versions being ivory or whitish in colour [2]. shea butter consists mainly of stearic and oleic fatty acid moieties in its triglycerides [3]. it is widely used in cosmetics as a moisturizer, salve, lotion and medicinal purposes [4]. shea butter is edible and used as an ∗corresponding author tel. no: +2348030677482 email address: olusegun.amos@fulokja.edu.ng, olusegunamos@yahoo.com (o. amos ) alternate butter in chocolate production [1]. it has been reported as a potential raw material for biodiesel production [5]. metal soaps are alkaline-earth or heavy-metal long chain carboxylates that are insoluble in water but soluble in non-aqueous solvents. metal soaps can be represented with a general formula (rco 2 ) 2 m where m can be zn, cd, pb, ba, ca, co, cu, al, fe, e.t.c. and r is a linear or branched alkyl group [6]. metal soaps can be produced using any of the following processes: double decomposition (metathesis), direct reaction of carboxylic acid with metal oxides, hydroxides and carbonates and direct reaction of metals with molten fatty acid [7]. metallic soaps have been found to be useful in various fields. metal carboxylates are significant in the production of poly vinyl chloride (pvc) which is a vital commercial polymer [8]. metal carboxylates have been used as green initiators for the ring-opening alternating copolymerization of cyclic anhydride and epoxide [9]. metal soaps from nonconventional oils can 340 o. amos et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 340–343 341 also be utilized as paint additives, stabilizer for pvc and for inhibition of corrosion in metals and used as grease [8],colouring vanishes, cosmetics and textiles [10]. the metal soaps of lead, manganese, cobalt and zinc soaps are used in paints to accelerate drying while copper soaps exhibit fungicidal properties. soaps of zinc, iron, nickel, cobalt and chromium have been applied for the production of water proofing leather and canvas. metal soaps are also important in the studies of degradation in paints, their formation resulting in chemo-mechanical damage in historical oil paintings have been reported [11]. the sizes of the metal soap nucleus have been found to influence undesirable metal soap crystallization and growth in historical oil paintings [11, 12]. hence, there is a need for more research to be directed towards the production and properties of more metal soaps from various oil sources for more suitable applications. moreso, there is a growing demand for metal soaps as polymer additives [13]. in pharmaceutical field, zinc stearate is a component of the familiar facial or dusting powder and serves as an antiseptic emollient when incorporated with petrolatum. zinc stearate is also useful as an activator in the accelerated vulcanization of rubber. utilization of shea butter in the production of metallic soap is a potential means of promoting agro-industrial economy of the african countries where the shea trees abound. the aim of this study is to investigate the preparation of zinc metal soaps from shea butter as a potential industrial raw material for metal soap production. based on the review of earlier literature, works on zinc soap of shea butter is scarcely reported. 2. materials and methods 2.1. source of material the shea butter (vitellaria paradoxa) was purchased from kabba central market in kogi state, nigeria. 2.2. refining of shea butter a portion of the shea butter was refined via sequential steps of degumming, neutralization and bleaching in accordance to the methods described in literature [14, 15] with little modification of washing the oil several times with hot water during neutralization process to ensure complete removal of the foot. 2.3. characterization of the butter the physical and chemical properties of the shea butter sample were analyzed according to astm standards [16] for the determination of density, specific gravity, acid value, iodine value and saponification value. the functional groups in the shea butter were determined by the infrared spectrophotometer while the fatty acid constituents of shea butter were also recorded on the agilent gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (model 7890a gc system,5675c inert msd with triple axis detector). figure 1: saponification of oil to form sodium soap figure 2: precipitation of zinc soap 2.4. synthesis of zinc metal soap metathesis, which is the mostly used method involves two reactions. firstly, the aqueous caustic is reacted with fatty acid and subsequently, the reaction of the formed sodium salt with the inorganic salt of the desired metal as shown in figures 1 and 2. the saponification reaction is usually carried out at high temperature and in the presence of excess water to dissolve the glycerol formed in the reaction mixture. consequently, this disallowed the reactions between glycerol (by-product) and the product of metal soap. the zinc metal soap was prepared by metathesis in aqueous alcoholic solution as summarized in figure 3, where r in figures 1 and 2 is stearic acid. figure 3: summary of zinc metal soap formation 9.2 g of refined shea butter was dissolved in 10 ml of ethanol at a temperature of 70◦c followed by the addition of 5 ml of 5m naoh solution. to this mixture, 20 ml of 1.86m znso4 solution was slowly added with continuous stirring. upon addition of the solution, the precipitation of the metal soap commenced [8] with little modification). the metal soap that was precipitated was then filtered off and washed with 30 ml hot water (80◦c) and air dried at room temperature for 48 h. the colour of the metal soap was noted and the yield was calculated. 2.5. characterization of the zinc metal soap synthesized the properties of the zinc metal soap prepared were determined for ph, free caustic alkalinity, foaming power and stability[8]. as stated by osmond [17] that ftir are highly effective for the characterization of metal soaps, the spectra were 341 o. amos et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 340–343 342 also recorded on fourier transform infra-red spectrophotometer. 3. results and discussions 3.1. properties of shea butter the melting point of the crude shea butter was 32◦c while its cloud point was found to be 24◦c. table 1 shows the results obtained for the properties of both the crude and refined shea butter. the values obtained for shea butter, both refined and unrefined shown in table 1. when compared with the values obtained by chiboret al [18],a high acid values of 4.48 and 5.32 for the crude and refined butters respectively indicated that the oil sample contained more free fatty acids thus indicating its exposure to rancidity. the values depend on the method of extraction as the acid values obtained by solvent extraction and cold press methods were 3.50 and 9.54 mg koh/g respectively [19]. the saponification values obtained for the crude and refined samples were 122 mg/koh and 150 mg/koh, respectively. these values were smaller to the one reported by abdul-hammed for the solvent extracted (172.2mg/koh) and cold press extracted (185.7 mg/koh) methods [20, 21, 22, 23]. a high saponification value shows that the oil is suitable for industrial use, especially for soap making [24]. the desirably low iodine number of shea butter is indicative of the rich saturated fatty acids contents of the oil, which ensure stability against oxidation and rancidity of food prepared from the oil. it also promotes desirable properties for shortening and margarine production. 3.1.1. physicochemical properties of prepared zinc metal soap figure 4 shows the metal soap produced. the properties of the prepared zinc metal soap are as shown in the table 2. the appearance of the zinc metal soap prepared is as shown in figure 4. the metal soap was milky/off-white in colour as a characteristic of zinc salts. zinc salts are not expected to be coloured since it is not a transition metal. zinc metal soap being white can be applicable in white paints as pigments and paint driers [8]. the ph of the metal soap was 7.8 which is neutral in nature and thereby making it safe to handle. the yield of 6.38 38 g (98%) is a good one and also a signal of high profitability if table 1: physicochemical properties of crude and refined shea butter sample properties crude oil refined oil density (g/cm3) 0.69 0.69 specific gravity 0.90 n.d acid value 4.48 5.32 iodine value 3.04 4.568 saponification value 122 150 n.d – not determined figure 4: prepared zinc metal soap sample. table 2: the properties of the zinc metal soap prepared metal soap colour weight (g) ph foam stability free caustic alkalinity zinc metal soap milky 6.38 7.8 no foam nil industrially exploited. . the metal soap produced was a mixture of fatty acid carboxylates of zinc, mainly zinc stearate since the major fatty acid components of the shea butter was stearic acid there was no free caustic alkalinity present in the synthesized d metal soap which indicated that there are no alkalinities left in the soap. the zinc metal soap prepared has poor detergency properties due to its hydrophobic property. figure 5: ftir of refined shea butter. figures 5 and 6 showed the infrared spectra of the refined shea butter and that of zn metal soap in region 4000 to 500 cm−1 for both samples respectively. from the spectra, the absorption band at 2926 cm−1 was the asymmetry vibration of ch2 stretch, 342 o. amos et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 340–343 343 figure 6: ftir spectra of zinc metal soap. while that at 2850 cm−1 was due to the symmetry vibration of ch2 stretch. the c = o stretch of triglyceride linkage was seen at 1742 cm−1. the small absorption band observed at 1669 cm−1 was the characteristic carbonyl stretching band of ester linkage (c = o). it was observed that the absorption at 1710 cm−1 due to c = o of free fatty acids in the shea butter (figure 5) has disappeared in the metal soap (figure 6). the c − h absorption of bending vibration of ch2 and ch3 bands was observed at 1470 cm−1. the bands of ch2 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[24] r. bacalogulu & m. fisch, “degradation and stabilization of poly(vinyl chloride) 11. kinetics of the thermal degradation of poly (vinyl chloride)”, journal of polymer degradation and stability 45 (1994) 325. 343 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 216–223 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences assessment of excess gamma dose exposure level in typical nigeria commercial building materials distribution outlets a. m. aserea,∗, t. o. owolabia, b. d. alafea, o. p. alabia, m. b. alimia adepartment of physics and electronics, adekunle ajasin university, akungba akoko, ondo state, nigeria abstract the gamma dose rate exposure levels from different brands of building materials at commercial distribution stores/shops in two major cities in ondo state, nigeria, were measured using a well calibrated inspector 1000 scintillator detector. the results showed that the different brands of building materials which are “corrugated iron sheet, aluminum roofing sheets, conduit pipes, paints, cement, pvc pipes, wash hand basin, bath tub, water closet, kitchen zinc, asbestos, floor tiles, wall tiles, bullet proof door, binding wire, rings and rods, red bricks, galvanized pipes, copper pipes, water tanks” contributed excess annual effective doses of 0.332 msv/y and 0.311msv/y to store keepers in ikare akoko and akure cities respectively. the indoor and outdoor annual effective dose of each of the investigated two cities are correlated using simple linear regression equations. the results of the modeling and experiment show that annual effective dose received by the occupants of these shops/stores was about 12 % higher than what could be received in a typical natural radiation environment in the two cities because the building materials acts as a source of radiation indoor. the research indicated that the typical habit of using poorly ventilated and confined space as stores/shops by the sales men might subject them to internal exposure through inhalation of radon gas and its short-lived decay products. implementation of the developed equations would definitely promote rapid determination of outdoor annual effective dose through indoor annual effective dose and ultimately save time and other valuable resources. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2021.188 keywords: building material, ikare akoko, akure, indoor and outdoor gamma exposure, building material shop/store, annual effective dose. article history : received: 31 march 2021 received in revised form: 28 june 2021 accepted for publication: 30 june 2021 published: 29 august 2021 c©2021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: w. a. yahya 1. introduction building materials are any materials which are used for construction purposes, such as materials for dwellings, offices and industrial premises. all building materials that are derived from soils and rocks always contain trace amount of natural radionuclides from potassium, uranium, and thorium series, and the radionuclides that are created as their radioactive decay chains [1, 2, 3]. building materials may contain elevated concentration ∗corresponding author tel. no: +234(0)8067226208 email address: (a. m. asere ) of any of the primordial radionuclides or radioactive elements as they occur in nature. elevated concentrations of natural occurring radioactive materials (norm) are often found in certain geological resources [4, 5]. human activities such as that of the building materials manufacturers, exploit these resources and may lead to significantly enhanced concentrations of radionuclides which may also enhance the potential for exposure to natural occurring radioactive materials in these products [6]. human exposure to natural radiation from building materials is both internal and external. the external exposure is 216 asere et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 216–223 217 caused by gamma radiation that is released from the building material as a consequence of the radioactive decay of the natural radionuclides present in them while the internal exposure is mainly caused by alpha-particle due to inhalation of radon daughters from the decay of radium-226 which is released from building materials to indoor air [7, 8]. long time exposure to nuclear particles emissions from building materials may lead to several health issues [9]. the type of building material and where it is sourced from can determine the amount of radionuclides in the material since building materials reflect their geologic formation and origin [10, 11]. background radiation is a measure of the ionizing radiation present in the environment at a particular location which is not due to deliberate introduction of radiation sources. background radiation originates from a variety of sources, both natural and artificial. these include both cosmic radiation and environmental radioactivity from naturally occurring radioactive materials as well as manmade fallout from nuclear weapons testing and nuclear accidents [12]. some past researches have reported measurements of gamma dose exposure levels in various building materials in nigeria [13, 14, 15, 16]. their studies indicated the particular brand of building materials that will present elevated levels of gamma dose exposure. [14] suggested that the controls of radioactivity of building materials could be based on a lower dose criteria in the range of 0.3 − 1.0 msv/y, if it is judged that this is desirable and will not lead to impractical control. this research further stated that the dose criteria used for the control of radioactivity should be defined as the excess exposure caused by the building materials. thus, this study determined the gamma dose exposure from different brands of typical building materials commonly found and being used in nigeria. using the commercial stores/shops outlets in ondo state, southwestern nigeria as a study area, the research was geared toward determining the extent at which the gamma dose exposure level inside the commercial building materials stores were in excess to gamma dose exposure in the local background environment. the major practice of the owners of these shops outlets is to display samples of their goods outside the shops for advertisement and for customers to see while the bulk of their goods are inside the shop or another warehouse. the shop owners and sale representatives either sit outside or inside the shops or warehouse to attend to customers all day long. most of these shops have one very small window or no window at all. these confined and poorly ventilated business workplaces expose all the small, medium and large scale business entrepreneurs to the effect of the radioactive emissions from the building materials. with 80 % of their time spent indoor and 20 % spent outdoor on daily basis, the occupants of these shop outlets may be receiving significant gamma dose from both the indoor and outdoor exposure unaware and without taken preventive measures. 2. study area two major cities in ondo state, southwestern nigeria were used for the research study. the two cities are akure and ikare akoko. akure city is the state capital of ondo state, nigeria. it lies on latitude 7◦ 25′ north of the equator and longitude 5◦ 19′ east of the greenwich meridian. it stands on the altitude of about 370 meters above sea level. the climate is hot and humid, influenced by rain bearing monsoon winds from the ocean and dry northwest wind from the sahara desert. the rainy season varies from april to october with rainfall of about 1524 mm per year. the temperature varies from 28◦c to 31◦c with a mean annual relative humidity of about 80 %. akure is a fast growing city and has its population increased tremendously over the years due to many factors. the city is the largest commercial center in ondo state with several markets, industries and higher institutions. the research was carried out in major areas where building materials were being sold in large quantities, such as arakale road, nepa road, oja oba market and several other shops outlets for building materials. ikare akoko city is about 100 km from akure. the city is the current headquarter of akoko north-east local government area in ondo state. it is located at an elevation of about 462 meters above sea level. its coordinates are 7◦ 31′ north and 5◦ 45′ east. it covers an estimated area of about 30 km2 . the topography is that of a hilly environment, gently undulating. ikare akoko falls within the rainforest zone where leaves are ever green during the rainy season and capable of shedding leaves during the dry season. ikare akoko is a chief commercial city in ondo state with several industrial base and markets. the research was carried out around oja oba market and other markets which have several shop outlets for building materials that are sold to customers from within and around the city. the two cities lie within the migmatite gneiss-quartzite complex of southwestern nigeria, generally referred to as the undifferentiated gneiss migmatite complex [17, 18]. the major types of rocks found in the area are the granite gneiss, migmatite, and charnokite. igneous rock such as granite had been identified to contain high levels of radionuclides [3]. 3. measurement procedure the detector used for this research was a high performance well calibrated sodium iodide handheld inspector 1000 spectrometer, figure 3. the instrument is specially designed for environmental screening and field measurements application requiring dose and count rate measurement. it has an energy range of 50 kev to 3 mev. the dose measured correspond to the equivalent dose on the depth of the human tissue (h ∗ 10). the gamma dose rate measurements were performed by placing the detector at a height of one meter above the ground surface with the probe facing downward. three consecutive readings were taken in a location for six minutes each [12] and the average recorded to represent the value for the particular location. the instrument was carried from one building material store to 217 asere et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 216–223 218 another and the procedure was repeated in each case. the indoor measurements were performed inside the shops and warehouse where the materials are kept while the outdoor measurements were taken where the materials are displayed outside the stores. the background radiation were measured on the roads and distanced from where the building materials are displayed. the distance of each warehouse from the road varied from location to location. it ranged from a distance of 3 m to about 10 m. figure 1. inspector 1000 spectrometer the total number of shops covered in this research were 32 shops in ikare akoko and 55 shops in akure city. the type of building materials in the two cities and the number of shops selling a particular building materials are shown in the table of values. a total of 19 different building materials types were found in the markets. 4. results and discussions 4.1. gamma dose rate the gamma dose rate values are direct measurements value from the instrument. tables 1 and 2 present the results of both indoor and outdoor gamma exposure dose rate levels in ikare akoko and akure city. the tables present the range of values, the mean gamma dose values and background dose rate levels for each type of building material at various stores. the background dose measured on the roads and distance from where the building materials were being sold showed the environmental dose in the local typical environment outside the building of the shop/store. in ikare akoko, the gamma dose rate background values ranges from (0.045 ± 0.01 to 0.065 ± 0.01) µsvh−1 with a mean value of 0.052 µsvh−1. in akure, the background gamma dose rate value ranges from (0.048 ± 0.01 to 0.063 ± 0.01) µsvh−1 with a mean value of 0.059 µsvh−1. in ikare akoko city, for the building materials kept inside the stores, the indoor gamma dose rate ranges from (0.08 to 0.140) µsvh−1 with a range of mean value from (0.093 ± 0.01 to 0.128 ± 0.01) µsvh−1 while for the materials displayed outside, the outdoor gamma dose rate ranges from (0.05 to 0.010) µsvh−1 with a range of mean value between (0.065 ± 0.01 to 0.094 ± 0.01) µsvh−1. the mean dose rate value from all the building materials available in the stores was 0.104±0.01 µsvh−1 for materials kept indoor and 0.079 ± 0.01 µsvh−1 for materials displayed outdoor. in akure city, for the building materials kept inside the stores, the indoor gamma dose rate ranges from (0.08 to 0.110) µsvh−1 with a ranges of mean value between (0.076 ± 0.01 to 0.115 ± 0.01) µsvh−1 while for the materials displayed outside, the outdoor gamma dose rate ranges from (0.05 to 0.09) µsvh−1 with a range of mean value between (0.062 ± 0.01 to 0.093 ± 0.01) µsvh−1. the mean dose rate value from all the building materials available in the stores was 0.099±0.01 µsvh−1 for materials kept indoor and 0.077±0.01 µsvh−1 for materials displayed outdoor. 4.2. annual effective dose the estimation of exposure scenario for the sales men/women using the shop outlets was based on total exposure from all the building materials listed. this was because there was no shop or warehouse where a single material was being sold; they sell all or more than half of the building materials listed. the mean absorbed dose rate values for each building material indoor and outdoor were used to calculate the annual effective dose. assuming that exposure was uniformly distributed throughout the year, the occupancy time of 3444 hy−1 was used based on working for a maximum of 12 hours daily for 6 days in a week and 52 weeks in a year. the occupancy factor of 0.8 for indoor and 0.2 for outdoor was also used. he = dtf (1) where he is the annual effective dose (ms vy−1 ), d is the mean dose rate value (µsvh−1 ), t is the time of the year (hy−1 ) and f is the occupancy factor. table 3 present the values of annual effective dose in ikare akoko and akure respectively. the estimated value of annual effective dose due to background dose mean value that could be received outside in a local typical environment in the two cities where measurements were made was 0.039 ms vy−1 in ikare akoko and 0.044 ms vy−1 in akure. for ikare akoko, the estimated value of annual effective dose from the building materials stores varies from (0.29 to 0.383) ms vy−1 indoor with a mean value of 0.312 ms vy−1 and from (0.049 to 0.070) ms vy−1 outdoor with a mean value of 0.059 ms vy−1. the total mean annual effective dose value for the occupants of these shops who rotate their sitting position from inside to outside and vice versa for daily typical routine throughout the year was estimated to be 0.371 ms vy−1. for akure, the estimated value of annual effective dose from the building materials stores varies from (0.230 to 0.357) ms vy−1 indoor with a mean value of 0.298 ms vy−1 and from (0.045 to 0.069) ms vy−1 outdoor with a mean value of 0.057 ms vy−1. the total mean annual effective dose value for the shop keepers who either stayed outside or inside to attend to customers for a 218 asere et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 216–223 219 typical daily routine business activity throughout the year was estimated to be 0.355 ms vy−1. in the two cities, the annual effective dose due to exposure from the building materials, was about 12 % higher than the natural background annual effective dose. 4.3. excess gamma dose in both cities the background dose values were less than the outdoor dose rate values and both were less than the indoor dose rate values. if the dose criteria used for control of radioactivity of building materials should be defined as the excess exposure caused by building materials; that is, the background gamma dose from natural radionuclides in the local typical environment need to be subtracted from the gamma dose from building materials [15]. the excess annual effective dose was obtained by subtracting the background annual effective dose obtained in the typical local environment from the total annual effective dose obtained from the total indoor and outdoor exposure from the commercial building materials distribution outlets as shown in table 4. it could be deduced that the excess gamma radiation dose originating from these building materials increased the annual effective dose received by the sales men or store keepers from either by staying indoors or outdoors with the building materials by 0.332 ms vy−1 in ikare akoko and 0.311 ms vy−1 in akure. when gamma dose are limited to levels below 1 ms vy−1, controls could be based on a lower dose criteria in the range 0.3 − 1.0 ms vy−1, if it is judged that this is desirable and will not lead to impractical control [15]. in this research, the excess exposure caused by these building materials were 0.311 and 0.332 ms vy−1, which are in the range 0.3 − 1.0 ms vy−1. therefore, for low dose criteria for control of radioactivity of building materials, control could be based in the range 0.3−1.0 ms vy−1. figure 2. regression function showing the relationship between indoor and outdoor gamma dose for ikare city figure 3. regression function showing the relationship between indoor and outdoor annual effective dose for ikare city figure 4. regression function showing the relationship between indoor and outdoor gamma dose for akure city figure 5. regression function showing the relationship between indoor and outdoor annual effective dose for akure city 4.4. correlation cross-plot between indoor and outdoor radiation figure 4.3 presents the correlation cross-plot between indoor and outdoor gamma dose for ikare city while figure 4.3 219 asere et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 216–223 220 table 1. the range, mean value of indoor and outdoor gamma dose rate and background dose rate level in ikare akoko s/n building materials no of shops indoor dose (µ sv/h) outdoor dose (µ sv/h) background dose (µ sv/h) range mean ± sd range mean ± sd 1 iron corrugated sheets 7 0.080 0.120 0.104± 0.01 0.070-.110 0.083± .01 0.061± 0.01 2 aluminum roofing sheets 7 0.0800.120 0.105± 0.01 0.070-.110 0.070±0.03 0.058± 0.01 3 conduit pipes 10 0.0900.120 0.104± 0.01 0.060-.100 0.082± .01 0.054± 0.01 4 paints 9 0.0900.130 0.112± 0.01 0.070-.110 0.082±0.01 0.054± 0.01 5 cements 5 0.1200.140 0.128± 0.01 0.080-.100 0.094± .01 0.062± 0.01 6 pvc pipes 11 0.0900.130 0.112± 0.01 0.060-.100 0.088± .01 0.055± 0.01 7 wash hand basin 6 0.0800.090 0.093 ± 0.0 0.060-.100 0.075±0.02 0.04 ± 0.01 8 bath tub 8 0.0800.110 0.099± 0.01 0.060-.100 0.080±0.01 0.049± 0.01 9 water closet 7 0.0800.120 0.101± 0.01 0.060-.100 0.083±0.02 0.050± 0.01 10 kitchen zinc 10 0.0800.130 0.103± 0.01 0.060-.100 0.083±0.01 0.052± 0.01 11 asbestos 7 0.0800.110 0.094± 0.01 0.050-.090 0.071±0.01 0.049± 0.01 12 floor tiles 8 0.0800.120 0.094± 0.01 0.060-.080 0.069±0.01 0.048± 0.01 13 wall tiles 7 0.0800.110 0.093± 0.01 0.060-.080 0.071±0.01 0.046± 0.01 14 bullet-proof door 2 0.0900.100 0.095± 0.01 0.060-.070 0.065± 0.01 0.045± 0.01 15 binding wire, rings & rods 3 0.1100.130 0.127± 0.01 0.080-.090 0.087±0.01 0.053± 0.01 16 red bricks 2 0.1000.120 0.110± 0.01 0.080-.090 0.085±0.01 0.050± 0.01 17 galvanized pipes 2 0.0900.120 0.105± 0.02 0.070-.090 0.080± 0.01 0.050± 0.01 18 copper pipes 2 0.0900.120 0.105± 0.02 0.060-.090 0.075± 0.02 0.055± 0.01 19 water tanks 5 0.0800.110 0.094± 0.01 0.060-.090 0.074± 0.01 0.05 ± 0.01 table 2. the range, mean value of indoor and outdoor gamma dose rate and background dose rate level in akure s/n building materials no of shops indoor dose (µ sv/h) outdoor dose (µ sv/h) background dose (µ sv/h) range mean ± sd range mean ± sd 1 iron corrugated sheets 12 0.07-0.13 0.0967±0.02 0.05-0.09 0.0717±0.01 0.0525±0.01 2 aluminum roofing sheets 14 0.08-0.13 0.0986±0.01 0.05-0.09 0.0736±0.01 0.0554±0.01 3 conduit pipes 11 0.08-0.13 0.1012±0.02 0.06-0.11 0.07818±0.01 0.0618±0.01 4 paints 15 0.07-0.13 0.0927±0.02 0.05-0.09 0.0707±0.01 0.0533±0.01 5 cements 12 0.09-0.14 0.1192±0.02 0.07-0.12 0.0933±0.01 0.0717±0.01 6 pvc pipes 21 0.07-0.13 0.1010±0.02 0.05-0.10 0.0819±0.1 0.0624±0.01 7 wash hand basin 9 0.08-0.13 0.1078±0.01 0.06-0.09 0.0829±0.01 0.0633±0.01 8 bath tub 15 0.08-0.13 0.0993±0.01 0.07-0.09 0.082±0.01 0.0627±0.01 9 water closet 13 0.08-0.12 0.1008±0.09 0.06-0.08 0.0792±0.01 0.0546±0.01 10 kitchen zinc 17 0.08-0.12 0.1006±0.01 0.05-0.09 0.0688±0.01 0.0542±0.01 11 asbestos 19 0.06-0.13 0.0879±0.02 0.04-0.09 0.0715±0.02 0.0563±0.01 12 floor tiles 27 0.07-0.12 0.0933±0.01 0.06-0.09 0.0738±0.01 0.0567±0.01 13 wall tiles 17 0.08-0.12 0.0971±0.01 0.06-0.10 0.0789±0.01 0.0476±0.01 14 bullet-proof door 2 0.09-0.10 0.095±0.01 0.07-0.08 0.075±0.01 0.0550±0.01 15 binding wire, rings & rods 13 0.06-0.09 0.06-0.09 0.05-0.07 0.0615±0.01 0.0492±0.01 16 red bricks 4 0.10-0.13 0.10-0.13 0.05-0.08 0.065±0.01 0.0475±0.01 17 galvanized pipes 4 0.09-0.13 0.09-0.13 0.07-0.11 0.0875±0.01 0.055±0.01 18 copper pipes 4 0.09-0.13 0.09-0.13 0.06-0.11 0.0825±0.02 0.050±0.01 19 water tanks 13 0.08-0.13 0.08-0.13 0.06-0.11 0.0823±0.01 0.0538±0.01 220 asere et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 216–223 221 table 3. indoor and outdoor annual effective dose in ikare akoko and akure respectively ikare akoko akure s/n building materials indoor dose ( msv/y) outdoor dose (msv/y) indoor dose (msv/hy) outdoor dose (msv/y) 1 corrugated iron sheets 0.312 ± 0.01 0.062 ± 0.01 0.2896±0.02 0.0537±0.01 2 aluminum roofing sheets 0.314 ± 0.01 0.052 ± 0.03 0.2899±0.01 0.0551±0.01 3 conduit pipes 0.312 ± 0.01 0.061 ± 0.01 0.3031±0.02 0.0585±0.01 4 paints 0.335 ± 0.01 0.061 ± 0.01 0.2777±0.02 0.0529±0.01 5 cements 0.383 ± 0.01 0.070 ± 0.01 0.3570±0.02 0.0699±0.01 6 pvc pipes 0.335 ± 0.01 0.066 ± 0.01 0.3025±0.02 0.0613±0.1 7 wash hand basin 0.279 ± 0.01 0.056 ± 0.02 0.3229±0.01 0.0621±0.01 8 bath tub 0.297 ± 0.01 0.060 ± 0.01 0.2974±0.01 0.0614±0.01 9 water closet 0.303 ± 0.01 0.062 ± 0.02 0.3019±0.01 0.0593±0.01 10 kitchen zinc 0.309 ± 0.01 0.062 ± 0.01 0.3013±0.01 0.0516±0.01 11 asbestos 0.282 ± 0.01 0.053 ± 0.01 0.2633±0.02 0.0535±0.02 12 floor tiles 0.282 ± 0.01 0.052 ± 0.01 0.2795±0.01 0.0553±0.01 13 wall tiles 0.279 ± 0.01 0.053 ± 0.01 0.2908±0.01 0.0591±0.01 14 bullet-proof door 0.285 ± 0.01 0.049± 0.01 0.2845±0.01 0.0456±0.01 15 binding wire, rings & rods 0.380 ± 0.01 0.065 ± 0.01 0.2303±0.01 0.0461±0.01 16 red bricks 0.329 ± 0.01 0.064 ± 0.01 0.3444±0.01 0.0487±0.01 17 galvanized pipes 0.314 ± 0.02 0.060 ± 0.01 0.3295±0.02 0.0655±0.01 18 copper pipes 0.314 ± 0.02 0.056 ± 0.02 0.2896±0.02 0.0618±0.02 19 water tanks 0.282 ± 0.01 0.055 ± 0.01 0.3064±0.01 0.0616±0.01 1 corrugated iron sheets 0.312 ± 0.01 0.062 ± 0.01 0.2896±0.02 0.0537±0.01 2 aluminum roofing sheets 0.314 ± 0.01 0.052 ± 0.03 0.2899±0.01 0.0551±0.01 3 conduit pipes 0.312 ± 0.01 0.061 ± 0.01 0.3031±0.02 0.0585±0.01 4 paints 0.335 ± 0.01 0.061 ± 0.01 0.2777±0.02 0.0529±0.01 5 cements 0.383 ± 0.01 0.070 ± 0.01 0.3570±0.02 0.0699±0.01 6 pvc pipes 0.335 ± 0.01 0.066 ± 0.01 0.3025±0.02 0.0613±0.1 7 wash hand basin 0.279 ± 0.01 0.056 ± 0.02 0.3229±0.01 0.0621±0.01 8 bath tub 0.297 ± 0.01 0.060 ± 0.01 0.2974±0.01 0.0614±0.01 9 water closet 0.303 ± 0.01 0.062 ± 0.02 0.3019±0.01 0.0593±0.01 10 kitchen zinc 0.309 ± 0.01 0.062 ± 0.01 0.3013±0.01 0.0516±0.01 11 asbestos 0.282 ± 0.01 0.053 ± 0.01 0.2633±0.02 0.0535±0.02 12 floor tiles 0.282 ± 0.01 0.052 ± 0.01 0.2795±0.01 0.0553±0.01 13 wall tiles 0.279 ± 0.01 0.053 ± 0.01 0.2908±0.01 0.0591±0.01 14 bullet-proof door 0.285 ± 0.01 0.049± 0.01 0.2845±0.01 0.0456±0.01 15 binding wire, rings & rods 0.380 ± 0.01 0.065 ± 0.01 0.2303±0.01 0.0461±0.01 16 red bricks 0.329 ± 0.01 0.064 ± 0.01 0.3444±0.01 0.0487±0.01 17 galvanized pipes 0.314 ± 0.02 0.060 ± 0.01 0.3295±0.02 0.0655±0.01 18 copper pipes 0.314 ± 0.02 0.056 ± 0.02 0.2896±0.02 0.0618±0.02 19 water tanks 0.282 ± 0.01 0.055 ± 0.01 0.3064±0.01 0.0616±0.01 presents the cross-plot showing annual effective dose for the same city. the equation inscribed in figure 4.3 shows the relationship between indoor and outdoor gamma dose for ikare city. the equation was obtained from simple linear regression using the experimentally acquired data. the equation is characterized with high degree of precision as measured from its root mean square error as well as the mean absolute error. similar 221 asere et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 216–223 222 table 4. excess annual effective dose (msvy -1 ) in ikare akoko and akure respectively ikare akure outdoor indoor total background excess outdoor indoor total background excess 0.059 0.312 0.371 0.039 0.331 0.057 0.298 0.355 0.044 0.311 equation relating the indoor and outdoor effective annual dose for the same ikare city is presented in figure 4.3. figure 4.3 and figure 4.3 respectively presents the correlation cross-plot between indoor/outdoor gamma dose and annual effective dose for akure city. implementation of equations would definitely enhance quick determination of outdoor gamma dose and annual effective dose for every known indoor radiation. 5. recommendations in order to limit the level of exposure, shop/storekeepers should stay outside their shops more than they stay inside because the indoor radiation dose is more than the outdoor radiation dose. in the two cities, the indoor exposure to gamma dose was 84 % of the total dose. the gamma exposure could be reduced by improving the ventilation in their stores, and it is advisable for them to spend less time, say about 10 hours or less a day for 6 days in a week for 50 weeks in a year, in order to reduce their level of exposure. however, because of confined space and very poor ventilation inside these shops/stores, these sales men may be subjected to high internal exposure by inhalation of radon and its short-lived progeny. exposure to low doses of gamma radiation in these shops may not cause immediate health effect but it is a minor contributor to overall cancer risk because the risk increases as the dose increases. it is therefore advisable for nigerians that are involved in this kind of business to put good ventilation of their stores into consideration. the practice of having one small window or no window at all in these shops increases their level of internal exposure to high radon gas inhalation. 6. conclusions the gamma dose rate exposure levels in typical commercial building materials distribution outlets in ikare akoko and akure, ondo state, nigeria, has been carried out. the results showed that the total average annual effective dose received by the store keepers from both indoor and outdoor exposure to radionuclides emission from building materials were 0.371 msv/y and 0.355 msv/y respectively which is below the international accepted limit of 1 msv/y for the general public. the excess gamma radiation dose originating from these building materials increased the background annual effective dose with a value a little above 0.3 msv/y in both cities. references [1] a. chandrasekaran, r. ravisankar, a. rajalakshmi, p. eswaran, p. vijayagopal & b. venkatraman, “assessment of natural radioactivity and function of minerals in soils of yelagiri hills, tamilnadu, india by gamma ray spectroscopic and 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[5] r .m. anjos, a. j. juri, a. s. cid, r. cardoso & t. lacerda,“external gamma–ray dose rate and radon concentration in indoor environments covered with brazilian granites”, j. environ. radio. 102 (2011) 1055, https://doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.06.001. [6] b.m. moharram, m.n. suliman, n.f. zahran, s.e. shennawy & a.r. elsayed, “external exposure doses due to gamma emitting natural radionuclides in some egyptian building materials” appl. rad. isot. 70 (2012) 241, https://doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2011.07.013. [7] e. devanesan, j. chandramohan, g. senthilkumar, n. harikrishnan, m. s. gandhi, s. s. kolekar & r. ravisankar “natural radioactivity concentrations and dose assessment in coastal sediments along the east coast of tamilnadu, india with statistical approach” acta ecologica sinica. 40 (2020) 353, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chnaes.2019.06.001. [8] unscear, “sources and effects of ionizing radiation without scientific annexes”, new york, (2000). [9] k. a. pradeep kumar , g.a. shanmugha sundaram, b. k. sharma, s. venkatesh & r. thiruvengadathan, “advances in gamma radiation detection systems for emergency radiation monitoring” nucl. engin. tech. 52 (2020) 2151, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2020.03.014. [10] m. f. attallaha, h. m. abdelbarya, e. a. elsofanya, y. t. mohameda & m. m. abo-alyb, “radiation safety and environmental impact assessment of sludge tenorm waste produced from petroleum industry in egypt”, process safety and environ. protec. 142 (2020) 308, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2020.06.012 [11] a. gelana, a. mohammed, b. haftu, t. endale & n. biniyam, “radiation levels in buildings on the main campus of haramaya university and at the towns of harar and dire dawa, eastern ethiopia” east afri. j. sci. 10 (2016) 133. [12] wikipeadia, “background radiation” http://en.m.wikipedia .org. (2018). 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(1976) 41. 223 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 165–171 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences entropic system in the relativistic klein-gordon particle c. a. onatea,∗, m. c. onyeajub aphysics programme, department of physical sciences, landmark university, omu-aran, nigeria bdepartment of physics, theoretical physics group, university of port harcourt, choba, nigeria abstract the solutions of kratzer potential plus hellmann potential was obtained under the klein-gordon equation via the parametric nikiforov-uvarov method. the relativistic energy and its corresponding normalized wave functions were fully calculated. the theoretic quantities in terms of the entropic system under the relativistic klein-gordon equation (a spinless particle) for a kratzer-hellmann’s potential model were studied. the effects of a and b respectively (the parameters in the potential that determine the strength of the potential) on each of the entropy were fully examined. the maximum point of stability of a system under the three entropies was determined at the point of intersection between two formulated expressions plotted against a as one of the parameters in the potential. finally, the popular shannon entropy uncertainty relation known as bialynick-birula, mycielski inequality was deduced by generating numerical results. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2021.209 keywords: eigensolutions, bound states, wave equation, theoretic quantity. article history : received: 25 april 2021 received in revised form: 16 june 2021 accepted for publication: 29 june 2021 published: 29 august 2021 c©2021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: o. j. oluwadare 1. introduction the understanding of correlations in quantum systems is based on the analytic tools provided by the entropic measures. these entropic measures are shannon entropy, rényi entropy, and tsallis entropy. the most outstanding of the entropic measures is the shannon entropy introduced by shannon [1]. the shannon entropy has several applications in various scientific disciplines. in the concept of information, for instance, it presents a discrete source without memory as a functional that quantifies the uncertainty of a random variable at each discrete time. it is the expected amount of information in a given event drawn from a distribution that serves as a measure of uncertainty or variability that is associated with random variables. shannon ∗corresponding author tel. no: +234(0)7036631325 email address: oaclems14@physicist.net (c. a. onate ) entropy has examined entropic uncertainty and has been tested for different potential models. it serves as another form of heisenberg uncertainty relation. in physics, shannon entropy has been widely reported under the non-relativistic wave equation over the years for different potential models [2-25]. however, all the reports given in refs. [2-25] dwell under the nonrelativistic wave equation leaving out the relativistic wave equation. this motivates the present work. in the present study, the authors want to examine the entropic system under the relativistic klein-gordon equation using kratzer-hellmann potential. the accuracy of shannon entropy for any calculation can be checked by the uncertainty relation of shannon entropy that relates position space and momentum space with the spatial dimension. this is otherwise called bialynick-birula, mycielski (bbm) inequality given as s (ρ) + s (γ) = d(1 + ln π), (1) 165 onate & onyeaju / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 165–171 166 where s (ρ) = − −4π δ ∫ inf 0 ρ(r) log ρ(r) dr, s (γ) = − −4π δ ∫ inf 0 γ( p) log γ( p) d p, (2) ρ(r) and γ(p) are probability densities. d refers to the spatial dimension, and ln π is a constant term. in this work, numerical results will be generated for equation (1) to verify whether the results from the relativistic klein-gordon equation will satisfy the bbm inequality. the kratzer-hellmann potential comprises of kratzer potential and hellmann potential. the physical form of kratzer-hellmann potential is v (r) = de ( r − re r )2 − ( a − be−δr r ) , (3) where de is the dissociation energy, re is the equilibrium bond length, a and b are the strengths of the hellmann potential, r is internuclear separation while δ (screening parameter) characterized the range of the hellmann potential. the two sub-sets of the potential (3) have received attention in the bound states and other areas of sciences. the hellmann potential is known to be suitable for the study of inner-shell ionization problems. the potential was equally studied for alkali hydride molecules by varshni and shukla [26]. recently, the hellmann potential was used in ref. [27] as a tensor interaction for the breaking of energy degenerate doublets in the dirac equation. the kratzer potential, on the other hand, forms a potential pocket that is useful for vibrational and rotational energy eigenvalues [28]. the combination of these potentials is considered necessary because of their applications. 2. parametric nikiforov-uvarov method (pnum) this pnum is a straight forward method that uses transformation of variable. the pnum is short and accurate for solving bound state problems. according to tezcan and sever [29], the reference or standard equation for the pnum is( d2 d s2 + c1 − c2 s(1 − c3 s) d d s + −ξ1 s2 + ξ2 s − ξ3 s2(1 − c3 s)2 ) ψ(s) = 0. (4) according to ref. [29], the eigenvalues and eigenfunction respectively can be obtained using [29, 30] nc2 − (2n + 1) c5 + c7 + 2c3c8 + n (n − 1) c3 + (2n + 1) √ c9 + ( 2 √ c9 + c3 (2n + 1) ) √ c8 = 0, (5) ψn,` (s) = nn,` s c12 (1 − c3 s) −c12− c13 c3 ×p ( c10−1, c11 c3 −c10−1 ) n (1 − 2c3 s) ,(6) the parameters in equations (5) and (6) are deduced as follows c4 = 1 − c1 2 , c5 = c2 − 2c3 2 , c6 = c 2 5 + ξ1, c7 = 2c4c5 − ξ2, , c9 = c3 (c7 + c3c8) + c6, c10 = c1 + 2c4 + 2 √ c8, c8 = c 2 4 + ξ3 c11 = c2 − 2c5 + 2 (√ c9 + c3 √ c8 ) , c12 = c4 + √ c8, c13 = c5 − (√ c9 + c3 √ c8 ) (7) 2.1. the klein-gordon equation (kge) with kratzer-hellmann potential the kge is use to describe spinless particles in the domain of relativistic wave equation [31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38]. the klein-gordon equation for space-time scalar potential s (r) and the time component of the lorentz four-vector potential v (r) arising from minimal coupling, in the relativistic unit (~ = c = 1), reads[ p̂2 + (m + s (r))2 − (e − v (r))2 ] r(r) = 0, (8) where p̂ is the momentum operator, m is the particle’s mass, e is the relativistic energy and r(r) is the wave function. the kge above has a potential 2v in which the nonrelativistic limit cannot give the solutions of the schrödinger equation. a critical investigation was done by alhaidari et al. [39] who proved that s = ±v . this is the nonrelativistic limit for the potential 2v . thus, in the relativistic limit, the interacting potential becomes v instead of 2v . therefore, to obtain a solution of the kleingordon equation for any arbitrary `−state whose energy equation in the nonrelativistic limit equals the solution of the schrödinger equation, equation (8) becomes [39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45][ p̂2 − m2 + e2 − v (r)(m + e) − `(` + 1) r2 ] r(r) = 0, (9) the solutions of the klein-gordon equation above and some diatomic molecular potential models have been obtained for different molecules [46, 47, 48, 49, 50], and the results compared with experimental values. to get rid of the inverse squared term in equation (9), we need to adopt a suitable approximation scheme. in this work, we adopt the following approximation that is valid for δ � 1, 1 r2 ≈ δ2( 1 − e−δr )2 . (10) plugging equations (3) and (10) into equation (9) and making a simple transformation of the form y = e−δr , equation (9) turns to be [ d2 dy2 + 1 − y y − y2 d dy + ay2 + by + c y2(1 − y)2 ] rn,`(y) = 0, (11) a = υ + bδβ δ2 (12) b = 2υ − (b + a + 2dere)δβ δ2 , (13) c = e2 − m2 + βϑ− `(` + 1)δ2 δ2 , (14) β = m + e, (15) ϑ = 2dereδ− de + aδ− der 2 eδ 2, (16) υ = m2 − e2 + deβ. (17) 166 onate & onyeaju / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 165–171 167 comparing equation (11) with equation (4), equation 7 numerically becomes c1 = c2 = c3 = 1, c4 = 0, c5 = − 1 2 , c6 = 1 4 − a, c7 = −b, c8 = −c, c9 = 1 4 − a − b − c, c10 = 1 + 2 √ −c, c11 = 2 ( 1 + √ −c ) + √ 1 − 4(a + b + c), c12 = √ −c, c13 = − 1 2 − 1 2 √ 1 − 4(a + b + c) − √ −c (18) substituting c1 to c9 in equation (18) into equation (5), we have energy equation for the kratzer-hellmann potential as υ −β(ϑ + de) + `(` + 1)δ2 δ2 =  (ϑ− de − bδ)β− n(n + 1) − 1 2 − 2`(` + 1) − ( n + 12 ) √ 1 − 4(a + b + c) 1 + 2n + √ 1 − 4(a + b + c)  2 . (19) the energy equation obtained for kratzer-hellmann potential in equation (19) above has subset energy equations for kratzer potential, yukawa potential, and coulomb potential. however, the wave function for the kratzer-hellmann potential is obtained by substituting c10to c13in eq. 18 into eq. 6 to have r(s) = n sη(1 − s) 1 2 + λ 2 p(n2η,λ)(1 − 2s), (20) where η = √ υ − 2dereδβ− aδβ δ2 + βder2e + `(` + 1), (21) λ = √ (1 + 2`) + 4βder2e. (22) and n is a normalization factor which can easily be calculated using normalization condition. using∫ ∞ 0 |r(r)|2 dr = 1, (23) the normalization factor can easily be obtained. consider the transformation y = e−δr and another transformation of the form x = 2y − 1, with a relation of the form 1 − x = 1 − ( 1−x 2 ) , when invoked on equation (23), using an appropriate integral, we have the normalization factor as n2n,` = − n!2δηγ(2η + λ + n + 1) γ(2η + 1)γ(λ + n + 2) . (24) 2.2. kratzer-hellmann potential and entropies the three entropies mentioned in the introduction will be calculated here using equation (20). 2.2.1. shannon entropy to obtain shannon entropy, we plug equation (20) into equation (2). for s (ρ), we define a transformation of the form s = 1 − y, and using the appropriate integral given in the appendix, we have s (ρ) = 8πη(n!)γ(2η + 1)γ(λ + n + 3)γ(2η + λ + n + 1) γ(2η + n)γ(λ + n + 2)γ(2η + λ + n + 3) × log [ (0.99)2η(0.01)1+λ γ(2η + n + 1) γ(2η + 1) ] . (25) to obtain s (γ), we define x = −1 + 2y and then, using integral and formula in the appendix, we have s (γ) = − 4πγ(2η + n + 1)γ(2η + λ + n + 1) γ(2η + n)γ(2η + λ + n + 2) × log (0.99)2η (0.01)1+λ × [γ(2η + n + 1)]2 n! [ γ(2η + 1) ]2  . (26) 2.2.2. rényi entropy rényi entropy is a generalization of shannon entropy and is defined as [51] rq(ρ) = 1 1 − q log 4π ∫ ∞ 0 ρ(r)q dr. (27) the q is called tsallis index. following the procedures used to obtain shannon entropy for position space, we have rq(ρ) as rq(ρ) = − 2.5314δq−1 1 − q (28) × [ 2η(n!)γ(2η + 1)γ(λ + n + 3)γ(2η + λ + n + 1) γ(2η + n)γ(λ + n + 2)γ(2η + λ + n + 3) ]q . for the momentum space, we follow step by step as in the shannon entropy for momentum space to have rq(γ) as rq(γ) = − 1.2657δq−1 (1 − q) (29)[ 2γ(2η + n + 1)γ(2η + λ + n + 1) γ(2η + 1)γ(2η + λ + n + 2) ]q . 2.2.3. tsallis entropy the tsallis entropy was introduced by tsallis [52]. the concept acts as a basis for generalizing the statistical mechanics. this tsallis entropy is defined as tq(ρ) = 1 q − 1 ( 1 − 4π ∫ ∞ 0 ρ(r)q dr ) , q , 1. (30) the tsallis entropy reduces to the usual boltzmann-gibbs entropy as the tsallis index q approaches one. with the wave function in equation (20) and following previous procedures, we have tsallis entropy for position space as tq(ρ) = 1 q − 1 + 4πδq−1 q − 1 (31)( 2ηγ(2η + 1)γ(λ + n + 3)γ(2η + λ + n + 1)(n!) γ(2η + n)γ(λ + n + 2)γ(2η + λ + n + 3) )q following the procedures to obtain momentum space of shannon entropy, the tsallis entropy for momentum space is obtained as tq(γ) = 1 q − 1 (32) × [ 1 + 2πδq−1 ( 2γ(2η + n + 1)γ(2η + λ + n + 1) γ(2η + 1)γ(2η + λ + n + 2) )q] . 167 onate & onyeaju / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 165–171 168 3. results and discussion figure 1. s (ρ) against b figure 2. s (γ) against b in figure 1, we plotted s (ρ) against one of the potential strength at the first excited state with ` = 1, re = 0.1, a = 1, δ = 0.25, de = 2.5 and m = 2de. there is less concentration of electron density and so, less concentration of the wave function which makes the system unstable as the potential strength increases. in figure 2, s (γ) is plotted against the potential strength (b) at the first excited state with ` = 1, re = 0.1, a = 1, δ = 0.25, de = 2.5 and m = 2de. there is a more concentration of the spreading of electron density which leads to more concentration of the wave function as the potential strength goes up. thus, there is stability of the system as b goes up. in figures 3 and 4, we examined the variation of the product of rényi and tsallis entropies respectively against the potential strength (a) at the first excited state with ` = 1, re = 0.1, b = 2, δ = 0.25, de = 2.5 and m = 2de and in both cases, there is an inverse variation between the product of the entropy and the potential strength. the point of intersection for the entropies (shannon, rényi and tsallis) is determined by plotting s = rt /s t ; t = (rt /tt ) − 0.0a against a potential table 1. shannon entropy relation with n = ` = 1, re = 0.1, b = 2, δ = 0.25, de = 2.5 and m = 2de. a s (ρ) s (γ) s t = s (ρ) + s (γ) 1 -1.561445865 10.47908433 8.917638464 2 -0.884937778 10.33123825 9.446300475 3 -0.568858951 10.18281361 9.613954654 4 -0.396386446 10.05310205 9.656715603 5 -0.254891378 9.898107966 9.643216588 table 2. renyi entropy relation with n = ` = 1, re = 0.1, q = b = 2, δ = 0.25, de = 2.5 and m = 2de. a r(ρ) r(γ) rt = r(ρ) + r(γ) 1 0.4291810608 2.803088803 3.232269864 2 0.3386588921 2.886297376 3.224956268 3 0.2792173453 2.936768150 3.215985495 4 0.2373724018 2.970645793 3.208018195 5 0.1937069142 3.004709576 3.198416490 table 3. tsallis entropy relation with n = ` = 1, re = 0.1, q = b = 2, δ = 0.25, de = 2.5 and m = 2de. a t2(ρ) t2(γ) tt = t2(ρ) + t2(γ) 1 0.077255921 8.181988939 8.259244860 2 0.048103385 8.674956863 8.723060249 3 0.032699075 8.980995892 9.013694967 4 0.023632579 9.189394955 9.213027534 5 0.015737688 9.401349043 9.417086731 table 4. shannon entropy s (ρ) for kratzer, coulomb and yukawa potentials at different excited states. n kratzer coulomb yukawa 0 -0.614945865 -0.36740543 -0.373228924 1 -0.489475768 -0.32198215 -0.330603267 2 -0.323785845 -0.19261467 -0.206643987 3 -0.191326241 -0.11715545 -0.130089665 table 5. shannon entropy s (γ) for kratzer, coulomb and yukawa potentials at different excited states. n kratzer coulomb yukawa 0 5.670453776 4.870762243 4.873986446 1 4.879443281 4.163817555 4.192208735 2 3.991974378 3.519430921 3.530045080 3 3.268931407 2.980665799 3.001043671 168 onate & onyeaju / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 165–171 169 figure 3. r(ρ)r(γ) against a figure 4. t (ρ)t (γ) against a strength as shown in figure 5. table 1 presented the numerical results for shannon entropy. the results were numerically verified and confirmed the bialynick-birula, mycielski (bbm) inequality that gives a standard relation s (ρ) + s (γ) ≥ d(1 + log π). for d = 1, d(1 + log π) = 1.497206180. however, the lower bound from table 1 is 8.917638464. this verifies the accuracy of the present work. in tables 2 and 3, we numerically presented the rényi entropy and tsallis entropy respectively for position space and momentum space. in both entropies, the position space and momentum space varies inversely with one another. in tables 4 and 5, results of s (ρ) against s (γ) for the subset potentials were given. the results of these subset potentials are similar to the results of the mother potential. the result for kratzer potential was obtained by putting a = b = 0. the result for coulomb potential was obtained by putting b = de = 0. the result for yukawa potential was obtained by putting a = de = 0. the results in tables 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 showed that a diffused density distribution γ( p) in momentum space is associated with a localized density distribution ρ(r) in the position space or configuration space. the physical meaning is that a decrease in the position space corresponds to an increase in the momentum space and figure 5. entropies (s = rt /s t + 0.03a; t = rt /tt + 0.05) against the potential strength a vice visa. 4. conclusions we calculated the shannon information, rényi information and tsallis information for position and momentum entropies of a relativistic klein-gordon equation. in the first excited state i.e. the shannon uncertainty yields the minimum value of 8.917638464 which maintains the normal condition for the entropic uncertainty relation with respect to bbm inequality. the s (ρ), s (γ), r(ρ), r(γ), t (ρ) and t (γ) plotted against the potential strengths determined the concentration of the electron and wave density. the results obtained for the relativistic kleingordon equation were found to obey bbm inequality. the results for both the rényi entropy and tsallis entropy followed the pattern of the results of the shannon entropy. appendix ∫ 1 0 yα(1 − y)β2 f1(−n, n + 2(α + β); 2α + 1; y) 2dz = n!γ(α + 1)2γ(β + n + 2) βγ(α + n + 1)γ(α + β + n + 2) ∫ 1 −1 ( 1 − x 2 )η ( 1 + x 2 )ν × [ p(η,ν)n (x) ]2 d x = 2γ(η + n + 1)γ(ν + n + 1) n!ηγ(η + ν + 2n + 1)γ(η + ν + n + 1) ∫ 1 −1 ( 1 − x 2 )s ( 1 + x 2 )ν × [ p(s,ν)n (x) ]2 d x = 2γ(s + n + 1)γ(ν + n + 1) n!sγ(s + ν + 2n + 1)γ(s + ν + n + 1) 169 onate & onyeaju / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 165–171 170 p(a,b)n (1 − 2x) = γ)a + n + 1 n!γ(a + 1) 2 f1(−n, n + a + b + 1; a + 1; x) 2 f1(a, b; c; y) = γ(c) γ(a)γ(b) ∞∑ n=0 γ(a + n)γ(b + n) γ(c + n) yn n! ∫ 1 −1 (1 − s)a−1 (1 + s)b [ p(a,b)n (s) ]2 d s = γ(a + n + 1)γ(b + n + 1) n!aγ(a + b + n + 1) 2 f1 ( −n, n + v + u + 1; v + 1; 1−x2 ) = γ(n + v + 1) γ(v + 1) p(v,u)n (x) = 2 f1 ( −n, n + v + u + 1; v + 1; 1 − x 2 ) . references [1] c. e. shannon, “a mathematical theory of communication”, bell system technical journal 27 (1948) 379-423. 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[52] c. tsallis, “possible generalization of boltzmann-gibbs statistics”, journal of statistical probability 52 (1988) 479. 171 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1103 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences thermal distribution of magneto-tangent hyperbolic flowing fluid over a porous moving sheet: a lie group analysis a. b. disua, s. o. salawub,∗ adepartment of mathematics, national open university, abuja, nigeria bdepartment of mathematics, bowen university, iwo, nigeria abstract an investigation of magneto-hyperbolic tangent fluid motion through a porous sheet which stretches vertically upward with temperature-reliant thermal conductivity is scrutinized in this study. the current model characterizes thermal radiation and the impact of internal heat source in the heat equation plus velocity and thermal slipperation at the wall. the translation of the transport equations is carried out via the scaling lie group technique and the resultant equations are numerically tackled via shooting scheme jointly with fehlberg integration runge-kutta scheme. the results are publicized through various graphs to showcase the reactions of the fluid terms on the thermal and velocity fields. from the investigations, it is found that rising values of the material weissenberg number, slip and suction terms damped the hydrodynamic boundary film whereas the heat field is prompted directly with thermal conductivity. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2023.1103 keywords: thermal conductivity, magneto-tangent hyperbolic liquid, porous sheet, scaling lie group, thermal radiation article history : received: 03 october 2022 received in revised form: 03 november 2022 accepted for publication: 11 december 2022 published: 24 february 2023 © 2023 the author(s). published by the nigerian society of physical sciences under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and doi. communicated by: t. latunde 1. introduction magnetohydrodynamic is the interaction of an electromagnetic field with conducting fluids. rheostat flow kinematics is a realistic application of magnetohydrodynamic where a magnetic field is used in conventional fluids since the heat exchange rate is unavailable for some sheet materials. other uses include; thermal insulation, power storage, and so on. in the light of this, abbas et al. [1] investigated a lateral stretching sheet of mhd power-law fluid with differing thermal conductivity. the authors reported a shrinking boundary layer structure with growth ∗corresponding author tel. no: +234 8032056439 email address: kunlesalawu2@gmail.com (s. o. salawu) in the magnetic field term at all phase of fluid categories considered in the report. more so, salawu et al. [2] analyzed magnetohydrodynamic viscous liquid flow across a nonlinear stretchy plate where the model ordinary derivative equations of the system was solved using the collocation-approximation. sarkar and makinde [3] explored the viscous fluids heat transport and magnetohydrodynamic flow across an exponentially stretching layer accounting for viscous dissipation and radiation effect. nadeem et al. [4] explored the magnetohydrodynamic rheological fluid flow on an angular boundary layer flow. the analysis showed that a boost in the magnetic field strength, the regular and tangential velocity profiles diminish while the skin friction coefficient increase. meanwhile, the studies conducted on the flow along a stretch1 disu & salawu / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1103 2 ing sheet has become a great deal of interest among researchers in respect of significant contributions in manufacturing and engineering activities. sakiadis [5] analyzed the continuously moving flat surface on a laminar boundary layer and obtained a computational solution for the boundary layer equations. crane [6] extended this by reporting on the time-independent linearly stretchy flow and specified the solutions in a closed form. such a study was also extended by wang [7] by incorporating partial slip effect, whereas tshivhi et al. [8] investigated such a concept over a flat stretchable sheet when the flow is initiated spontaneously from rest. okedoye et al. [9] analyzed slip fluid motion confined in a permeable stretchable material while the impact of partial slip due to vertical stretching sheet on stagnation-point flow with thermal transport was assessed by zaimi and ishak [10]. salawu et al. [11] examined the crossdiffusion impact on magnetohydrodynamic fluid flow through a stretched sheet with velocity slip. a case of mhd dissipative fluid flow occasioned by a non-linearly stretched material with heat-mass transfer was numerically evaluated by upreti et al. [12]. it was pointed out from the analysis that the thermal field is enlarged by the enhancement of the magnetic field. such an investigation was also extended to the transport of casson liquid configuration in a three-dimensional sheet with pores and joule heating effect by sreenivasulu et al. [13] while fatunmbi and okoya [14] inspected hydromagnetic micropolar fluid thermal transport characteristics over a stretching material featuring the prescribed thermal flux and plate temperature heating conditions. the studies of non-newtonian fluids have inspired scientists and engineers in recent times owing to its many uses in science and technology including food processing, drug and pharmaceutical productions, chemical engineering works and many more, salawu et al. [15-16]. examples of non-newtonian fluids include gels, paints, blood, printers ink, lubricants with polymer ingredients, cosmetics and toiletries. among various non-newtonian fluid theories, there exists the tangent hyperbolic fluid model commonly utilized in numerous laboratory and chemical engineering processes. this fluid model displays a shear thinning attributes such that there exists a decline in the viscosity as the shear rate rises, hassan et al. [17]. this unique feature of tangent hyperbolic fluid makes it a sought after in bio-engineering operations, for instance, the thinning attributes of blood flow in the body serves as a prevention to the obstruction of arteries and veins such that coagulation effect is minimized, alsharif et al. [18]. in view of such striking characteristics, various researchers have applied this fluid model to analyze various flow problems under different configurations. mamatha et al. [19] examined the motion of hydrodynamic tangent hyperbolic liquid mixed with dust particles in a porous stretching plate with convective heating. a numerical evaluation of such a phenomenon towards a stagnation-point in the occurrence of radiative heat, nonlinear convection, haphazard motion and thermo-migration of nanoparticles was scrutinized by khan et al. [20]. meanwhile, the distribution of such a liquid with nanomaterials mixture in a nonlinear stretchable material was scrutinized by mahanthesh and mackolil [21] for a stagnation fluid. these researchers reported a rise in the viscous drag due to enhancement in the power-law index and magnetic field terms. oyelakin and sibanda [22] inspected the influence of exponentially based viscosity on the motion of hyperbolic tangent fluid. the report showed that a decrease in the viscosity triggered a spike in the velocity while lowering the heat and species intensity. sophus and ackerman [23] found point metamorphosis that mapped a given differential equation and introduced the lie group analysis classical approach. this approach brings together nearly every known technique of exact integration for all the associated ordinary and partial differential equations. many researchers employed this technique to determine the similarities among given differential equations. using this technique, the number of variables that control the partial differential systems can be effectively reduced, salawu and dada [24]. the dilution of values transforms the partial differential system into ordinary systems. using lie group analysis approach, convective dynamics problems have been studied on different flow configurations in various science and engineering branches, zakir and zaman [25]. similarly, ullah and zaman [26] engaged this approach while studying the transport and thermal effects of a tangent hyperbolic flowing liquid through a stretched plate with navier slip effect. further, ullah et al. [27] engaged this approach to extend the work of [26] by incorporating suction/injection coupled with heat generation. the authors examined the partial differential equations representing a natural convective unstable flow movement using the lie symmetry transformation approach. the classical lie group transformation is applied twice sequentially in this study to change the transport model into a set of ordinary derivative equation. the above studies however ignored the impact of variable heat conduction in the temperature field. thermal conductivity describes the characteristic quantity of fluids that allows them to conduct heat. for accurate prediction of thermal propagation processes, the influence of temperature-based thermal conductivity has to be considered. shahzad et al. [28] investigated such an effect on a viscous fluid in the existence of a stretching layer by utilizing the shooting process and the perturbation procedure in analyzing the numerical solution. similarly, alsherif et al. [29] took into account the case of a stretching cylinder, considered a viscous fluid flow alongside variable thermal conductivity. the investigation depicted that growing the curvature of the cylinder causes the fluid temperature to rise rapidly. an examination of temperature based thermal conductivity coupled with thermal radiation impact of a viscous fluid in a porous stretching material was evaluated by hayat et al. [30]. ullah et al. [31] reported on power-law convective mhd liqud flow across a linearly stretchy plate alongside thermal conductivity influence. recently, such a concept has been widely investigated by various researchers, aziz and shams [32] on diverse flow configurations and conditions. in view of the discussion above and the consequential applications of essential fluids parameters in manufacturing and engineering works, the present work aim to determine the motion and thermal transport of hydromagnetic tangent hyperbolic liquid over a permeable vertical stretchy surface using lie group analysis approach. in particular, this study extends that of [26, 2 disu & salawu / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1103 3 figure 1. configuration of the flow model 31] by considering porous media with the inclusion of variable heat conductivity, thermal radiation and a buoyancy effect which were ignored by previous authors. a unique similarity transformation approach is developed using the lie group analysis which is adopted for transforming the nonlinear partial derivative transport model into a more simplified ordinary derivative form. the resultant set of outlining equations is numerically tackled using the shooting algorithm in conjunction with fehlberg integration runge-kutta method. the physical characteristics of dimensionless terms obtained are clarified using graphs with appropriate discussion. 2. problem formulation analysis the underlisted assumptions have been identified as crucial for the formulation of the governing equations for the current investigation. is is assumed that the fluid movement is timeindependent, incompressible tangent hyperbolic fluid. the fluid movement is designed in a two-dimensional porous plate which stretches upwardly in a vertical route as displayed in figure 1. the flow is routed in x axis while y axis runs perpendicular to x axis. a restriction is placed on the flow in the region y > 0. there is slippery in the momentum and energy boundary layers. there is a surface mass flux on the sheet having a velocity of vw(x) as expressed in eq. (7). with the imposition of an external magnetic field normal to x direction but ignoring that of the induced magnetic filed influence and electric field as well. likewise, it is supposed that the radiative heat flux is negligible towards the x axis whereas it is applicable along y direction. furthermore, the assumption of varying thermal conductivity is held valid with the inclusion of heat source. other fluid attributes are are constant apart from the non-uniformity of the density in the momentum body force and the thermal conductivity. boussinesq approximation coupled with boundary layer approximation are applied in this study for the derivation of the main equations. for this study, the tangent hyperbolic fluid tensor is described as [26,31] τ = [µ∞ + (µ0 + µ∞) tanh(γγ) m]γ, (1) in eq. (1), τ describes the tensor stress while µ∞ depicts viscous shear rate at infinity whereas µ0 signifies the zero viscous shear rate and γ describes the material constant of timedependent whereas m connotes the power-law exponent while γ is expressed as: γ = ( 1 2 σiς jγi jγ ji ) 1 2 = ( 1 2 π ) 1 2 . (2) in eq. (2), π = 12 tr((∇v ) t + ∇v )2. the case µ∞ = 0 is accounted for owing to low influence of viscosity at infinity. also taking into account the tangent hyperbolic fluid detailing shear thinning characteristics, with the assumption that γγ < 1, eq. (1) then reduces to: τ = µo[γγ m]γ = µo[(1 + γγ− 1) m]γ ≈ µo[(1 + m(γγ− 1))]γ (3) 2.1. the governing equations combining the above-mentioned assumptions for the development of the transport model, eqs. (4-6) describes the transport equations for the present investigation (see [20,26,31]). ∂u ∂x + ∂v ∂y = 0, (4) u ∂u ∂x + v ∂u ∂y = (1 − m) ν ∂2u ∂y2 + √ 2νmγ ( ∂u ∂y ) ∂2u ∂y2 − σb2 ρ u + gβt (t − t∞) − ν kp u, (5) u ∂t ∂x + v ∂t ∂y = 1 ρc p ∂ ∂y ( k(t ) ∂t ∂y ) − 1 ρc p ∂qr ∂y + qo ρc p (t − t∞) + ν c pkp u2 + σb2 ρc p u2, (6) the respective flow boundary constraints are stated below u = cx + β ∂u ∂y , v = vw(x), t = tw + g ∂t ∂y at y = 0, (7) u −→ 0, t −→ t∞ as y −→∞. (8) the thermal flux radiation qr in eq. (6) is indicated in eq. (9) as (see sumalatha and bandari [33]) qr = − ( 4σ∗ 3k∗ ) ∂t 4 ∂y (9) from the above eqs.(4-9), u and v describe flow rtae modules in respect to x and y axes. the symbols kp,β and σ represent porous medium permeability, velocity slip factor and electrical conductivity whereas the density, volumetric thermal expansion coefficient, magnetic flux density and the thermal slip factor are sequentially denoted by ρ,βt , b and g. also, t signals the fluid temperature, g denotes gravitational acceleration, ν is the kinematic viscosity, vw describes surface mass flux, c defines 3 disu & salawu / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1103 4 stretching rate and qo describes coefficient of heat source/sink, σ∗ connotes stefan-boltzmann constant while the coefficient absorption mean is taken as k∗. by the application of the rosseland approximation and assuming that the heat variation is low in the flow field, so that taylor’s series can utilized to expand t 4 to get t 4 ≈ 4t 3∞ − 3t 4 ∞, the temperature-based thermal conductivity is also specified as (see animasaun [34]): k(t ) = k∞[1 + ζ(t − t∞)], (10) in which k∞ denotes the upstream heat conduction, ζ typifies the thermal conductivity parameter. to transmute the outlining flow equations into dimensionless system, the underlisted quantities adopted: x x = ( a ν ) 1 2 , y y = ( a ν ) 1 2 , u u = 1 (aν) 1 2 , v v = 1 (aν) 1 2 , t = (tw − t∞)θ + t∞. (11) dropping the bar and substituting u = ∂ψ ∂y and v = − ∂ψ ∂x into eqs. (5-6) taking cognizance eqs (9) and (10), the underlisted are obtained( ∂ψ ∂y ∂2ψ ∂x∂y − ∂ψ ∂x ∂2ψ ∂y2 ) = (1 − m) ∂3ψ ∂y3 + √ 2maγ ( ∂2ψ ∂y2 ) ∂3ψ ∂y3 − ( σb2 aρ + ν akp ) ∂ψ ∂y + gbt (tw − t∞) a 3 2 ν 1 2 θ, (12) ( ∂ψ ∂y ∂θ ∂x − ∂ψ ∂x ∂θ ∂y ) = ( k∞ µcp (1 + ζθ) + 16σ∗ 3µcpk∗ t 3∞ ) ∂2θ ∂y2 + k∞ µcp ζ ( ∂θ ∂y )2 + qo aρc p θ+ u2wσb 2 aρc p(tw − t∞) ( ∂ψ ∂y )2 + u2wν akpρc p(tw − t∞) ( ∂ψ ∂y )2 , (13) also, the boundary conditions (7-8) transform to: ∂ψ ∂y = c a x + β √ a ν ∂2ψ ∂y2 , ∂2ψ ∂x2 = vw √ aν ,θ = 1 + g √ a ν ∂θ ∂y at y = 0, ∂ψ ∂y → 0, θ → 0 as y →∞. (14) 3. lie group scaling transformations the lie scaling technique depends on theory formulated to find all symmetry transformations that keep the system of equations unchanged. it helps in reducing the number of independent variables and in consequence transforms the pdes to an odes. using this method to generate similarity variables involves finding the invariant solution which does not alter the structure of the given equation under study. in this section, the simplified format of the lie group transformation approach is employed to derive the new similarity transformations for the transport equations. as such, the outlining flow equations can be changed to ordinary derivative equations. following [27,31,35] the transformation variables are defined υ : x∗ = xeεγ1, y∗ = yeεγ2, ψ∗ = ψeεγ3, θ∗ = θeεγ4, γ∗ = γeεγ5 (15) in eq. (15), ε depicts the parameter of the group whereas the transformation variables are represented by γ1,γ2,γ3,γ4,γ5. also, eq. (15) is called point transformation for the set of coordinates system (x, y,ψ,θ, γ) transforms into (x∗, y∗,ψ∗,θ∗, γ∗). the substitution of the transformation eq. (15) into eq. (12) and (13) results to the form: eε(γ1 +2γ2−2γ3 ) ( ∂ψ∗ ∂y∗ ∂2ψ∗ ∂x∗∂y∗ − ∂ψ∗ ∂x∗ ∂2ψ∗ ∂y∗2 ) = eε(3γ2−γ3 )(1 − m) ∂3ψ∗ ∂y∗3 + eε(5γ2−2γ3−γ5 ) ( √ 2mγ ( ∂2ψ∗ ∂y∗2 ) ∂3ψ∗ ∂y∗3 ) − eε(γ2−γ3 ) ( σb2 aρ + ν akp ) ∂ψ∗ ∂y∗ + gbt (tw − t∞) a 3 2 ν 1 2 θ∗e−εγ4, (16) eε(γ1 +γ2−γ3−γ4 ) ( ∂ψ∗ ∂y∗ ∂θ∗ ∂x∗ − ∂ψ∗ ∂x∗ ∂θ∗ ∂y∗ ) = eε(2γ2−γ4 ) ( k∞ µcp (1 + ζθ∗) + 16σ∗ 3µcpk∗ t 3∞ ) ∂2θ∗ ∂y2 + eε(2γ2−2γ4 ) k∞ µcp ζ ( ∂θ∗ ∂y∗ )2 + qo aρc p θ∗e−εγ4 + eε(γ2−γ3 ) ( u2wσb 2 aρc p(tw − t∞) + u2wν akpρc p(tw − t∞) ) ( ∂ψ∗ ∂y∗ )2 , (17) similarly, the boundary conditions transform to: eε(γ2−γ3 ) ∂ψ∗ ∂y∗ = c a e−εγ1 x∗ + β √ a ν ∂2ψ∗ ∂y∗2 eε(2γ2−γ3 ), ∂2ψ∗ ∂x∗2 eε(γ2−γ3 ) = vw √ aν , e−εγ4θ∗ = 1 + g √ a ν ∂θ∗ ∂y∗ eε(γ2−γ4 ) at e−εγ1 y∗ = 0, eε(γ2−γ3 ) ∂ψ∗ ∂y∗ → 0, e−εγ4θ∗ → 0 as y∗ →∞. (18) the preceding system of equations is invariant under the group transformation if the underlisted relationship exist among the exponents: γ1 + 2γ2 − 2γ3 = 3γ2 −γ3 = 5γ2 − 2γ3 −γ5 = γ2 −γ3 = −γ4 (19) γ1 + γ2 −γ3 −γ4 = 2γ2 −γ4 = 2γ2 − 2γ4 = −γ4 (20) 4 disu & salawu / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1103 5 solving eq. (19) and (20) to obtain the following relations: γ1 = γ3,γ2 = 0,γ4 = γ1,γ5 = −γ1 (21) eq. (21) can then be introduced into eq. (15) to obtain the criterion for the transformation as: υ : x∗ = xeεγ1, y∗ = y,ψ∗ = ψeεγ1,θ∗ = θ, γ∗ = γe−εγ1 (22) applying taylor’s series to expand eq. (22) in the power of ε to the first order to obtain: x∗ − x = xεγ1, y ∗ − y = 0, ψ∗ −ψεγ1, θ∗ − θ = 0, γ∗ − γ = −xεγ1, (23) taking eq. (23), the following characteristic equation were obtained: d x xγ1 = dy 0 = dψ xγ1 = dθ 0 = dγ −xγ1 , (24) the following similarity transformations are derived by solving eq. (24) (see ulla and zaman, 2017): η = y, ψ = x f (η), θ = θ(η), γ = x−1γo (25) the non-dimensional odes obtained with corresponding boundary condition via the similarity transformations (25) into eqs. (16-18) are as follows: (1 − m) f ′′′ + mwe f ′′′( f ′′) + f f ′′ − (m2 + da) f ′ − ( f ′)2 + grθ′ = 0 (26) (1 + ζθ + nr)θ′′ + ζθ′2 + pr(qθ + f θ′) + precm2 f ′2 + precda f ′2 = 0 (27) f ′(0) = λ + α f ′′(0), f (0) = s, θ(0) = 1 + θ′(0), (28) f ′ → 0, θ → 0 as η →∞. (29) in eqs. (26-29), we = √ 2aγ symbolizes the weissenberg number, nr = 16σ ∗ 3k∗k t 3 ∞ defines radiation parameter, m 2 = σb 2 aρ denotes hartmann number, q = q0aρcp typifies the heat source/sink factor and b = √ a ν g is the thermal slip parameters whereas α = √ a ν β represents the velocity slip, da = νakp characterizes the darcy number and ζ implies thermal conductivity parameter. the primes signifies differential with respect to η, λ = ca is the stretching parameter, ec = u 2 w c p (tw−t∞) is eckert number, gr = gbt (tw−t∞) a 3 2 ν 1 2 x symbolizes the grashof number, s = vw√ aν is the mass suction and pr = µcp k∞ represents the prandtl number. the incorporated engineering quantities in the current investigation include the wall friction c fx and the thermal gradient nux which are orderly specified in eq. (30) as: ρ(ax)2c fx = τw, nux = xqw k(tw − t∞) (30) table 1. skin friction coefficient as compared with previous studies when we = m = 0 m akbar [36] fathizadeh et al. [37] present values 0 1.00000 1.00000 1.00000 1 −1.41421 −1.41421 −1.41421 5 −2.44948 −2.44948 −2.44949 10 −3.31662 −3.31662 −3.31663 50 −7.14142 −7.14142 −7.14143 100 10.0499 10.0499 10.0499 500 −22.38300 −22.38300 −22.38300 where τw = (1 − m) ∂u ∂y + mγ √ 2 ( ∂u ∂y )2∣∣∣∣∣∣∣ y=0 , qw = −k∞ ( 1 + 16σ∗ 3k∗k∞ t 3∞ ) ∂t ∂y ∣∣∣∣∣∣ y=0 (31) the dimensionless form of eq. (30) are specified in eq. (31) as: re 1 2 c f = [(1 − m) f ′′(0) + m 2 we( f ′′(0))2], re− 1 2 nux = − (1 + nr) θ ′(0), (32) where rex = ax2 ν signifies the local reynolds number. 4. numerical solution eqs. (26-27) comprises of a set nonlinear coupled differential equations with it’s associated wall conditions. owing to the non-linearity nature of the governing equations, eqs (2627) subject to (28-29) are tackled numerically using shooting techniques alongside runge-kutta fehlberg scheme by utilizing a computer algebra symbolic code of maple software. this algorithm relies on the adopted method. except otherwise, the subsequent default values as been adopted for the study based on related previous analysis as n = 0.4, we = 0.3, � = 0.2, nr = 0.3, m = 0.2, da = 0.3, pr = 3.0, q = 0.3, gr = 2.0, ec = 0.01, λ = 0.7, s = 0.3, α = 0.2, b = 0.5. the numerical code’s accuracy is validated by assessing the computational outcomes of the wall drag coefficient c f x offered in this study as compared with previously published works of akbar [36] and fathizadeh et al. [37] in respect to variations in the hartmann number (m). as recorded in table 1, the comparison showed a perfect harmony with the existing data in the literature under limiting circumstances and thus confirming the accuracy of our numerical code. table 2 depicts the influences of some entrenched parameters on the wall friction and heat gradient. as seen, an enhance or decline in the engineering quantities are observed due to the boundary layer viscosity. when the boundary film viscidness is stimulated the wall friction and nusselt effect are raised, but when thinner boundary film viscidness noticed the diffuse more to the ambient leading to a decrease in the wall effects. 5 disu & salawu / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1103 6 table 2. numerical values for the skin friction (c f ), heat gradient (nux) m � λ da we ec q c f nux 0.2 0.2 0.7 0.3 0.3 0.01 0.3 0.8722973797 -0.5937107035 0.5 0.7677915589 -0.56754883934 1.0 0.4376848220 -0.48222768379 0.4 0.9077648755 -0.53183984435 0.7 0.9077648765 -0.53183984435 1.0 0.4765432364 -0.67408773863 1.5 0.2732784056 -0.80313254770 0.7 0.6779856282 -0.54475633672 1.0 0.6779856282 -0.54475633672 0.5 0.8498608064 -0.59162423311 0.7 0.8300639857 -0.58974089749 0.03 0.8735104313 -0.59064728168 0.07 0.8735104313 -0.59064728168 1.0 1.1540832041 0.0316335380 2.0 1.8442011437 1.9856306670 figure 2. plot of da&λ on velocity f ′(η) 5. discussion of outcomes this aspect displays and discusses the reactions of the dimensionless flow rate and energy profiles due to variations in the physical flow parameters. these physical parameters include the stretchy term (λ), grashof (gr), prandtl (pr), weissenberg (we) and darcy (da) numbers, heat source term (q), power-law exponent term (m), velocity slip term (α), radiation parameter (nr), hartmann number (m), mass suction parameter (s ), thermal conductivity parameter (ζ), and temperature slip term (b). figures 2-6 describe the influences of various physical flow parameter on the velocity field. fig. 2 illustrates the effects of figure 3. behaviour gr&we on velocity f ′(η) (da) darcy term on the dimensionless velocity in the existence of stretching parameter (λ). evidently, there is a decrease in the velocity as (da) increases. the flow behaviour in respect to a spike in darcy number (da) stimulates an opposition to the flow distribution that leads to a shrink boundary layer and thereby decelerates the fluid motion. in a related sense, an enhancement in the magnitude of the stretching term (λ) lowers the momentum boundary layer structure and consequently decelerates the locomotion. the impacts of grashof number (gr) and weissenberg term (we) on the dimensionless flow rate profile are presented in fig. 3. it is evident from the graph displayed that the velocity drop significantly by a rise in (we) owing to an increase in the viscosity whereas there is an acceleration in the 6 disu & salawu / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1103 7 figure 4. effect of s &m on velocity f ′(η) figure 5. reaction q&m on velocity f ′(η) fluid motion as grashof number increases due to enhancement in the buoyancy force. as (gr) is raised, the buoyancy force dominates the viscous force and thus encourages the velocity distribution. fig. 4 portrays the impact of mass suction term (s ) coupled with that of the power-law exponent (m) on the velocity distribution. it is evident that enhancing the magnitude of the power-law exponent (m) raised the viscosity and as a result, there is a significant drop in fluid velocity. also, this plot figure 6. effect of α&m on velocity f ′(η) shows raising the magnitude of s and (m), the hydrodynamic boundary structure thickness declines and the velocity decelerates. the evaluation of the heat generation (q) term and the hartmann number (m) is plotted in fig. 5. evidently, an electromagnetic force is produced from the magnetic field interaction with the tangent hyperbolic electrically conducting liquid that create a drag in the flow movement as noted in the plot. the electro-conducting fluid’s interaction with the transverse magnetic field induces a retarding force on the liquid motion. similarly, a hike in (q) induces higher flow velocity rate owing to a decrease in the viscosity. fig. 6 offers the behaviour of (α) on the liquid motion. in this plot, a declining trend is observed in the velocity field as the slip term (α) rises. figures 7-12 offer the variations of some physical terms on the thermal field. firstly, the temperature profile showing the impact of (λ) in the occurrence of radiative heat (nr) parameter is plotted in fig 7. the graph elucidates that advancement in (λ) causes the temperature to fall whereas growing (nr) enhances the thermal profile. an advancement in the radiative heat flux corresponding to a rise in nr while the rosseland mean absorption coefficient declines and as such, the thermal field is enhanced as found in this figure. the results of the prandtl number (pr) and power-law index (m) on the thermal distribution are depicted in fig. 8. the graph demonstrates that a boost in the (pr) number lowers the thermal field by shrinking the energy boundary viscosity structure whereas the thermal propagation improves as (m) rises. the prandtl number connotes the diffusivity of the momentum ratio to the diffusivity of the heat, and also influence the relative momentum shear stress and thermal boundary layer. thus, a boost in the pr implies a reduction in the energy boundary film and consequently leads to a decline in the heat transfer. the reactions of thermal generation term 7 disu & salawu / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1103 8 figure 7. influence of λ&nr on temperature θ(η) (q) and hartmann term (m) on the energy filed are displayed in fig. 9. the graph portrays the fluid temperature exhibiting identical growing patterns on (q) and (m). typically, both parameters cause a rising trend in the thermal boundary layer. an enhancement in (m) induces a higher electromagnetic force which inspires an obstruction to the liquid motion and thus increase frictional heating effect which boosts the surface temperature. similarly, a hike in q is an indication of extra energy being generated and thus, a rise in the temperature as found in this figure. fig. 10 elucidates the reactions of the thermal slip term (b) and weissenberg term (we) on the fluid heat propagation. the temperature boundary structure shrinks and the temperature falls with growth in b whereas the converse occurs with enhancement in we as noticed in this figure. a rise in (b) draws away the fluid from the heated region thereby lowers the temperature whereas as we rises in magnitude a frictional heat is generated due to rising viscosity. the reactions of mass suction term (s ) and power-law exponent (m) are plotted in fig. 11. this plot reveals that with advancement in s , the temperature distribution subsides whereas as (m) increases, the temperature distribution shoots up. likewise, the plot showing the variation in darcy term (da) and thermal conductivity term ζ in respect to temperature is sketched in fig. 12. it is noticeable that an increment in the (da) and ζ boost the temperature distribution due to extra heat generated by the resistance imposed on the fluid flow as da increases. in figure 13, the impact of ecket number (ec) on the heat propagation with variation in hartmann number (m) is established. as seen, temperature distribution is raised due to an induce magnetic joule heating that inspired the tangent hyperbolic fluid flow particles interaction. also, the magnetic joule heating effect is complemented figure 8. reactions of m&pr on temperature θ(η) figure 9. impact of q&m on temperature θ(η) by the porous joule heating that creates fluid friction and resistant to free flow, thus, particles collision and random motion is encouraged to increase heat transfer. therefore, rising heat distribution magnitude is observed all over the flow region. 6. conclusion a computation solution has been performed on the motion and thermal propagation of hydromagnetic tangent hyperbolic 8 disu & salawu / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1103 9 figure 10. impact of b&we on temperature θ(η) figure 11. effect of s &m on θ(η) liquid passing a vertically stretched surface with varying thermal conductivity. the flow model is in steady 2-dimensional and incompressible stretchable plate enclosed in permeable media with the impact of radiative heat and internal thermal energy source. lie group analysis generates the similarity transformation which transformed the coupled differential equations with boundary conditions from partial to ordinary derivative equations, the solution to the equations are the offered computafigure 12. influence of da&ζ on temperature θ(η) figure 13. effect of ec&m on heat field θ(η) tionally via shooting approach alongside fehlberg runge-kutta method. the solutions are given graphically and deliberated while comparison with published studies show good 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[37] m. fathizadeh, m. madani, y. khan, n. faraz & s. tutkun, ”an effective modification of the homotopy perturbation method for mhd viscous flow over a stretching sheet”, j. king. saud. university sci. 25 (2013) 107. 11 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 131–131 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences corrigendum to “effect of benzophenone on the physicochemical properties of n-cnts synthesized from 1-ferrocenylmethyl (2-methylimidazole) catalyst” [j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 205-217] ayomide hassan labuloa,∗, elijah temitope adesujia, charles ojiefoh oseghalea, elias emeka elemikeb, adamu usmana, akinola kehinde akinolac, enock olugbenga darec adepartment of chemistry, federal university of lafia, lafia, nasarawa state, nigeria bdepartment of chemistry, federal university of petroleum, nigeria cdepartment of chemistry federal university of agriculture, abeokuta, ogun state, nigeria doi:10.46481/jnsps.2021.213 article history : received: 28 april 2021 accepted for publication: 15 may 2021 published: 29 may 2021 c©2021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: b. j. falaye in the acknowledgment section of this article, the first and second sentences that read “this research was financially supported by the national research foundation (nrf) south africa. we are grateful to the school of chemistry and physics, university of kwazulu-natal (ukzn) for creating a conducive research laboratory for this work” should have read “the authors acknowledge the school of chemistry and physics, university of kwazulu-natal (ukzn) for creating a conducive research laboratory for this work”. in addition, the sentence that reads “ayomide is grateful to prof. vincent nyamori, prof. bernand omondi, and mrs. rashidat labulo for proofreading this manuscript” should have read “ayomide is grateful to mrs. rashidat labulo for proofreading this manuscript”. ∗corresponding author tel. no: +234 8062295936 email address: labulo@yahoo.com (ayomide hassan labulo ) doi of the original article: 10.46481/jnsps.2020.105 131 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 262–266 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences novel developments of zno/sio2 nanocomposite: a nanotechnological approach towards insect vector control ezra abbaa,∗, zaccheus shehub,c, danbature wilson lamayib, kennedy poloma yoriyoa, rifkatu kambel dogarab, nsor charles ayuka adepartment of zoology, faculty of science, gombe state university, gombe, pmb 127, gombe, nigeria bchemistry department, faculty of science, gombe state university, gombe, pmb 127, gombe, nigeria cdepartment of chemistry, college of natural science, makerere university, p.o. box 7062, kampala abstract recently, there is increasing efforts to develop newer and effective larvicides to control mosquito vectors. this study was carried out to examine the efficacy of zno/sio2 nanocomposite synthesized using gum arabic against culex quinquefasciatus larvae. the elemental composition, morphology, functional groups and surface plasmon resonance of the zno/sio2 nanocomposite was analyzed by energy dispersive x-ray analysis (edx), scanning electron microscope (sem), ftir and uv-visible spectroscopy respectively. in bioassay, larvae were exposed to three different concentrations of synthesized zno/sio2 nanocomposite. the mortality rates at concentrations of 10, 20 and 25 were found to be (70%, 80%, 86%), (56%, 64%, 84%) and (44%, 48%, 76%) for 1st , 2nd , and 3rd instar respectively. this study revealed that the synthesized zno/sio2 nanocomposite exhibit high larvicidal activity; 1st instar (lc50=4.024, lc90= 39.273 mg/l), 2nd instar (lc50=8.767, lc90=51.069 mg/l) and 3rd instar (lc50=13.761.lc90=81.809 mg/l) doi:10.46481/jnsps.2021.198 keywords: culex quinquefasciatus, vector control, nanotechnological, zno/sio2 nanocomposite article history : received: 15 april 2021 received in revised form: 05 july 2021 accepted for publication: 24 july 2021 published: 29 august 2021 c©2021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: t. o. owolabi 1. introduction application of chemical insecticides in order to kill mosquito larvae or pupae in the water is known as larviciding. larviciding is generally more effective and target-specific than adulticiding (applying chemicals to kill adult mosquitoes). the most common synthetic chemicals used in controlling mosquitoes’ larvae are methoprene, pyrethroids, diflubenzuron, malathion, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (ddt), organophosphate temephos ∗corresponding author tel. no: email addresses: gemanamsly@gmail.com (ezra abba ), ezra.abba@gmail.com (nsor charles ayuk) and as well as phytochemicals [1-3]. however, synthetic chemicals (insecticides) are known to cause serious environmental problem thereby killing non-target organism and affecting human health. moreover, continuous application of synthetic chemicals (insecticides) results in control failures due to development of resistance by the mosquitoes (vectors) [4]. hence, it has been reported that zno and sio2 nanoparticles provides a lay down of a novel green nanotechnology to control insect pest including mosquitoes’ larvae [5-8]. zno/sio2 nanocomposites have been synthesized using various techniques such as chemical vapor deposition, sputtering, chemical etching and sol gel process and they are used in different applications such as an262 ezra et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 262–266 263 timicrobial, photonic crystals, photocatalysts, gas sensors, vacuum fluorescent display and varistors etc., [9-19]. but based on our search, there was no report on the effect of zno/sio2 nanocomposites against mosquito larvae except for the individual zno and sio2 nanoparticles. culex quinquefasciatus is a vector of lymphatic filariasis. the breeding site of culex species includes; gutters and water retention sites having organic matter. filariasis has been reported to be a public health problem in africa as well as other part of the world [20-22]. thus, to prevent mosquito bornediseases and improve the quality of public health, it is necessary to control mosquito larvae. in this study, zno/sio2 nanocomposite was synthesized using gum arabic and was tested against the larvae of culex quinquefasciatus. the formation of zno/sio2 nanocomposite was confirmed using ultraviolet– visible (uv–vis) spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy (sem) coupled energy dispersive x-ray (edx) spectroscopy and fourier transforms infrared (ftir) spectroscopy. 2. materials and methods 2.1. collection of gum arabic (acacia senegalensis) a fresh a. senegalensis extrudes were collected from billiri local government of gombe state. the gum extract were neatly collected and allowed to dry properly under the sun. the gum arabic was crushed to powder using pestle and mortar. 2.2. synthesis of zno/sio2 nanocomposite one gram (1 g) of gum arabic was poured into a beaker containing 40 ml of distilled water which was magnetically stirred for 10 minutes at 90◦c. following this, 2 g of zn(no3)6 .6h2o and 2 g of silica gel were added and stirred for 30 minutes. upon addition of zn(no3) 6 .6h2o and silica gel the aqueous solution changed to milk colour. with time the solution became viscous. a cloudy formation at the bottom of the beaker indicated the formation of resin. the resin obtained was placed in a furnace at 450 oc for two hours to obtain zno/sio2 nanocomposite [23]. 2.3. characterization of the green synthesized zno/sio2 nanocomposite zno/sio2 nanocomposite was characterized using ultravioletvisible spectroscopy, fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (ft-ir) and scanning electron microscopy (sem) coupled with energy dispersed x-ray techniques. 2.4. collection of culex quinquefasciatus larvae culex quinquefasciatus mosquito larvae were collected from different areas of gombe metropolis. using ladle and a collection bottle, the ladle was lowered into the water (breeding site) at an angle of about 45o until one side is just below the surface of the water. while dipping, care was taken not to disturb the larvae which may cause them to swim downward. the larvae were maintained and fed in the laboratory with glucose for the larvicidal bioassay. the collection was done based on previous literature [23]. figure 1. uv-visible spectrum for zno/sio2 nanocomposite. 2.5. larvicidal activity of zno/sio2 nanocomposite the test was carried out according to our previous work [24]. 0.1g of zno/sio2 nanocomposite was weighed and diluted with distilled water in a 1000 ml volumetric flask and shaked to obtain 100 mg/l concentration. the bioassay was done by placing different instars (1st – 3rd ) of the larvae into 200 ml of plastic container with four replicates and a control in each of the instars, each replicate comprised of twenty-five larvae. 100 ml of dechlorinated water was added in each of the replicates. finally, 10 mg/l, 20 mg/l and 25 mg/l of the zno/sio2 nanocomposite concentrations were inoculated into each of the replicates. and percentage mortality was calculated as follows: 2.6. statistical analysis percentage mortality, probit analysis, chi square and correlation analysis were calculated and tabulated using (spss, 2016). 3. result and discussion 3.1. ultraviolet visible analysis absorption spectrum of synthesized zno/sio2 nanocomposite at different wave lengths ranging from 260 to 380 nm revealed the maximum absorption wavelength of 280 nm, (figure 1). elsewhere, maximum absorption wavelength of 300 nm was reported for cao/sio2 nanocomposite [25]. this optical property is in the same range with the one in the current. 3.2. ft-ir analysis figure 2 depict the ft-ir spectrum of zno/sio2 nanocomposite analyzed from 450-4000 cm−1 which exhibited prominent peaks at 3457.75, 1654.65, 1067.44, 701.43, and 455.97 cm−1. the band at 1067.44 cm−1 corresponds to asymmetric stretching vibration of si-o-si bond. the peaks at 701.43 cm−1 corresponds to si-oh bond [9-19,26-28]. the band at 3457.75 cm−1 indicates ho-h stretching mode for silanol group and adsorbed water. and band at 1654.65 cm−1 indicates bending mode of adsorbed water. the zn-o and si-o bond is indicated by the peak at 455.97 cm−1 [919, 25-27]. thus, this information confirmed the formation of zno/sio2 nanocomposite. 263 ezra et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 262–266 264 figure 2. ft-ir spectrum of zno/sio2 nanocomposite. table 1. larvicidal activity of synthesized zno/sio2 nanocomposite on culex quinquefasciatus larvae. lc50 ; lethal concentration that kills 50% of larvae, lc90 ; lethal concentration that kills 90% of larvae, r: correlation coefficient; χ2 ; chi square instars conc (mg/l) mortality % mortality lc50 (mg/l) lc90 (mg/l) χ2 r 1st instar 10 17.5 70 4.024 39.273 0.076 0.999 20 20 80 25 21.5 86 2nd instar 10 14 56 8.767 51.069 1.543 0.908 20 16 64 25 19 84 3rd instar 10 11 44 13.761 81.809 2.75 0.826 20 12 48 25 19 76 3.3. sem/edx analysis figure, 3a depict sem image, 3b depict elemental data and 3c depict edx spectrum of zno/sio2 nanocomposite. the sem image showed large and dispersed particles of silica coated zno nanoparticles. the edx spectrum showed different element apart from the expected zn, si and o. the presence of other element is due to gum arabic used in the synthesis because gum arabic has been reported to contained; al, ba, ca, fe, k, mg, mn, p, s and sr [28]. from figure 3b, percentage composition of si, zn and o were 38.02, 37.42 and 7.21 % respectively. 3.4. larvicidal test result: the exposure of culex quinquefasciatus larvae to different concentrations of the synthesized zno/sio2 nanocomposite for 24hrs demonstrates their larvicidal efficacy. table 1 show that larval mortality significantly increased with the increase in concentrations of zno/sio2 nanocomposite. the mortality rates of concentrations; 10, 20 and 25 mg/l for 1st instar were 70%, 80%, 86%, 2nd instar were 56%, 64%, 84%, and 3rd instar were 44%, 48% and 76% respectively. this study revealed that the synthesized zno/sio2 nanocomposite larvicidal activity decreases from 1st instar to 3rd instar. thus, lethal concentrations of the nanocomposite on the larvae of culex quinquefasciatus were found to be (lc50=4.024 mg/l, lc90= 39.273 mgl/1), (lc50=8.767 mg/l, lc90=51.069 mg/l) and (lc50=13.761 mg/l, lc90=81.809 mg/l) for 1st, 2nd , and 3rd instar respectively. in our previous studies, ag-co and cu/ni bimetallic nanoparticles were synthesized through green pathway and it larvicidal activities were tested against culex quinquefasciatus larvae. the lc50 for 1st, 2nd , and 3rd instars were 5.237, 9.310 and 13.626 mg/l respectively [29]. and the lc50 for 1st, 2nd , and 3rd instars were 14.75, 18.25 and 18.50 mg/l respectively [30]. hence, zno/sio2 nanocomposite proved to be more effective against culex quinquefasciatus larvae than ag-co and cu/ni bimetallic nanoparticles as reported by [29-30]. 264 ezra et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 262–266 265 figure 3. (a) sem image (b) elemental result and (c) edx spectrum of the synthesized zno/sio2 nanocomposite 4. conclusion in this research, zno/sio2 was synthesized using gum arabic and characterized by uv-visible, ftir, sem and edx techniques. the larvicidal activity of zno/sio2 nanocomposite was tested against culex quinquefasciatus larvae using desired concentrations which showed significant results. this study showed that, the application of zno/sio2 nanocomposite can serve as a replacement of insecticide in mosquito vector control. 265 ezra et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 262–266 266 references [1] t. a. elijah, o. o. omolara, i. a. haleemat, m. roshila, h. l. ayomide, s. b. olusola & o. o. charles, “investigation of the larvicidal potential of silver nanoparticles against culex quinquefasciatus: a case of a ubiquitous weed as a useful bioresource”, j nanomat (2016) 1. 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[28] t. p. a. mahendran, g. o. williams, s. phillips & t. c. alassaf, “baldwin new insights into the structural characteristics of the arabinogalactan-protein (agp) fraction of gum arabic”, j. agric. food chem, 56 (2008) 9269. [29] w. l. danbature, z. shehu, m. yoro & m. m. adam, “nanolarvicidal effect of green synthesized ag-co bimetallic nanoparticles on culex quinquefasciatus mosquito”, adv biol chem 10 (2020) 16. [30] l. d. wilson, z. shehu, a. j. mai, b. magaji, m. m. adam & m. a. bunu, “green synthesis, characterization and larvicidal activity of cu/ni bimetallic nanoparticles using fruit extract of palmyra palm”, int. j. chem. mater. res 8 (2020) 20. 266 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 16–19 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences heterogeneous catalyzed synthesis of biodiesel from crude sunflower oil selvaraju sivamani∗, marwan ahmed sulieman al aamri, aseela musalem awad anthroon jaboob, azeezah mohammed masoud kashoob, layal kamall abdullah al-hakeem, mouna salim mhaad said almashany, muna ahmed mohammed safrar engineering department, university of technology and applied sciences (salalah college of technology), salalah, oman abstract biodiesel is the fatty acid alkyl esters that are used as the substitute for petro-diesel. the aim of the present work is to optimize biodiesel production from plant based non-edible crude oils with methanol using heterogeneous catalyst by transesterification for its commercialization. the factors affecting the biodiesel production from plant oils are volume of feedstock (oil), volume of alcohol (excess reactant), quantity of calcium hydroxide (catalyst), reaction time, temperature, and agitation speed. transesterification is the reaction between acid and alcohol to produce ester in the presence of alkali catalyst. in this work, transesterification was carried out between crude sunflower oil and methanol in the presence of calcium hydroxide as catalyst. finally, the maximum conversion of 85.6% was achieved at the optimum process parameters of 2 l of crude sunflower oil, 0.3 l methanol, 23 g of calcium hydroxide, reaction time of 24 h, temperature of 65 ◦c, and agitation speed of 100 rpm. the results showed that crude sunflower oil could serve as potential renewable substrate for biodiesel commercialization. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2022.230 keywords: crude sunflower oil, calcium hydroxide, transesterification, biodiesel article history : received: 16 may 2021 received in revised form: 12 january 2022 accepted for publication: 27 january 2022 published: 28 february 2022 c©2022 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: b. j. falaye 1. introduction biodiesel is an alternative fuel for clean combustion from domestic and renewable resources. the fuel is a mixture of alkyl esters of fatty acids made from pure edible vegetable oils, pure non-edible vegetable oils, waste vegetable oils, crude vegetable oils, algal oils, animal fats or recycled fats [1]. biodiesel can be used in its pure form with little or no modification in existing diesel engines, wherever applicable. biodiesel is easy to use, biodegradable, non-toxic and essentially free of sulphur and aromatics. it is generally used as ∗corresponding author tel. no: email address: sivmansel@gmail.com (selvaraju sivamani ) a petro-diesel additive to reduce particulate, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon and pollutant concentrations in diesel vehicles [2]. when used as an additive, the resulting diesel fuel may be referred to as b5, b10 or b20. this is the percentage of biodiesel that is mixed with petro-diesel. for example, b5 means that biodiesel and petro-diesel are mixed in the ratio of 5:95 [3]. biodiesel is produced by the process in which oils are combined with alcohol (ethanol or methanol) in the presence of a catalyst (alkali or heterogeneous) to form ethyl or methyl esters. ethyl or methyl esters of biomass can be mixed with conventional diesel fuel or used as a pure fuel (100% biodiesel) [4]. biodiesel can be made from vegetable oil, animal fat, or microalgae oil. the three basic ways of producing biodiesel 16 sivamani et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 16–19 17 from oils and fats are as follows [5]: 1. direct transesterification of oils or fats catalyzed by alkali or heterogeneous catalyst (if free fatty acid (ffa) < 2.5%) 2. esterification of oils or fats by acid catalysis and then by transesterification (if ffa > 2.5%) 3. conversion of oils and fats to its fatty acids and then to biodiesel the most common feedstock of edible oils used to produce biodiesel are soybean oil [6], rapeseed oil [7] and palm oil [8], which accounts for the bulk production of global biodiesel. other raw materials may come from non-edible sources such as jatropha [9], mustard [10], flax [11], and hemp [12]. animal fats, including sebum [13], lard [14], yellow fat [15], chicken fat [16] and fish oil [17] derivatives, may contribute to a small percentage of biodiesel production in the future, but their supply is limited and inefficient to raise animals for their fat. biodiesel can be mixed with petro-diesel in any proportion to produce a biodiesel blend, or it can be used in a pure form. like petro-diesel, biodiesel works with the diesel engine with auto-ignition and essentially requires little or no engine modification, as biodiesel has similar properties to diesel [18]. it can be stored as a petro-diesel and therefore does not require a separate infrastructure. the use of biodiesel in conventional diesel engines results in a significant reduction in the emission of unburnt hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulates. currently, a large number of biodiesel production plants around the world are functioning to full capacity, and a large number are under construction or designed to meet growing global demand [19]. literature studies show that abundant scientific reports are available on production of biodiesel from pure edible vegetable oils [6-8], pure non-edible vegetable oils [9-12], waste vegetable oils [20-22], algal oils [23-25], and animal fats [13-17]. but, only limited literature is available on biodiesel production from crude vegetable oils [26-27], and recycled fats [28-29]. hence, the present work focuses on the optimization of process parameters for production of biodiesel from plant based nonedible crude oils with methanol using heterogeneous catalyst by transesterification for its commercialization. 2. materials and methods 2.1. materials crude sunflower oil was generously provided by omani vegetable oils & derivatives company (llc), raysut, oman. all the chemicals used in the work are of analytical grade and the products of vwr international. double distilled water was used in this study. 2.2. methods a known volume of crude sunflower oil (2 l) was mixed with known volume of methanol and known quantity of calcium hydroxide and mixed well for certain time and temperature with mixing. after the time is completed, the mixture was allowed to settle for 8 h and the bottom glycerol layer was removed and acidulated with phosphoric acid to separate glycerol, sodium phosphate and methanol. sodium phosphate is reacted with water to produce phosphoric acid and recycled back. from the top layer, the mixture of biodiesel and water with little quantity of methanol was washed to remove excess methanol present, and dried to remove moisture from biodiesel. finally, ffa of oil and biodiesel were measured and the percentage conversion was calculated using the equation as given below: % conversion = (f f a in oil − f f a in biodiesel) f f a in oil x100 ffa was estimated following the procedure as follows [30]: standard solvent was prepared by mixing 25 ml diethyl ether and 25 ml 95% ethanol, and titrated against 0.1 n koh using 1 ml of 1% phenolphthalein solution as an indicator. 5 g of oil was dissolved in 50 ml of standard solvent in a 250 ml erlenmeyer flask. the contents are titrated against 0.1 n koh using few drops of phenolphthalein as an indicator. the end point is the appearance of pink color that lasts for 15 s. then, ffa was calculated using the equation as below: free f atty acid value (mg koh/g oil) = t itre value x normality o f koh x 28.05 mass o f oil in g the effect of methanol (0.1-0.5 l) was studied by fixing volume of oil, mass of calcium hydroxide, time, temperature and agitation speed at 2 l, 23 g, 24 h, 65 ◦c and 100 rpm respectively. the effect of catalyst (13.8-32.2 g) was studied by fixing volume of oil, volume of methanol, time, temperature and agitation speed at 2 l, 0.3 l, 24 h, 65 ◦c and 100 rpm respectively. the effect of time (16-32 h) was studied by fixing volume of oil, volume of methanol, mass of calcium hydroxide, temperature and agitation speed at 2 l, 0.3 l, 23 g, 65 ◦c and 100 rpm respectively. the effect of temperature (55-75 ◦c) was studied by fixing volume of oil, volume of methanol, mass of calcium hydroxide, time and agitation speed at 2 l, 0.3 l, 23 g, 24 h and 100 rpm respectively. the effect of agitation speed (50-150 rpm) was studied by fixing volume of oil, volume of methanol, mass of calcium hydroxide, time and temperature at 2 l, 0.3 l, 23 g, 24 h and 65 ◦c respectively. 3. results and discussion figure 1(a) shows the effect of volume of methanol on percentage conversion at constant values of volume of oil of 2 l, mass of calcium hydroxide of 23 g, reaction time of 24 h, temperature of 65 ◦c and agitation speed of 100 rpm. volume of methanol varied from 0.1 to 0.5 l. volume of methanol was selected based on the molar ratio of oil to methanol. from the literature, molecular weight of oil is 292 g/mol. in transesterification reaction, oil is the limiting reactant and methanol is the excess reactant. according to the reaction stoichiometry, 1 mole of oil reacts with 3 moles of methanol to produce biodiesel and glycerol. but, in practice, moles of methanol required to produce 17 sivamani et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 16–19 18 figure 1. effect of (a) volume of methanol (b) mass of calcium hydroxide (c) reaction time (d) temperature and (e) agitation speed on percentage conversion biodiesel is more than the stoichiometric requirement. percentage conversion initially increased with increase in volume of methanol. after 0.3 l of methanol, conversion decreased. this is due to the fact that high content of methanol reduces the quality of biodiesel and hence, decrease in conversion was observed [31]. figure 1(b) shows the effect of mass of calcium hydroxide on percentage conversion at constant values of volume of oil of 2 l, volume of methanol of 0.3 l, reaction time of 24 h, temperature of 65 ◦c and agitation speed of 100 rpm. mass of calcium hydroxide varied from 13.8 to 32.2 g. mass of calcium hydroxide was selected based on the mass ratio of catalyst to oil. in transesterification reaction, oil is the limiting reactant and methanol is the excess reactant and alkali or heterogeneous materials as catalyst. according to the standard operating procedure, mass ratio between catalyst and oil should be between 0.5 and 2% (w/w). percentage conversion initially increased with increase in mass of calcium hydroxide. after 23 g of calcium hydroxide, conversion decreased. this is due to the fact that catalytic poisoning occurs at higher concentration of catalyst [32]. figure 1(c) shows the effect of reaction time on percentage conversion at constant values of volume of oil of 2 l, volume of methanol of 0.3 l, mass of calcium hydroxide of 23 g, temperature of 65 ◦c and agitation speed of 100 rpm. reaction time varied from 16 to 32 h. reaction time was selected based on the literature. in transesterification, reaction should be carried out between oil, methanol and catalyst for certain period of time. percentage conversion initially increased with increase in time. after 24 h, conversion decreased [33]. figure 1(d) shows the effect of temperature on percentage conversion at constant values of volume of oil of 2 l, volume of methanol of 0.3 l, mass of calcium hydroxide of 23 g, time of 24 h, and agitation speed of 100 rpm. reaction temperature var18 sivamani et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 16–19 19 ied from 55 to 75 ◦c. reaction temperature was selected based on the boiling point of alcohol. in transesterification, reaction should be carried out between oil, methanol and catalyst at certain temperature. percentage conversion initially increased with increase in temperature. after 65 ◦c, conversion decreased. this is due to the fact that above 65 ◦c, loss of methanol is more which leads to the decrease in conversion [34]. figure 1(e) shows the effect of agitation speed on percentage conversion at constant values of volume of oil of 2 l, volume of methanol of 0.3 l, mass of calcium hydroxide of 23 g, time of 24 h, and temperature of 65 ◦c. agitation speed varied from 50 to 150 rpm. the effect of agitation speed on percentage conversion is not significant [35]. 4. conclusion the aim of the present work was to optimize biodiesel production from plant based non-edible crude oils with methanol using heterogeneous catalyst by transesterification for its commercialization. finally, the maximum conversion of 85.6% was achieved at the optimum process parameters of 2 l of crude sunflower oil, 0.3 l methanol, 23 g of calcium hydroxide, reaction time of 24 h, 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[35] o. s. stamenković, m.l. lazić, z. b. todorović, v. b. veljković & d. u. skala, ”the effect of agitation intensity on alkali-catalyzed methanolysis of sunflower oil”, bioresour. technol. 98 (2007) 2688. 19 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 160–165 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences original research l-stable block hybrid numerical algorithm for first-order ordinary differential equations b. i. akinnukawea,∗, k. o. mukab adepartment of mathematics, university of lagos, lagos, nigeria bdepartment of mathematics, university of benin, benin city, nigeria abstract in this work, a one-step l-stable block hybrid multistep method (bhmm) of order five was developed. the method is constructed for solving first order ordinary differential equations with given initial conditions. interpolation and collocation techniques, with power series as a basis function, are employed for the derivation of the continuous form of the hybrid methods. the discrete scheme and its second derivative are derived by evaluating at the specific grid and off-grid points to form the main and additional methods respectively. both hybrid methods generated are composed in matrix form and implemented as a block method. the stability and convergence properties of bhmm are discussed and presented. the numerical results of bhmm have proven its efficiency when compared to some existing methods. keywords: second derivative, stability, hybrid, block, collocation techniques article history : received: 25 may 2020 received in revised form: 13 july 2020 accepted for publication: 14 july 2020 published: 01 august 2020 c©2020 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: j. o. kuboye 1. introduction most mathematical models are formulated using ordinary differential equations (odes) of different orders. however, mathematical models that are based on odes of order one occur in several engineering, applied sciences and economics problems. some of the odes have been proven not to have closed-form solution hence the need to develop numerical methods to provide approximate solutions to these problems. consider the initial value problem of the form y′(x) = f (x, y(x)), y(x0) = y0 (1) several numerical methods have been developed by different researchers to circumvent the dahlquist’s order barrier theo∗corresponding author tel. no: email address: iakinnukawe@unilag.edu.ng (b. i. akinnukawe ) rem [1 3] that restricted the use of linear multistep methods of high order to solve (1). some of such researchers are enright [4], akinnukawe and okunuga [5], gear [6], okunuga [7], cash [8], akinfenwa et al. [9, 10], adesanya et al. [11], ijezie and muka [12] to mention but a few. high-order a-stable and l-stable numerical methods are developed by incorporating off-step points, additional stages and/or employing higher differentiation of the solution (lambert [13]). generating approximate solutions for (1) in instances where they exist and are unique but are insoluble via analytical means is very important because they help in the analysis and validation of models in which they evolve from. one of the objectives of developing numerical schemes for solving (1) is to obtain methods with wider stability regions, better convergent rates and computational efficiency. 160 akinnukawe & muka / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 160–165 161 in this article, continuous hybrid methods (chm) of order 5 are derived through interpolation and collocation techniques (onumanyi et al. [14]). both methods incorporate off-step points and the second derivative of the scheme to produce the discrete hybrid methods which are composed and implemented as a block method (bhmm) to simultaneously produce approximation at nodal points. the bhmm has the advantage of being self-starting, l-stable in nature and possesses high accuracy because it implemented as a block method (see [15], [16], [17]). 2. derivation of bhmm this section describes the derivation of the k-step hybrid multistep method of the form: k∑ j=0 α jyn+ j + αvyn+v = h k∑ j=0 β j fn+ j + hβv fn+v + h 2φkgn+k (2) where h, n and v = 12 are the step size, grid index and offstep point respectively while α j, β j, j = 0, 1, ..., k and φk are parameters to be determined uniquely. an approximate solution to (1) by the interpolating function y(x) = 4k+1∑ j=0 b jt j (3) where b j, j = 0, 1, ..., 4k + 1 are the unknown coefficients. imposing condition for the construction of the proposed class of methods are: y(xn+r ) = yn+r, r = 0, v (4) y′(xn+r ) = fn+r, r = 0(v)k (5) y′′(xn+r ) = gn+r, r = k (6) equations (4) (6) will lead to a system of 4k + 2 equations. these equations are solved simultaneously to obtain b j and the values of b j are substituted into (3) to form the continuous hybrid method (chm) expressed in the form y(t) = k−v∑ j=0 α j(t)yn+ j + h k∑ j=0 β j(t) fn+ j + h 2φk(t)gn+k (7) where t = x−xn+k−1h and α j(t), β j(t), j = 0(v)k and φk(t) are the continuous coefficients. the main scheme is generated evaluating chm (7) at xn+k while the additional scheme is generated from the second derivative of (7) at xn+v of the form h2y′′(t) = k−v∑ j=0 α j(t)yn+ j + h k∑ j=0 β j(t) fn+ j + h 2φk(t)gn+k (8) the developed main and additional schemes are combined and implemented simultaneously as a block hybrid multistep method bhmm for the numerical integration of ivps (1). following the steps discussed above, the continuous hybrid method (chm) for k=1 is equation (7) y(t) = k−v∑ j=0 α j(t)yn+ j + h k∑ j=0 β j(t) fn+ j + h 2φk(t)gn+k where  α0(t) α 1 2 (t)  = [ 1 0 −48023 128023 −120023 384230 0 48023 −128023 120023 −38423 ]  t0 t1 t2 t3 t4 t5  (1)  β0(t) β 1 2 (t) β1(t)  =  0 1 −13123 265 23 − 224 23 68 23 0 0 −12823 464 23 − 504 23 176 23 0 0 1923 − 89 23 128 23 − 52 23   t0 t1 t2 t3 t4 t5  (2) [ φ1(t) ] = [ 0 0 − 746 17 23 − 26 23 12 23 ]  t0 t1 t2 t3 t4 t5  (3) interpolating (7) at x = xn+1 to generate the main method at k = 1 becomes yn+1 = 7yn 23 + 16yn+ 12 23 + h fn 23 + 8h fn+ 12 23 + 6h fn+1 23 − h2gn+1 46 (9a) equation (8), the second derivative of (7) for k = 1 is h2y′′(t) = k−v∑ j=0 α j(t)yn+ j + h k∑ j=0 β j(t) fn+ j + h 2φk(t)gn+k where  α0(t) α 1 2 (t)  = [ −96023 768023 −1440023 768023960 23 − 7680 23 14400 23 − 7680 23 ] t0 t1 t2 t3 (4)  β0(t) β 1 2 (t) β1(t)  =  − 262 23 1590 23 − 2688 23 1360 23 − 256 23 2784 23 − 6048 23 3520 23 38 23 − 534 23 1536 23 − 1040 23   t0 t1 t2 t3  (5) 161 akinnukawe & muka / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 160–165 162 [ φ1(t) ] = [ − 7 23 102 23 − 312 23 240 23 ]  t0 t1 t2 t3  (6) interpolating(8) at x = xn+1/2, the additional method at k = 1 becomes h2gn+ 12 = 240yn 23 − 240yn+ 12 23 + 31h fn 23 + 64h fn+ 12 23 + 25h fn+1 23 − 4h2gn+1 23 (9b) the discrete hybrid methods (9a)and (9b) together forms the one-step block hybrid multistep methods (bhmm). the bhmm can be presented in a matrix block form as a(1)y$ = a(0)y$−1 + hb(1) f$ + hb(0) f$−1 + h 2c(1)g$ (10) where y$ =  yn+ 12 yn+1  ; y$−1 =  yn− 12 yn  ; f$ =  fn+ 12 fn+1  ; f$−1 =  fn− 12 fn  ; g$ =  gn+ 12 gn+1  the 2 by 2 matrices a(0), a(1), b(0), b(1), c(1), d(1) of the bhmm (9) are defined as follows a(1) =  240 23 0 − 16 23 1  a(0) =  0 24023 0 723  b(1) =  64 23 25 23 8 23 6 23  b(0) =  0 3123 0 123  c(1) =  −1 − 423 0 − 146  3. analysis of bhmm 3.1. order and error constant of the method following lambert [13] and fatunla [18], a method was proposed for finding the order p and error constant wp+1 of the block method (9) by first expanding y−, f− and g− functions by taylors series expansion about x and then comparing the coefficients of h. it is established from our calculation that one-step block hybrid multistep method have order and error constants as p = (5, 5)t and wp+1 = ( 13 44160 , 1 66240 ) t respectively where t is transpose. 3.2. zero stability a numerical method is said to be zero-stable if the roots r j, j = 1, 2, . . . , n of the first characteristic polynomial ρ(r) satisfies |r j| ≤ 1, j = 1, . . . , n and those roots with |r j| = 1 is simple (see lambert [3]). applying the above conditions to the derived block method, the first characteristic polynomial ρ(r) = 0 is calculated as ρ(r) = det(ra(1) − a(0)) = 240 23 r(r − 1) the bhmm is found to be zero-stable since ρ(r) = 0 satisfies |r j| ≤ 1, j = 1, 2. 3.3. convergence according to henrici [19], a numerical method converges if it is consistent and zero-stable. since bhmm (9) is of order 5 > 1, then it is consistent and we have established earlier that the method satisfies the conditions of zero-stability. therefore, the block method (9) converges. 3.4. stability of bhmm applying the bhmm to the test equation y′ = λy, λ ≤ 0 we obtain y$ = q(z)y$−1, z = λh where q(z) is the amplification matrix given by q(z) = a(0) + zb(0) a(1) + zb(1) + z2c(1) q(z) has eigenvalues (ζ1,ζ2) = (0,ζ2). the dominant eigenvalue ζ2 is the stability function with real coefficient as ζ2 = 10.4348 + 4.17391z + 0.652174z2 + 0.0434783z3 10.4348 − 6.26087z + 1.69565z2 − 0.26087z3 + 0.0217391z4 the stability function is used to plot the region of absolute stability (ras) of the bhmm (see figure 1). the proposed method bhmm is l-stable since the ras covers the entire left plane of the graph (a-stable) and the limit of the stability function ζ2 is zero as z →∞ 162 akinnukawe & muka / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 160–165 163 figure 1. stability region of block hybrid multistep method 4. numerical results the following problems are considered to examine the accuracy and computational efficiency of bhmm. the computations were carried out using mathematica 9.0 software. the following acronyms are used: • es = exact solution • esdmm = error in sdmm • emhirk = error in mhirk • ebhmm = error in bhmm • eesdmm = error in esdmm problem 1: consider the non-linear ivp y′1 = λy1 + y 2 2 y′2 = −y2 with initial conditions y1(0) = −1 λ + 2 , y2(0) = 1, where λ = 104 and the exact solution of the ivp is given as y1(x) = − e−2x λ + 2 , y2(x) = e −x in table 1, the numerical results obtained using bhmm with h = 10−1 compares favourably with mhirk method [10] with h = 10−1 and is superior to that of hojjati et al. [20] that used h = 10−4. problem 2: consider the following stiff problem arising from chemical kinetic reactions in a chemistry experiment. y′1 = −0.013y1 − 1000y1y2 − 2500y1y3 y′2 = −0.013y1 − 1000y1y2 y′3 = −2500y1y3 with initial conditions y1(0) = 0, y2(0) = 1, y3(0) = 1 the computed result at x = 2.0 from the new method bhmm is compared with those of ismail and ibrahim (esdmm [21]), hojjati et al. sdmm [20], akinfenwa et al. mhirk [10]. the step length h = 0.0125 was used for mhirk method and the new method bhmm and compared with ismail and ibrahim esdmm [21], hojjati et al. sdmm [20] with step length h = 0.001. the result obtained with the new method bhmm is superior to others. see table 2 for the numerical results. problem 3: consider the non-linear system y′1 = −2y1 + y2 + 2sin x y′2 = 998y1 − 999y2 + 999(cos x − sin x) with initial conditions y1(0) = 2, y2(0) = 3, 0 ≤ x ≤ 10 with analytical solution given as y1(x) = 2e −x + sin x, y2(x) = 2e −x + cos x 163 akinnukawe & muka / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 160–165 164 table 1. comparison of methods for problem 1 x yi es esdmm[20] emhirk[10] ebhmm 3 y1 −0.2478257e − 06 2.478147e − 11 3.06450e − 15 5.00564e − 16 y2 0.4978707e − 01 2.471093e − 06 3.07825e − 10 5.02813e − 11 5 y1 −0.4539085e − 08 3.450217e − 14 9.35475e − 17 1.52787e − 17 y2 0.6737946e − 02 2.304573e − 08 6.94326e − 11 1.13414e − 11 10 y1 0.3059023e − 12 3.456372e − 18 8.49412e − 21 3.75372e − 20 y2 0.3059023e − 04 3.150734e − 10 9.35666e − 13 1.52836e − 13 table 2. comparison of methods for problem 2 x yi es eesdmm[21] esdmm[20] emhirk[10] ebhmm 2.0 y1 −0.361693316929e − 5 0.82e − 10 0.52e − 13 0.110e − 13 2.919e − 15 y2 0.9815029948230 0.61e − 05 0.19e − 08 0.220e − 08 5.586e − 10 y3 1.018493388244 0.57e − 05 0.63e − 08 0.220e − 08 5.584e − 10 the numerical results of problem 3 are shown in table 3 using step size h = 10−3. the derived method integrated the problem efficiently that the numerical solution is close to that of the analytical solution. table 3. the absolute error for problem 3 x yi es ebhmm 0.25 y1 1.805005525 4.50751e − 14 y2 2.526513988 4.84057e − 14 0.5 y1 1.692486858 9.85878e − 14 y2 2.090643881 9.81437e − 14 1.0 y1 1.577229867 9.45910e − 14 y2 1.276061188 9.54792e − 14 2.0 y1 1.179967993 1.68310e − 13 y2 −0.145476270 1.68365e − 13 4.0 y1 −0.720171217 2.21378e − 13 y2 −0.617012343 2.23044e − 13 6.0 y1 −0.274457993 1.01363e − 13 y2 0.9651277911 1.01474e − 13 8.0 y1 0.9900291719 1.93401e − 13 y2 −0.1448291085 1.94650e − 13 10.0 y1 −0.5439303110 6.10623e − 13 y2 −0.8389807292 6.09068e − 13 problem 4: a stiff system of initial value problems y′1 = −8y1 + 7y2 y′2 = 42y1 − 43y2 with initial conditions y1(0) = 1, y2(0) = 8, x ∈ [0, 15] with exact solution given as y1(x) = 2e −x − e−50x, y2(x) = 2e −x + 6 − e−50x problem 4 was integrated using the step size of h = 10−4 to aid in comparing with other methods in literature as shown in tables 4 and 5. it is discovered that bhmm has better accuracy than the others compared with. table 4. numerical results for problem 4 x yi es ebhmm 3 y1 9.9574136 × 10−2 2.68577 × 10−13 y2 9.9574136 × 10−2 2.65843 × 10−13 6 y1 4.9575044 × 10−3 1.68580 × 10−14 y2 4.9575044 × 10−3 1.80611 × 10−14 9 y1 2.4681961 × 10−4 7.57646 × 10−15 y2 2.4681961 × 10−4 5.43191 × 10−15 12 y1 1.2288424 × 10−5 2.10193 × 10−15 y2 1.2288424 × 10−5 2.54783 × 10−15 15 y1 6.1180464 × 10−7 2.29273 × 10−14 y2 6.1180464 × 10−7 1.87085 × 10−14 5. conclusion a one-step l-stable block hybrid multistep method (bhmm) of order five was developed via interpolation and collocation techniques. the bhmm has the advantage of being self-starting and its l-stable in nature as displayed in figure 1. the block method possesses high accuracy as shown in tables (1) − (5) where it was compared with some existing methods. the method satisfies the zero-stability, consistency and convergence conditions. bhmm has proved efficient for solving first-order initial value problems. 164 akinnukawe & muka / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 2 (2020) 160–165 165 table 5. a comparison of absolute errors of methods for problem 4 x methods error |y(tn) − yn| 5 bhmm 3.1999 × 10−14 tdbdf [22] 1.5472 × 10−2 tdmm [23] 1.5476 × 10−2 10 bhmm 4.642 × 10−15 tdbdf [22] 9.0808 × 10−5 tdmm [23] 9.0808 × 10−5 15 bhmm 1.8709 × 10−14 tdbdf [22] 6.1186 × 10−7 tdmm [23] 6.1186 × 10−7 acknowledgments the authors wish to thank the referees and editor for the comments and suggestions to make this paper a success. references [1] g. g. dahlquist, “a special stability problem for linear multistep methods”, bit 3 (1963) 27. 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[23] a. k. ezzeddine & g. hojjati, “third derivative multistep methods for stiff systems”, international journal of nonlinear science 14 (2012) 443. 165 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 423–428 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences assessment of radiation shielding properties of polymer-lead (ii) oxide composites m. a. salawua,∗, j. a. gbolahana, a. b. alabia adepartment of physics, university of ilorin, ilorin, nigeria abstract long term exposure to very high levels of radiations from medical diagnostic centres, industries, nuclear research establishments and nuclear weapon development have resulted in health effects such as cancer and acute radiation syndrome, hence the need for proper radiation shielding. this paper investigated epoxy-lead (ii) oxide (pbo) composite as radiation shielding. the composites were prepared by dispersion of microsized pbo particles into polymeric materials using effective melt-mixing method and cast in a 4 cm by 6 cm rectangular aluminium mold with a thickness of 5 mm and was allowed to set over night at room temperature. the gamma ray attenuation ability of the composites were studied using gamma ray transmission or attenuation coefficient determination for the gamma ray energy. three gamma ray sources ba-133, cs-137 and co-60 were employed. the density, linear attenuation coefficient, half value layer (hvl), relaxation length and heaviness of the samples were determined. the measured values of linear attenuation coefficient increased with increasing filler concentration in all the samples at all gamma ray energies. it was also noticed that 40 % and 50 % filler samples attenuates more relative to the other samples under study. the maximum linear attenuation attained was found at energy of 662 kev. the composites have been found to possessed medical gamma-ray attenuation characteristics among the sample materials over a certain photon energy range (0.08 mev–1.332 mev) and found useful as a biological radiation shielding against gamma rays. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2021.249 keywords: pbo, pani, hvl, epoxy, attenuation article history : received: 12 june 2021 received in revised form: 17 august 2021 accepted for publication: 18 august 2021 published: 29 november 2021 c©2021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: e. etim 1. introduction electromagnetic radiation like gamma beams and x-beams are risky to human wellbeing. individuals get exposed to gamma and x-radiations from various kinds of sources including industries, medical diagnostic centres, nuclear research establishments, nuclear reactors, research involving radio-isotopes and nuclear weapon development facilities. ∗corresponding author tel. no: +2348030788553 email address: salawu.ma@unilorin.edu.ng, abideen2004@gmail.com (m. a. salawu ) to shield work force and delicate electronic gear from such ionizing radiation, protection is important. radiation protection is the act of shielding individuals and the environment from unsafe impact of ionizing radiation. radiation exposure is one of the significant concerns when setting up thermal energy stations, the utilization of solid (high action) poly aniline (pani) discover application in strong erosion safe materials, electrical apparatuses, electrolytes for batteries and electromagnetic protecting materials. lead is the most well-known protecting material used to 423 m. a. salawu et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 423–428 424 shield against gamma beam and x-beams. be that as it may, the presence of a quickly changing attractive field in these radiations prompts whirlpool current in a conductor. thus, the utilization of standard metallic lead gets unsatisfactory. accordingly, it is attractive that the protecting material ought to be a non-conductor. this necessity is very much fulfilled by utilizing different mixes of metal powders in a polymer grid. composites are materials that contain solid burden conveying material (known as reinforcement) imbedded in a more vulnerable material known as matrix [1]. polymeric composites containing different measures of inorganic added substances have been widely read by a few specialists to contemplate the protecting properties toward gamma and x-radiation [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23]. the added substances might be any of the fitting high-electron thickness materials, for example, lead oxides, lead silicate, lead sulfide, and so forth, scattered in a plastic matrix or materials containing lead acrylate. lead material is dense and has radiation that can be employed against different forms of highenergy applications of radiation such as gamma rays, x-rays, and other types of nuclear radiation. in this study, the gamma ray attenuation ability of the fabricated composites was studied by means of gamma ray transmission or attenuation. coefficient determination for the gamma ray energy. this was performed by using three gamma ray sources which are ba-133, cs-137 and co-60. the sample preparation was based upon the dispersion of micro-sized particles into polymeric materials by an accurate and effective melt-mixing method which was becoming increasingly important so that a uniform mixture could be produced. 2. materials and methods epoxy resin (bisphenol-a-diglycidyl ether poly), hardener (isophoromediamine) and filler (lead (ii) oxide powder) of commercial grade were used with the modification of the method reported by [24]. the sample preparation was based upon the dispersion of particles into polymeric materials by melt-mixing methods. micron-sized pbo was added into the epoxy resin before the hardener was mixed into it. the ratio of epoxy resin to hardener used was 2:1. the mixing of pbo powder in epoxy resin was stirred thoroughly using a two-roll rheomixer device and a rotor speed of 60 revolution per minutes (rpm) for 10 minutes to ensure fairly uniform dispersion of the powder in epoxy matrix. the well-mixed mixture was then cast in a 4 cm by 6 cm rectangular aluminium mold with a thickness of 5 mm and was allowed to set over night at room temperature. the density, linear attenuation coefficient, half value layer (hvl), relaxation length and heaviness of the samples were determined. the apparent density of prepared samples was measured using: ρ = m v , (1) where m and v are the mass and volume of each sample, respectively. the measured densities were compared with the theoretical values, (with an assumption that the samples were free from voids) which are determined using: ρc = 100[ e ρ f − e ρe ] (2) where e is the weight % of epoxy, ρ f is the density of filler, and ρe is the density of epoxy. gamma ray transmission through the prepared samples was studied using beam of well collimated point source from co60, cs-137, ba-133. the initial intensity (io) of the generated gamma-rays was determined. the distance between the source and the detector was set to be 6.6 cm. then the transmitted gamma-ray beam (i) was measured with the sample placed in front of the detector. for each composite sample, the measurements were performed three times. the linear attenuation coefficient for each sample was then calculated using: µ = ln i0i x (3) where x is the thickness of the sample, i0 is initial intensity of the gamma ray, i is the transmitted intensity with shielding. figure 1 shows the schematic diagram of the set up. figure 1: schematic setup of experiment. the mass attenuation coefficient was determined using: µm = µ ρc (4) where µ is linear attenuation and ρc is theoretical density. the half value layer (hvl), relaxation length and % of heaviness were respectively determined using equations (5), (6) and (7), respectively. hv l = 0.693 µ , (5) relaxation length λ = 1 µ (6) 424 m. a. salawu et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 423–428 425 where µ is the linear attenuation of the absorber. with reference to lead, the % of heaviness of other conventional shielding materials along with epoxy + pbo composites was evaluated using equation (7). % of heaviness = density of material density of lead × 100 (7) 3. results and discussion figure 2: density against the percentage weight of the sample the density of the samples increases as the percentage weight of the samples increases. the densities ranges from 0.55 g/cm3 to 1.1 g/cm3 from 0 to 50 percentage weight. table 1 and figure 3 illustrate the relationship between linear attenuation coefficient and weight percent of the filler of the composites for ba-133, cs-137 and co-60 gamma sources. the measured values of linear attenuation coefficient increased with increasing filler concentration in all the samples at all gamma ray energies and is in good agreement with the reported works of [24, 25]. the linear attenuation coefficient ranges between 1.0773 to 2.9833 for ba-133, 4.9945 to 7.2121 for cs-137 and 0.3942 to 0.9486 for co-60 gamma sources. figure 4 shows the linear attenuation coefficient against energy for the samples under study. it was noticed that 40 % and 50 % filler samples attenuate more than the rest of the samples. the maximum attenuation attained was found to be at table 1: linear attenuation coefficient (µ) of the samples for each gamma source. s/n filler % in sample linear attenuation (µ) ba-133 cs-137 co-60 1 0 1.0773 4.9945 0.3942 2 10 2.0877 5.1310 0.5467 3 20 2.1472 5.2417 0.6125 4 30 2.2455 5.4956 0.7190 5 40 2.8388 7.1113 0.8981 6 50 2.9833 7.2121 0.9486 figure 3: linear attenuation coefficient against % filler in the sample figure 4: linear attenuation coefficient (cm−1) against energy (kev) energy 662 kev as shown in figure 4. the shielding materials attenuates single energy more than the double range energies sources. linear attenuation decreased at 80 kev to around 400 kev and optimum at 662 kev and decreases down as the energy increases to 1332 kev. this is due to the fact that linear attenuation was pronounced for single energy sources and less for bi-energy source. at 662 kev energy, linear attenuation coefficient values was noticed to have increased due to cs-137 being single energy source and having low activity of 0.25 µci. figure 5: half value layer against % weight 425 m. a. salawu et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 423–428 426 figure 5 shows the half value layer against % weight for the samples under study. the half value layers (hvls) for the samples are seen to have small values for cs-137 and ba-133 gamma radiations relative to co-60. also the significant reduction in values of hvls for cs-137 may be due to it being single energy source. the hvls also decreases with increasing filler content. therefore, it requires a thickness of 0.731 cm, 0.096 cm, 0.23 cm of 50 % filler to reduce the radiation intensity coming from gamma sources co-60, cs-137, and ba-133 to 50 % respectively. figure 6: half value layer against energy (kev). figure 6 illustrates the relationship between hvl and energy. it was found that the hvls of the composite samples behaves differently at different energies of the gamma radiation. the hvl decreased significantly at 662 kev and has optimum value at 1200 kev for all the samples under study. the figure 7: relaxation length against the energy (kev) for different weight percent filler in the samples. relaxation length (λ) is calculated from linear attenuation coefficient (µ) of all the samples at an energy range of 80 kev–1332 kev and it changes with photon energy as shown in figure 7. the relaxation length (λ) of any particular radiation represents the average distance between two successive interactions. the less the relaxation length of a material at a particular energy, the better the shielding properties it possesses. mathematically, the relaxation length (λ) is equivalent to the reciprocal of linear attenuation coefficient (µ). it is observed that at 662 kev energy, the relaxation length is relatively low relative to other energy sources. this indicates that the composites will be a good shielding material at 662 kev. the low energy photons loses their energy in a short distance while high energy photons need a longer distance to lose their energy. figure 8 shows figure 8: relaxation length against % weight of the samples the relaxation length against % weight of the sample. the relaxation length decreased with increased in filler content of the samples. this is as a result of increase in densities of the samples thereby causing the distances between the particles in the samples to decrease. figure 9: relaxation length against % weight of the samples figure 9 shows the % of heaviness of each of the % weight composition of epoxy pbo. the results obtained proved that the polymer composites considered exhibits excellent lightness relative to conventional radiation shielding materials such as lead, barite, steal, concrete lead glass, whose % heaviness ranges between 54.85 and 100. at the same time, their performance as radiation shielding materials are appreciable particularly at higher concentrations and for low energy gamma ray sources. figure 10 shows the scanning electron microscope (sem) micrographs of pbo epoxy filled composites for (a) pure epoxy (b) 10 % filler (c) 20 % filler (d) 30 % filler (e) 40 % filler and (f) 50 % filler. the micrographs showed uniform distributions 426 m. a. salawu et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 423–428 427 (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) figure 10: scanning electron microscope (sem) micrographs of fabricated samples of the filler within the matrix (figure 10a to 10f). the bright regions represent the filler particles (pbo) dispersed in the dark epoxy matrix. the fillers were seen to be quite uniformly dispersed in the composites, although with minor agglomerations. 4. conclusion the measured values of linear attenuation coefficient increased with increasing filler concentration in all the samples at all gamma ray energies. the 40 % and 50 % filler samples attenuate more 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[25] vasiliy cherkasov, valeriy avdonin, yuriy yurkin & dmitrii suntsov, “prediction of radiation shielding properties of self adhesive elastic coating”, materials physics and mechanics 42 (2019) 825. 428 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 1021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences system of non-linear volterra integral equations in a direct-sum of hilbert spaces jabar s. hassana,∗, haider a. majeedb, ghassan ezzulddin arifb a department of mathematics, college of science, salahaddin university erbil / iraq bdepartment of mathematics, tikrit university, college of education for pure sciences, tikrit/ iraq abstract we use the contraction mapping theorem to present the existence and uniqueness of solutions in a short time to a system of non-linear volterra integral equations in a certain type of direct-sum h[a, b] of a hilbert space v [a, b]. we extend the local existence and uniqueness of solutions to the global existence and uniqueness of solutions to the proposed problem. because the kernel function is a transcendental function in h[a, b] on the interval [a, b], the results are novel and very important in numerical approximation. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2022.1021 keywords: system of non-linear integral equations, reproducing kernel hilbert spaces, fixed point theorem article history : received: 20 august 2022 received in revised form: 12 september 2022 accepted for publication: 13 september 2022 published: 01 october 2022 c© 2022 the author(s). published by the nigerian society of physical sciences under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and doi. communicated by: b. j. falaye 1. introduction non-linear volterra integral equations have many applications in several fields, such as physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering. for example, particle transport problems in astrophysics theory, electrostatics, potential theory, mathematical problems of radiative steady state, heat transfer problems, and many other mathematical modeling are described by volttera integral equations [1-9]. in this paper, we introduce the following system of non-linear volterra integral equations for t ∈ [a, b]: f (t) = α(t) + ∫ t a f(t, s, f (s), g(s))d s, (1) ∗corresponding author tel. no: email address: jabar.hassan@su.edu.krd (jabar s. hassan ) g(t) = β(t) + ∫ t a g(t, s, f (s), g(s))d s, (2) where α,β ∈ h[a, b] is a direct sum of reproducing kernel hilbert space v [a, b] consisting of those absolutely continuous functions whose derivative is square-integrable on [a, b]. f and g are given functions that satisfy fixed regularity conditions. f and g are unknown functions that need to be determined. recently, reproducing kernel hilbert space methods have been widely studied by many researchers to solve linear and non-linear problems such as partial and ordinary differential equations, as well as integral, fractional, and integral differential equations [4,7,9]. obviously, considering the existence and uniqueness of solutions to such kinds of problems is very important in pure and applied mathematics. in view of the fact that most real phenomena and non-linear problems in the world can not be solved analytically, researchers use numerical methods to obtain their approximate and numerical solutions in an 1 hassan et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 1021 2 appropriate space. in this work, we examine the local and global existence and uniqueness of solutions to a system of non-linear volterra integral equations in the reproducing kernel hilbert space h[a, b]. this space is a very favorable space in numerical approximation since its reproducing kernel function is a transcendental function in [a, b]. 2. preliminary notation this section is assigned to present basic notation, definitions, and theorems which will be used later. definition 1. let s , ∅. a hilbert space h of continuous real-valued functions f : s → r is called reproducing kernel hilbert space if there exists a function k : s × s → r in h such that 〈 f (·), k(·, s)〉h = f (s), and k(·, s) ∈ h for all f ∈ h and all s ∈ s . such a function k = k(·, ·) is said to be a reproducing kernel function of h [4,6]. definition 2. let v [a, b] be the space of all absolutely continuous functions f : [a, b] → r such that f ′ ∈ l2[a, b] [4,6]. theorem 1. the function space v [a, b] equipped with the inner product [4] 〈 f1, f2〉v [a,b] = f1(a) f2(a) + ∫ b a f ′1 (t) f ′ 2 (t)dt, and associated with the norm || · || = √ 〈·, ·〉v [a,b], is a reproducing kernel hilbert space and the reproducing kernel function k = k(·, ·) is defined by: k(t,τ) = 1 2 sinh(b − a) ( cosh(τ + t − b + a) + cosh(| τ− t | −b − a) ) . definition 3. the function space h[a, b] = v [a, b] ⊕ v [a, b], consists of those functions ~h : [a, b] → r2 where ~h = (h1, h2) such that h1 and h2 belong to v [a, b]. definition 4. the inner product of the space h[a, b] is defined by : 〈~f ,~g〉h[a,b] = 〈 f1, g1〉v [a,b] + 〈 f2, g2〉v [a,b], where f = ( f1, f2) and g = (g1, g2). such a space is called direct sum of the reproducing kernel hilbert space v [a, b]. 3. existence and uniqueness in this section, we discuss the banach fixed point theorem to show the local and global existence and uniqueness of solutions to (1)-(2). to do this first, we need to introduce some basic tools. let ~h ∈ h[a, b] and let a = {(t, s) : a ≤ s ≤ t ≤ b}. define maps t~h : [a, b] → r and l~h : [a, b] → r by: t~h(t) = ∫ t a f ( t, s,~h(s) ) d s, l~h(t) = ∫ t a g ( t, s,~h(s) ) d s, such that the following conditions are hold for (k = 0, 1): c1) ∂ k ∂tk f and ∂k ∂tk g are uniformly bounded functions on a× r2. c2) for some positive constants m and n such that i) ∣∣∣∣ ∂k∂tk f(x, s, ~f1(s)) − ∂k∂tk f(y, s, ~f2(s))∣∣∣∣ 6 m (|x − y| + ‖~f1 − ~f2‖2 ) ; ii) ∣∣∣∣ ∂k∂tk g(x, s, ~g1(s)) − ∂k∂tk g(y, s, ~g2(s))∣∣∣∣ 6 n (|x − y| + ‖~g1 − ~g2‖2 ) . theorem 2. let ~h ∈ h[a, b]. then t~h ∈ h[a, b]. we first assert that t~h is absolutely continuous in [a, b]. by condition (c1) for (k=0); f is uniformly bounded on a× r2 and condition (c2) part (i) there are positive constants m and m1. let i j = {[a j, b j]}nj=1 be a finite collection of non-over lapping intervals in [a, b], and let ε > 0 such that: n∑ j=1 ∣∣∣∣b j − a j∣∣∣∣ < ε( m1(b − a) + m ). since, n∑ j=1 ∣∣∣∣t~h(b j) − t~h(a j)∣∣∣∣ = n∑ j=1 ∣∣∣∣ ∫ b j a f ( b j, s,~h(s) ) d s − ∫ a j a f ( a j, s,~h(s) ) d s ∣∣∣∣ = n∑ j=1 ∣∣∣∣ ∫ a j a f ( b j, s,~h(s) ) d s + ∫ b j a j f ( b j, s,~h(s) ) d s − ∫ a j a f ( a j, s,~h(s) ) d s ∣∣∣∣ 2 hassan et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 1021 3 6 n∑ j=1 ∫ a j a j ∣∣∣∣f(b j, s,~h(s)) − f(a j, s,~h(s))∣∣∣∣d s + ∫ b j a j ∣∣∣∣f(b j, s,~h(s))d s∣∣∣∣ 6 n∑ j=1 ∫ a j a m1 ∣∣∣∣b j − a j∣∣∣∣d s + ∫ b j a j md s = n∑ j=1 ( m1(a j − a)|b j − a j| + m|b j − a j| ) 6 ( m1(b − a) + m ) n∑ j=1 ∣∣∣∣b j − a j∣∣∣∣ < ε. hence, t~h is absolutely continuous on in [a, b]. next, we want to show ∂ ∂t t ~h(·) ∈ l2[a, b]. leibniz rule implies for almost every t ∈ [a, b] that ∂ ∂t t~h(t) =f ( t, t,~h(t) ) + ∫ t a ∂ ∂t f ( t, s,~h(s) ) d s. then, ∫ b a ∣∣∣∣ ∂ ∂t t~h(t) ∣∣∣∣2dt = ∫ b a ∣∣∣∣∣f(t, t,~h(t)) + ∫ t a ∂ ∂t f ( t, s,~h(s) ) d s ∣∣∣∣∣2dt ≤ 2 ∫ b a ∣∣∣∣f(t, t,~h(t))∣∣∣∣2dt + 2 ∫ b a ∣∣∣∣∣ ∫ t a ∂ ∂t f ( t, s,~h(s) ) d s ∣∣∣∣∣2dt. it follows from condition (c1) for (k=0,1 ) there are positive constants n, d and the cauchy-schwartz inequality that∫ b a ∣∣∣∣ ∂ ∂t t~h(t) ∣∣∣∣2dt ≤ 2 ∫ b a n2dt + 2 ∫ b a ( ∫ t a ( ∂ ∂t f ( t, s,~h(s) ))2 d s ∫ t a 12d s ) dt, implies∫ b a ∣∣∣∣ ∂ ∂t t~h(t) ∣∣∣∣2dt ≤ 2 ∫ b a n2dt + 2 ∫ b a ( ∫ t a ( ∂ ∂t f ( t, s,~h(s) ))2 d s ∫ t a 12d s ) dt 6 2n2(b − a) + 2(b − a) ∫ b a ∫ t a ( ∂ ∂t f(t, s,~h(t) )2 d sdt 6 2n2(b − a) + 2(b − a) ∫ b a ∫ b a d2d sdt = 2n2(b − a) + 2d2(b − a)3 < ∞. therefore, t~h belongs to h[a, b] by definitions (2) and (3). similar arguments one can use to show that l~h belongs to h[a, b]. theorem 3. let ~f ∈ h[a, b]. then l ~f ∈ h[a, b]. the proof is analogous to the proof of theorem 2. set α,β ∈ h[a, b]. define operators γ : h[a, b] → h[a, b] and λ : h[a, b] → h[a, b] such that: γ~h(t) = α(t) + t~h(t); λ~h(t) = β(t) + l~h(t); for all ~h ∈ h[a, b]. we divide the interval [a, b]into n equally sub-intervals a ≤ t0 < t1 < ... < tn ≤ b; where 4t = t j − t j−1 j = 1, 2, ..., n and 4t = b−an . the inner product in h[t j, t j + 4t] is defined by: 〈~f ,~g〉h[t j,t j +4t] = 〈 f1, g1〉v [t j,t j +4t] + 〈 f2, g2〉v [t j,t j +4t], for all ~f ,~g ∈ h[t j, t j + 4t]. as a result, we see that the operators γ : h[t j, t j + 4t] → h[t j, t j + 4t] and λ : h[t j, t j + 4t] → h[t j, t j + 4t] become γ~h(µ) = α(µ) + ∫ µ t j f ( µ, s,~h(s) ) d s; λ~h(µ) = β(µ) + ∫ µ t j g ( µ, s,~h(s) ) d s; for all µ ∈ h[t j, t j + 4t]. lemma 1. let ~h ∈ h[t j, t j + 4t] and 4t < 1 [7]. then∥∥∥~h∥∥∥ 2 ≤ √ 2 ∥∥∥~h∥∥∥ h[t j,t j +4t] . remark 1. assume that α(t j) = β(t j) for all j = 0, 1, ..., n − 1. theorem 4. let ~h1,~h2 ∈ h[t j, t j + 4t]. then∥∥∥∥γ~h1 − γ~h2∥∥∥∥ h[t j,t j +4t] 6 δ(4t) ∥∥∥∥~h1 −~h2∥∥∥∥ h[t j,t j +4t] , where δ(4t) ≤ c √ 4t, for some positive constant c. 3 hassan et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 1021 4 since∥∥∥∥γ~h1 − γ~h2∥∥∥∥2h[t j,t j +4t] = (γ~h1(t j) − γ~h2(t j))2 + ∫ t j +4t t j ( ∂ ∂t γ~h1(t) − ∂ ∂t γ~h2(t) )2 dt = ( α(t j) −β(t j) )2 + ∫ t j +4t t j ( f ( t, t, ~h1(t) ) − f ( t, t, ~h2(t) ) + ∫ t ti [ ∂ ∂t f ( t, s, ~h1(s) ) − ∂ ∂t f ( t, s, ~h2(s) )] d s )2 dt implies,∥∥∥∥γ~h1 − γ~h2∥∥∥∥2h[t j,t j +4t] 6 2 ∫ t j +4t t j ( f ( t, t, ~h1(t) ) − f ( t, t, ~h2(t) ))2 dt + 2 ∫ t j +4t t j ( ∫ t ti [ ∂ ∂t f ( t, s, ~h1(s) ) − ∂ ∂t f ( t, s, ~h2(s) )] d s )2 dt by (c2) we get constants m1, m2 such that∥∥∥∥γ~h1 − γ~h2∥∥∥∥2 h[t j,t j +4t] ≤ 2 ∫ t j +4t t j m21 ∥∥∥∥~h1(t) −~h2(t)∥∥∥∥2 2 dt + 2 ∫ t j +4t ti ( ∫ t ti m2 ∥∥∥∥~h1(s) −~h2(s)∥∥∥∥ 2 d s )2 dt. then, ∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣γ~h1 − γ~h2∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣2 h[t j,t j +4t] 6 2 ∫ t j +4t ti m21 m 2 3 ∥∥∥~h1 −~h2∥∥∥22dt + 2 ∫ t j +4t ti ( ∫ t ti m2 m3 ∥∥∥~h1 −~h2∥∥∥2d s)2dt 6 2m21 m 2 3 ∥∥∥~h1 −~h2∥∥∥22 (4t) + 2 3 m22 m 2 3 ∥∥∥~h1 −~h2∥∥∥22 (4t)3 = 4t ( 2m21 m 2 3 + 2 3 m22 m 2 3 (4t) 2 )∥∥∥∥~h1 −~h2∥∥∥∥2 2 . by using lemma 1 that ∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣γ~h1 − γ~h2∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣2 h[t j,t j +4t] 6 δ2(4t) ∥∥∥∥~h1 −~h2∥∥∥∥2h[t j,t j +4t], therefore, ∥∥∥∥γ~h1 − γ~h2∥∥∥∥ h[t j,t j +4t] 6 δ(4t) ∥∥∥∥~h1 −~h2∥∥∥∥ h[t j,t j +4t] , where δ(4t) < c √ 4t, and c = √ 2m23 ( m21 + 1 3 m 2 2 4 2 t ) < √ 2m23 ( m21 + 1 3 m 2 2 ) if 4t < 1. theorem 5. let f, g ∈ h[t j, t j + 4t]. then∥∥∥∥λ f − λg∥∥∥∥ h[t j,t j +4t] 6 σ(4t) ∥∥∥∥ f − g∥∥∥∥ h[t j,t j +4t] , where σ(4t) ≤ c √ 4t, for some positive constant c. the proof is similar to the proof of theorem 4. theorem 6. let f and g satisfy conditions (c1) and (c2). then there exists a unique solution ~h = ( f, g) ∈ h[a, b] to (1) and (2). for all ~h = ( f, g) in the space h[a, b]. it is clear that ~h 7→ γ~h and ~h 7→ λ~h are maps from h[t j, t j +4t] into h[t j, t j +4t]. from theorems 4 and 5; since 4t is an arbitrary positive constant and if we pick 4t small enough such that 4t < 1c2 then we conclude that δ(4t) < 1 and σ(4t) < 1. therefore, by theorems 4 and 5 the operators γ and λ are contraction mapping on h[t j, t j +4t], respectively. it is clear ( h[t j, t j +4t],‖·‖h[t j,t j +4t] ) is a complete matrix space. hence, the banach contraction mapping theorem guarantees that the operators γ and λ have a unique fixed point ~h = ( f, g) in h[t j, t j + 4t]. let ε(4t) = min{δ(4t),σ(4t)}. the existence and uniqueness of solutions in the entire interval [a, b] for (1) and (2) can be achieved by iterating the local existence result. this is accomplished by taking [a,ε(4t)], [ε(4t), 2ε(4t)], ...[nε(4t), b]. 4. conclusion we studied the local and global existence and uniqueness of solutions to a system of non-linear volterra integral equations (1)-(2) in the reproducing kernel hilbert spaces v [a, b] and h[a, b]. the results are very significant in numerical methods since the reproducing kernel function of the space v [a, b] is a smooth function on the compact interval [a, b] and it can be used to solve a wide variety of linear and nonlinear problems. references [1] k. a. dawodu, “extension of admm algorithm in solving optimal control model governed by partial differential equation”, journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences 3 (2021) 105. https://doi.org/10.46481/jnsps.2021.159. [2] v. o. atabo & s. o. adee, “a new special 15-step block method for solving general fourth order ordinary differential equations”, journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences 3 (2021) 308. https://doi.org/10.46481/jnsps.2021.337. [3] m. i. berenguer, d. gamez, a. i. garralda-guillem, m. r. galan & m. s. perez, “biorthogonal systems for solving volterra integral equation systems of the second kind”, journal of computational and applied mathematics 235 (2011) 1875. [4] m. cui & y. lin, “nonlinear numerical analysis in reproducing kernel space”, nova science publishers, inc., 2009 [5] l. dai & r. n jazar, nonlinear approaches in engineering applications springer, 2012. [6] j. s. hassan & d. grow, “new reproducing kernel hilbert spaces on semiinfinite domains with existence and uniqueness results for the nonhomogeneous telegraph equation. mathematical methods in the applied sciences 43 (2020) 9615. 4 hassan et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 1021 5 [7] j. s. hassan & d. grow, “stability and approximation of solutions in new reproducing kernel hilbert spaces on a semi-infinite domain”, mathematical methods in the applied sciences 44 (2021) 12442 [8] r. k saeed & j. s hassan, “solving singular integral equations by using collocation method”, mathematical sciences letters 3 (2014) 185. [9] l. h. yang, j. h. shen & y. wang, “the reproducing kernel method for solving the system of the linear volterra integral equations with variable coefficients”, journal of computational and applied mathematics 236 (2012) 2398. 5 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 159–164 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences a new multi-step method for solving delay differential equations using lagrange interpolation v. j. shaalinia, s. e. fadugbab,∗ adepartment of mathematics, bishop heber college, trichy, india bdepartment of mathematics, ekiti state university, ado ekiti, nigeria abstract this paper presents 2-step p-th order ( p = 2, 3, 4) multi-step methods that are based on the combination of both polynomial and exponential functions for the solution of delay differential equations (ddes). furthermore, the delay argument is approximated using the lagrange interpolation. the local truncation errors and stability polynomials for each order are derived. the local grid search algorithm (lgsa) is used to determine the stability regions of the method. moreover, applicability and suitability of the method have been demonstrated by some numerical examples of ddes with constant delay, time dependent and state dependent delays. the numerical results are compared with the theoretical solution as well as the existing rational multi-step method2 (rmm2). doi:10.46481/jnsps.2021.247 keywords: multi-step method, delay differential equations, interpolating function, lagrange interpolation, stability polynomial, stability region article history : received: 08 june 2021 received in revised form: 12 july 2021 accepted for publication: 24 july 2021 published: 29 august 2021 c©2021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: t. latunde 1. introduction delay differential equations (ddes) are differential equations in which the derivative of the unknown function depends not only at its present time but also at the previous times. in ordinary differential equations (odes), a simple initial condition is given. but to specify ddes, additional information is needed. because the derivative depends on the solution at the previous times, an initial history function which gives information about the solution in the past needs to be specified. a general form of the first order dde is y′ (t) = f (t, y (t) , y (t −τ)) , t > t0 ∗corresponding author tel. no: +2348067032044 email address: sunday.fadugba@eksu.edu.ng (s. e. fadugba ) y (t) = ϑ (t) , t ≤ t0 (1) where ϑ(t) is the initial function and τ is the delay term. the function ϑ(t) is also known as the ‘history function’, as it gives information about the solution in the past. if the delay term τ is a constant, then it is called constant delay. if it is function of time t, then it is called time dependent delay. if it is a function of time t and y(t), then it is called state dependent delay. these equations arise in population dynamics, control systems, chemical kinetic, and in several areas of science and engineering [1, 2, 3]. recently there has been a growing interest in obtaining the numerical solutions of ddes. rostann et al. [4] implemented adomian decomposition method for the solution of system of ddes. two and three point one-step block method for solving ddes was developed by [5]. block method for solving pantograph type functional ddes was described by 159 shaalini & fadugba / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 159–164 160 [6]. an exact/approximate solution of ddes by using the combination of laplace and the variational iteration method were obtained by [7]. rk method based on harmonic mean for solving ddes with constant lags was proposed by [8]. several numerical methods have been constructed for solving stiff ddes, see [9, 10, 11]. several multi-step techniques using varieties of interpolating polynomials and functions have been developed to solve odes such as [12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17], just to mention a few. in this paper, we present the 2-step p-th order ( p = 2, 3, 4) multi-step method for solving ddes. this method has been referred here as epmm (2, p), (p = 2, 3, 4). the organization of this paper is as follows: in section two, the derivation of epmm (2, p), (p = 2, 3, 4) is given. in section three, the stability analysis of epmm (2, p), (p = 2, 3, 4) has been presented. in section four, numerical illustrations of ddes are provided. moreover, the numerical results are compared with the existing rational multi-step method2 (rmm2) to demonstrate the efficiency and suitability of the method. 2. derivation of epmm (2, p) for 2-step p-th order epmm, let us assume an approximation to the analytical solution y (tn+2) of (1) given by yn+2 = a0e 2h + 1 + p∑ j=1 b jh j, (2) where a0, b j, ( j=1,2,. . . p) are parameters that may contain the approximation of y (tn) and higher derivatives of y (tn). with epmm in (2) we associate the difference operator l defined by l[y (t) ; h]epm m = y (t + 2h) − (1 + p∑ j=0 b jh j)  − a0e2h(3) where y(t) is an arbitrary, continuous and differentiable function. expanding y(t + 2h) as taylor series and collecting terms in (3), l[y (t) ; h]epm m = c0h 0 +c1h 1 +· · ·+c ph p +c p+1h p+1 +. . .(4) where ci, i = 0, 1, . . . , p, p + 1 are the coefficients that need to be determined. for 2-step second order epmm, we take p = 2 and expand y(t + 2h) via taylor series, (3) becomes l [ y (t) ; h ] epm m(2,2) = −1 + y (t) + h ( −b1 + 2y ′ (t) ) +h2 ( 2y ′′ (t) − b2 ) + h3 ( 4 3 y ′′′ (t) ) + a0e 2h + o(h4) (5) using e2h ≈ 1 + 2h + 2h2 in (2), we get l [ y (t) ; h ] epm m(2,2) = −1 − a0 + y (t) + h ( −b1 − 2a0 + 2y ′ (t) ) +h2 ( 2y ′′ (t) − 2a0 − b2 ) + h3 ( 4 3 y ′′′ (t) ) + a0e 2h + o(h4)(6) comparing (5) and (6), we have c0 = −(1 + a0) + y (t) , c1 = −b1 − 2a0 + 2y ′ (t) , c2 = 2y ′′ (t) − 2a0 − b2, c3 = 4 3 y ′′′ (t) (7) for second order epmm, we put c0 = c1 = c2 = 0 in (7) and get the following solutions: a0 = y (t)−1, b1 = 2(y ′ (t)−y(t)+1), b2 = 2(y ′′ (t)−y (t)+1)(8) if we write yn = y(tn) and y (m) n = y (m)(tn) for m = 1, 2,. . . , then (8) becomes a = yn, b1 = 2 ( yn ′ − yn + 1 ) , b2 = 2(yn ′′ − yn + 1) (9) taking p = 2 and e2h ≈ 1 + 2h + 2h2 in (2), we get yn+2 = (a0 + 1) + h (2a0 + b1) + h 2(2a0 + b2) (10) substituting (9) into (10), we have yn+2 = yn + 2hyn ′ + 2h2yn ′′ (11) the local truncation error of epmm (2, 2) is given by, lt e epm m(2,2) = h 3 ( 4 3 yn ′′′ ) + o(h4) taking p = 3 in (2) and on simplification, we get the formula for epmm (2, 3) yn+2 = yn + 2hyn ′ + 2h2yn ′′ + 4 3 h3yn ′′′ (12) the local truncation error of epmm (2, 3) is given by, lt e epm m(2,3) = h 4 ( 2 3 yn (4) ) + o(h5) taking p = 4 in (2) and on simplification, we get the formula for epmm (2, 4) yn+2 = y (t)+2hy ′ (t)+2h2y ′′ (t)+ 4 3 h3y ′′′ (t)+ 2 3 h4y(4) (t)(13) the local truncation error of epmm (2, 4) is given by, lt e epm m(2,4) = h 5 ( 4 15 yn (5) ) + o(h6) 3. stability analysis of epmm in this section, we derive the stability polynomials of epmm (2, p), (p = 2, 3, 4) and their corresponding stability regions were obtained. we consider a commonly used linear test equation with a constant delay τ = mh where m is a positive integer, y ′ (t) = λy (t) + µy(t −τ), t > t0 160 shaalini & fadugba / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 159–164 161 y (t) = φ(t), t ≤ t0 (14) where λ,µ ∈ c, τ > 0 andφ is continuous. using (11) in (14), we get yn+2 = yn+2h (λyn + µy (tn −τ))+2h 2 (λy′n + µy′ (tn −τ))(15) y (tn − mh) = y (tn−m) = s1∑ l=−r1 ll (ci)yn−m+l with ll (ci) = s1∏ j=−r1 ci − j1 l − j1 , j1 , l and r1, s1 > 0 taking y (tn −τ) = s1∑ l=−r1 ll(c)yn−m+l and y ′ (tn −τ) = λ s1∑ l=−r1 ll (c) yn−m+l + µ s1∑ l=−r1 ll (c) yn−2m+l (16) then (15) becomes yn+2 = yn + 2h λyn + µ s1∑ l=−r1 ll (c) yn−m+l  +2h2  λ ( λyn + µ ∑s1 l=−r1 ll (c) yn−m+l ) +µλ ∑s1 l=−r1 ll (c) yn−m+l +µ ∑s1 l=−r1 ll (c) yn−2m+l  yn+2 = yn + 2λhyn + 2λ 2h 2 yn + s1∑ l=−r1 ll (c) yn−m+l ( 2µh + 4h2µλ ) + s1∑ l=−r1 ll (c) yn−2m+l ( 2h2µ2 ) yn+2 = yn ( 1 + 2λh + 2(λh)2 ) + s1∑ l=−r1 ll (c) yn−m+l (µh (2 + 4λh)) + s1∑ l=−r1 ll (c) yn−2m+l ( 2(µh)2 ) let α = λh and β = µh then the above equation becomes yn+2 = yn ( 1 + 2α + 2α2 ) + (β (2 + 4α)) s1∑ l=−r1 ll (c) yn−m+l +2β2 s1∑ l=−r1 ll (c) yn−2m+l to obtain the stability polynomial, the delay term is approximated using three points lagrange interpolation. by putting n − m + l = 0 and n − 2m + l = 0 and by taking l = -1, 0, 1, the stability polynomial will be in the standard form. the recurrence is stable if the zeros of ζi of the stability polynomial s (α,β : ζ) = ζn+2 − ( 1 + α + 2α2 ) ζn −β (2 + 4α) ( l−1 (c) + l0 (c) ζ + l1 (c) ζ 2 ) −2β2 ( l−1 (c) + l0 (c) ζ + l1 (c) ζ 2 ) satisfies the root condition|ζi| ≤ 1. from this, the stability polynomial for the method grmm (2, 2) with τ = 1 is given as s (α,β : ζ) = ζn+2 − ( 1 + α + 2α2 ) ζn − ( 2β + 2β2 + 4αβ ) similarly, by considering suitable number of points in lagrange interpolation according to the order of the method, we can obtain the corresponding stability polynomials of epmm (2, p). when p = 3, the stability polynomial for epmm (2, 3) is given as s (α,β : ζ) = ζn+2 − ( 1 + α + 2α2 + 4 3 α3 ) ζn − ( 2β + 2β2 + 4 3 β3 + 4αβ + 4α2β + 4αβ2 ) when p = 4, the stability polynomial for epmm (2, 4) is given as s (α,β : ζ) = ζn+2 − ( 1 + α + 2α2 + 4 3 α3 + 2 3 α4 ) ζn − ( 2β + 2β2 + 4 3 β3 + 2 3 β4 + 2αβ + 4α2β + 4αβ2 + 8 3 αβ3 + 8 3 α3β + 4α2β2 ) the stability regions of epmm (2, 2), epmm (2, 3) and epmm (2, 4) are given in figures 1 -3. in a similar manner, we can obtain the stability polynomials and their corresponding regions of epmm with r-step and of any order p. 4. numerical examples example 1: (stiff linear system with multiple delays) y1 ′ (t) = − 1 2 y1 (t) − 1 2 y2 (t − 1) + f1 (t) , y2 ′ (t) = −y2 (t) − 1 2 y1 ( t − 1 2 ) + f2(t), 0 ≤ t ≤ 1 with initial conditions y1 (t) = e −t/2, −1 2 ≤ t ≤ 0, y2 (t) = e −t, −1 ≤ t ≤ 0 161 shaalini & fadugba / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 159–164 162 table 1. comparison of absolute error results in epmm and rmm2 for example 1 time (t) y epmm (2, 2) rmm2 (2, 2) epmm (2, 3) rmm2 (2,3) epmm (2, 4) rmm2(2, 4) 0.2 y1 1.52e-06 7.54e-07 3.80e-09 1.26e-09 7.60e-12 9.06e-07 y2 3.26e-04 3.31e-04 3.26e-04 3.26e-04 3.15e-04 3.32e-04 0.4 y1 2.75e-06 1.36e-06 6.88e-09 2.28e-09 1.38e-11 1.64e-06 y2 5.62e-04 5.71e-04 5.62e-04 5.62e-04 5.43e-04 5.72e-04 0.6 y1 3.73e-06 1.85e-06 9.33e-09 3.10e-09 1.87e-11 2.22e-06 y2 7.27e-04 7.38e-04 7.27e-04 7.27e-04 7.04e-04 7.40e-04 0.8 y1 4.50e-06 2.23e-06 1.13e-08 3.73e-09 2.25e-11 2.68e-06 y2 8.36e-04 8.48e-04 8.36e-04 8.36e-04 8.12e-04 8.51e-04 1.0 y1 5.09e-06 2.53e-06 1.27e-08 4.22e-09 2.55e-11 3.04e-06 y2 9.03e-04 9.16e-04 9.03e-04 9.03e-04 8.78e-04 9.18e-04 table 2. comparison of absolute error results in epmm and rmm2 for example 2 time (t) epmm (2, 2) rmm2 (2, 2) epmm (2, 3) rmm2 (2, 3) epmm (2, 4) rmm2 (2, 4) 1.1 1.82e-06 4.04e-06 1.31e-06 1.46e-06 1.35e-06 9.58e-06 1.2 9.26e-07 2.51e-06 1.25e-06 1.20e-06 2.75e-06 8.03e-06 1.3 1.50e-06 3.23e-08 2.22e-06 4.13e-06 2.26e-07 8.41e-06 1.4 3.50e-06 5.92e-06 2.70e-06 3.29e-06 2.99e-06 1.19e-05 1.5 4.95e-05 1.96e-06 3.13e-06 6.16e-06 4.39e-06 6.83e-06 table 3. comparison of absolute error results in epmm and rmm2 for example 3 time(t) epmm (2, 2) rmm2 (2, 2) epmm (2, 3) rmm2 (2, 3) epmm (2, 4) rmm2 (2, 4) 0.2 1.33e-05 1.35e-05 1.97e-09 2.36e-07 4.92e-09 4.87e-07 0.4 2.60e-05 2.80e-05 2.46e-08 5.62e-07 1.76e-09 5.46e-06 0.6 3.78e-05 4.48e-05 5.67e-08 7.45e-07 3.03e-09 3.58e-05 0.8 4.79e-05 6.56e-05 9.93e-08 8.72e-07 2.45e-09 2.32e-04 1.0 5.63e-05 9.31e-05 2.85e-06 2.85e-06 3.24e-09 3.24e-04 figure 1. stability region of 2-step second order epmm where f1 (t) = 1 2 e−(t−1) and f2 (t) = 1 2 e−(t−1/2)/2 the exact solution is given by y1 (t) = e −t/2, y2 (t) = e −t figure 2. stability region of 2-step third order epmm example 2: (time-dependent delay) y ′ (t) = t − 1 t y(ln (t) − 1)y(t), 1 ≤ t ≤ 3 2 with initial condition y (t) = 1, 0 ≤ t ≤ 1 162 shaalini & fadugba / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 159–164 163 figure 3. stability region of 2-step fourth order epmm figure 4. comparison of error graph of y1 and y2 in example 1 figure 5. comparison of absolute error graph of y in example 2 and the exact solution is given by y (t) = exp(t − ln (t) − 1), 1 ≤ t ≤ 3 2 example 3: (state-dependent delay) y ′ (t) = cos(t)y ( y (t)−2 ) , t ≥ 0 figure 6. comparison of absolute error graph of y in example 3 with initial condition, y (t) = 1, t ≤ 0 and the exact solution is given by y (t) = sin (t) + 1, 0 ≤ t ≤ 1 by taking the step-size h = 0.01in the above examples, the absolute errors by using epmm and rmm2 are given in tables 1 – 3 and their corresponding error graphs are shown in figures 4 – 6. 5. conclusion in this paper, the new multi-step method of r-step and p-th order that are based on interpolating functions which consists of both polynomial and exponential function is presented for solving ddes. the local truncation errors have been determined. the stability polynomials of epmm (2, p) where p = 2, 3, 4 are derived and their corresponding stability regions are obtained and shown in figures 1–3. the delay argument is approximated using lagrange interpolation. numerical examples of ddes with constant delay, time dependent delay and state dependent delays have been considered to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method. the comparative absolute error analyses of epmm (2,p) in the context of rmm2 (2,p) for examples 1, 2 and 3 were shown in tables 1, 2 and 3, respectively. from the figures 4 – 6, it is evident that the newly proposed method gives results with good accuracy than the existing rmm2. hence, it is concluded that the proposed epmm (2, p) is suitable for solving ddes. acknowledgments we thank the referees and the editor for their contributions on the improvement of this paper. 163 shaalini & fadugba / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 159–164 164 references [1] y. kuang, delay differential equations with applications in population dynamics, academic press, boston, san diego, new york. 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[17] s. e. fadugba, s.n. ogunyebi & b.o. falodun, “an examination of a second order numerical method for solving initial value problems”, journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences 2 (2020) 120. 164 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 154–158 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences virtual screening of selected natural products as human tyrosinase-related protein 1 blocker chidi edbert durua,∗, ijeoma akunna durub, chiagoziem wisdom chidieberea asurface chemistry and environmental technology (scent) research unit, department of chemistry, imo state university, owerri, imo state, nigeria bdepartment of chemistry, federal university of technology owerri, imo state nigeria. abstract many researchers have widely explored the need to replace the harmful compound hydroquinone in skin-lightening creams with more skin-friendly compounds that can give similar results. some compounds from the plant kingdom have been shown to possess human tyrosinase inhibitory action with no adverse effect on the skin. in this study, the virtual screening of glabridin, kojic acid, arbutin, niacinamide, ascorbic acid, salicin, lactic acid, glutathione, azelaic acid, linoleic acid, glycolic acid, acclaimed to possess this activity as well as the synthetic compound hydroquinone, as human tyrosinase-related protein 1 inhibitor was investigated using computational methods. site-directed docking was performed at the binding pocket on the enzyme carrying the cocrystallized ligand tropolone. the binding affinity of salicin (−6.7 kcal/mol), α-arbutin (−6.3 kcal/mol), glutathione (−6.2 kcal/mol), ascorbic acid (−5.7 kcal/mol), and niacinamide (−5.7 kcal/mol) were higher than that of the cocrystallized ligand tropolone (−5.5 kcal/mol) and the synthetic skin lightening compound hydroquinone (−4.8 kcal/mol). α-arbutin and glutathione also interacted with similar amino acids units as hydroquinone, suggesting that they followed the exact mechanism of action. these findings strongly corroborate the claim that these natural products could inhibit melanin production and may serve to replace hydroquinone in skin lightening creams. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2021.253 keywords: human tyrosinase-related protein 1; skin lightening; hydroquinone; tropolone; salicin. article history : received: 16 june 2021 received in revised form: 2 july 2021 accepted for publication: 10 july 2021 published: 29 august 2021 c©2021 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences. all rights reserved. communicated by: e. etim 1. introduction the pigment melanin majorly impacts the colour of the human skin, hair, and eye. skin bleaching also known as skin whitening, is applying chemical substances to the skin to make the skin lighter by altering the nature of melanin concentration in the skin [1]. it can also be regarded as the gradual change of the human skin from dark to fair by applying soaps, herbs, chemicals, fade creams, etc., which are strong enough to slow down the function of melanin [2]. between 25-80% ∗corresponding author tel. no: +234(0)8037131739 email address: chidiedbertduru@gmail.com (chidi edbert duru ) of asians and africans use skin-lightening products to change their skin colour. about 75% of nigerian women and between 52-67% of senegalese women apply skin bleaching products [3]. a survey conducted in pretoria, south africa, reported that 35% of women in this area apply these products [4]. the three melanogenic enzymes, tyrosinase (tyr), tyrosinase-related proteins (tyrp1), and tyrosinase-related proteins (tyrp2), are required for the biosynthesis of melanin [5]. difficulties with producing these enzymes in pure form have hampered the understanding of their activity and the effect of mutations that cause albinism and pigmentation disorders [6]. studies suggest that the tyrp1 enzyme may be responsible for stabilizing 154 duru et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 154–158 155 tyrosinase and determining the shape of melanosomes, which are the structures in melanocytes where melanin is produced. melanin helps to absorb the uv radiations from the sun and make it fit for people living in the tropical climate of africa. many skin lightening products contain hydroquinone (about 2%), which inhibits melanin production in the skin. studies have shown that this compound has adverse effects such as cancer of melanocytes (melanin cells), contact dermatitis, skin irritation, and exogenous ochronosis mostly rampant in dark-skinned people [7, 8, 9]. exogenous ochronosis results when the skin is exposed to sun rays over a period of time causing an irregular blue black staining on the skin and nails. it affects the melanin in the skin by inhibiting the polymerization of amino acid tyrosine through oxidation [10]. a resolution to ensure the regulation of the formulation and distribution of beauty products, especially bleaching creams, was recently passed by senators in the federal republic of nigerian [11]. this action was taken to protect nigerians against the numerous harmful skin whitening cream and soap formulations sold in the market. several tyrosinase inhibitors have been tested in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals for preventing excess production of melanin in epidermal layers. natural products like glabridin, kojic acid, arbutin, niacinamide, ascorbic acid, salicin, lactic acid, glutathione, azelaic acid, linoleic acid, and glycolic acid have been reported to inhibit the action of melanin in the skin [12]. these studies posited that these compounds effectively inhibit melanin formation without any associated cytotoxicity to melanin cells. reports on applying computational techniques to validate the integrity of these findings are scarce in literature. in the present study, the inhibitory potentials of these natural products on the human tyrosinase-related protein 1 (tyrp1) were studied in silico as a validation of these claims. their binding affinity on this enzyme was determined and compared with hydroquinone in the bid to understand their mode of action and identify possible candidates that could replace this synthetic compound in skin lightening products. 2. computational methods 2.1. identification and preparation of ligands the 3d structure-data files (sdf) of the selected natural products and hydroquinone were identified and downloaded from the pubchem database. they were minimized in pyrx virtual screening tool, using universal force field at 200 steps followed by their conversion to autodock ligands (pdbqt). these files were then used for the docking analysis. 2.2. receptor preparation the chain a of the human tyrosinase-related protein 1 (pdb id: 5m8o) with resolution 2.50 å was identified from literature and used as a target for the study. the interfering crystallographic water molecules and cocrystallized ligand were removed, and minimization of the energy of the protein was then done using ucsf chimera 1.14 [13, 14, 15]. the protein was minimized at 300 steepest descent steps at 0.02 å. the conjugate gradient steps were ten at 0.02 å and ten update intervals. gasteiger charges were also added using dock prep to get a good structure conformation [16]. figure 1. crystal structure of human tyrosinase-related protein 1 (trp1) showing binding site 3. validation of the docking protocol the docking protocol was validated to determine the accuracy and reliability of the docking results. it aimed to accurately reproduce the binding pore and the molecular interactions of the cocrystallized ligand in the protein structure. the native ligand of the x-ray protein was downloaded from the pubchem database and minimized in pyrx virtual screening tool. the ligand was then docked into chain a of tyrp1’s active site using auto dock vina in pyrx. the docked complex was superimposed with the x-ray resolved crystal tyrp1 downloaded from pdb bearing the cocrystallized ligand to generate the root mean square deviation (rmsd) value in pymol. the rmsd value ranging from (0-2) å is appropriate for docking and indicates that the protocol could be used to determine the inhibition of the protein by the other small molecules [17]. 3.1. docking studies the multiple ligand docking of the compounds on tyrp1target was done with autodock vina in pyrx software version 0.8 [18, 19]. site-directed docking was performed at the binding site of the cocrystallized ligand tropolone. the center grid box was set to the dimension center x : −10.018, center y : −1.078, center z : −23.140, and size x : 19.309, size y : 21.549, size z : 19.534. the binding affinity of the compounds was determined in terms of their binding free energy values (∆g). 3.2. analysis of protein-ligand interactions hydrogen bonding and other hydrophobic interactions between the protein-ligand complex of the compounds were visualized using biovia discovery studio 4.5. 155 duru et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 154–158 156 table 1. binding affinity values of the natural products on the human tyrp1 enzyme compound pubchem cid structure ∆g (kcal/mol) glabridin 124052 -3.6 kojic acid 3840 -5.5 α-arbutin 158637 -6.3 niacinamide 936 -5.7 ascorbic acid 54670067 -5.7 salicin 439503 -6.7 lactic acid 612 -4.1 azelaic acid 2266 -5.0 glutathione 124886 -6.2 glycolic acid 757 -3.8 linoleic acid 5280450 -5.3 hydroquinone 785 -4.8 tropolone 10789 -5.5 4. results and discussion the docking protocol validation was carried out to assure the deployed docking tools accurately give correct binding interactions between the receptor and the natural products investigated in this study. the docked complex reproduced the original pose of the native ligand (tropolone) with an rmsd value of 1.105 å. the binding affinity values of the natural products on the human tyrp1 are summarized in table 3. the binding affinity of salicin (−6.7 kcal/mol), α-arbutin (−6.3 kcal/mol), glutathione (−6.2 kcal/mol), ascorbic acid (−5.7 kcal/mol), and niacinamide (−5.7 kcal/mol) were higher than table 2. binding interactions of the natural products on the human tyrp1 enzyme compound protein-ligand interactions number of hydrogen bonds interacting residues tropolone 1 his381; thr391; ser394 hydroquinone 1 his381; thr391 salicin 4 arg321; arg374; asn378; gln390; thr391 that of the cocrystallized ligand tropolone (−5.5 kcal/mol) and the synthetic lightening compound hydroquinone (−4.8 kcal/mol). salicin is an alcoholic β-glucoside usually extracted from willow bark. it has been used to treat hyperpigmentation by altering the formation of melanin pigment [20]. α-arbutin is commonly extracted from berries and has been reported to reduce skin pigment production. studies show that α-arbutin is safer to apply on the skin than hydroquinone [21]. glutathione is an antioxidant found in meat and many vegetables like garlic, onion, carrot, potatoes, melon, spinach, etc. studies have shown that glutathione causes skin whitening by direct inhibition of tyrosinase enzymes [22]. ascorbic acid, otherwise known as vitamin c is a powerful antioxidant found mostly in citric fruits. it inhibits tyrosine conversion to melanin by tyrosinase and prevents the damaging of the skin by ultraviolet radiation. it improves the appearance of the skin, thereby reducing the rate of aging [23]. niacinamide, also known as nicotinamide, is a form of vitamin b3 found in meat, fish, nuts, mushrooms, and to a lesser extent in some vegetables. it is a skin-lightening compound that inhibits melanosome transfer from melanocytes to keratinocytes [24, 25]. the interactions of the potent natural product compounds with the human tyrp1 enzyme are shown in table 2. the co-crystallized ligand tropolone associated with his381, thr391, and ser394 forming pi-pi stacked, carbon-hydrogen, and hydrogen bond interactions. salicin (thr391), α-arbutin (his381; thr391), glutathione (his381; thr391; ser394), ascorbic acid (ser394), niacinamide (ser394), and the synthetic com156 duru et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 3 (2021) 154–158 157 table 2 continued α−arbutin 2 glu216; tyr362; arg374; his381; thr391 glutathione 5 arg374; his381; thr391; ser394 l-ascorbic acid 4 his192; tyr362; his377; asn378; ser394 niacinamide 3 ser394; tyr362 pound hydroquinone (his381; thr391) also interacted with one or more of these amino acids in the enzyme using similar interactive forces. the hydroxyl (−oh) and the carbonyl (c = o) functional groups were the predominant moieties that interacted with the amino acid residues in the enzyme. the binding of αarbutin and glutathione on the human tyrp1 enzyme involved his381 and thr391, which are the two amino acids that bind hydroquinone at this site. this indicated that aside from having a better binding affinity than hydroquinone at this site, they also inhibited melanin production following a similar mechanism as this synthetic compound. the observed number of hydrogen bond interactions between tyrp1 enzyme and salicin (4), αarbutin (2), glutathione (5), ascorbic acid (4), and niacinamide (3) were more than the number in the tropolone (1) and hydroquinone (1) interactions with this enzyme. hydrogen bond interaction between small molecules and protein sites give the molecules better stability at the binding pockets of the proteins [26]. all the natural product inhibitors studied formed more hydrogen bonds at the binding site of tyrp1than hydroquinone and indicated that they were more stable at this site than the synthetic inhibitor. 5. conclusions the in silico validation of the ability of some natural products claimed to possess tyrosinase inhibitory action was performed. salicin, α-arbutin, glutathione, ascorbic acid, and niacinamide gave a higher binding affinity to the human tyrosinase 1 enzyme than the cocrystallized ligand tropolone used as control as well as the synthetic skin lightening compound hydroquinone. α-arbutin and glutathione inhibited melanin production following a similar mechanism as hydroquinone and were also more stable at the enzyme site. these findings 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[26] c.e. duru, i.a. duru & a.e. adegboyega “in silico identification of compounds from nigella sativa seed oil as potential inhibitors of sars-cov-2 targets”, bull natl res cent 45 (2021) 57. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42269-021-00517-x 158 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1154 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences degradation of pet nanoplastic oligomers at the novel phl7 target:insights from molecular docking and machine learning c. e. durua,∗, c. e. enyohb, i. a. duruc, m. c. enedohd a surface chemistry and environmental technology (scent) research group, department of chemistry, imo state university, owerri, pmb 2000, imo state, nigeria. bgraduate school of science and engineering, saitama university, 255 shimo-okubo, sakura-ku, saitama city, saitama 338-8570, japan. c department of chemistry, federal university of technology owerri, pmb 1526, imo state nigeria. d department of chemistry, imo state university, owerri, pmb 2000, imo state, nigeria. abstract the versatility of polyethylene terephthalate (pet) as a material with numerous applications in the food industry and its recalcitrance to chemical and microbial degradation has recently made it an environmental nuisance. in this study, we applied computational methods to ascertain the dependence of pet nanoplastic (np) degradation on the chain length of the oligomer. the binding affinities of the nps on the novel enzyme polyester hydrolase leipzig 7 (phl7) were used to relate their ease of degradation at the enzyme active site. the results revealed that the binding affinity of pet nps at the enzyme target decreased from -5.2 kcal/mol to -0.8 kcal/mol, with an increase in pet chain length from 2.18 nm to 5.45 nm (2-5 pet chains). the binding affinities became positive at chain lengths 6.54 nm (6 pet chains) and above. these findings indicated that pet np degradation at this enzyme’s active site is most efficient as chain length decreases from 5-2 units and is not likely to occur at longer pet chains. a feedforward artificial neutral network (ann) analysis predicted that the energy of the pet nps is a very important factor in its degradation. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2023.1154 keywords: polyethylene terephthalate; nanoplastic; polyester hydrolase leipzig 7; binding affinity; artificial neutral network. article history : received: 28 october 2022 received in revised form: 05 january 2023 accepted for publication: 10 january 2023 published: 27 january 2023 c© 2023 the author(s). published by the nigerian society of physical sciences under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and doi. communicated by: k. sakthipandi 1. introduction plastics are synthetic materials of long carbon chains that can be formed into different shapes when still molten and then transform into a slightly elastic solid form. nanoplastics (nps) are particles ranging from 1 to 1000 nm, unintentionally produced from the degradation and manufacturing of plastic ∗corresponding author tel. no: +2348037131739 email address: chidiedbertduru@gmail.com (c. e. duru ) objects [1]. because they may pass through biological membranes, nanoplastics have a higher potential for danger than microplastics [2, 3]. nps can be ingested by various creatures [4, 5], thereby raising concerns about possible bioaccumulation and biomagnification. there is increasing evidence that marine creatures consume nps, some evidence of translocation outside the stomach, and much less evidence of transfer between trophic levels. many studies have also demonstrated the exposure and toxicity of nps to human health [6, 7]. 1 c. e. duru et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1154 2 plastic degradation is the change in the polymer’s shape, colour, tensile strength, and molecular weight under the influence of chemicals, light, heat, or applied force. though plastic degradation represents the failure of the polymer to perform a required service, the process can be useful as it concerns the recycling of polymer wastes to reduce the environmental pollution they can cause [3]. these days, the most popular methods for getting rid of plastic garbage in the environment include landfilling, burning, and mechanical and chemical recycling [8]. landfilling is the main method of getting rid of plastic trash in most countries, especially impoverished ones because it is straightforward and inexpensive. however, accumulating plastic trash has consumed a substantial amount of space. while burning plastic garbage may assist reduce the need for landfill space and provide thermal energy, we also need to consider the environmental effects of secondary pollutants, including dioxins, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides formed during the incinerating process. even though mechanical recycling has grown to be the most popular method for recovering thermoplastic wastes, the bulk of recovered materials significantly degrade after a few processing cycles, limiting their economic value. the success of chemical recycling on the other hand depends on the accessibility of the processes and the effectiveness of the catalysts [9]. currently, there are reports that natural enzymes can catalyze the hydrolysis of micro and nanoplastics as an alternative to chemical processes [10, 11]. the ester bond linkages in pet can be hydrolyzed by various esterases like petase [12], cutinase [13], and lipase [14]. the extent of hydrolysis of pet by these enzymes is quite low and yields the monomeric units mono-2-hydroxyethylterephthalate (mhet) and bis(2-hydroxyethyl)terephthalate (bhet) [15]. these monomers can further be degraded into ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid, the initial reactants used for their formation. the high recalcitrant nature of pet waste is a major bottleneck in its hydrolysis by enzymes. factors such as hydrophobicity, the crystallinity of pet, low accessibility, and structure usually limit enzyme function, thus making depolymerization very difficult [16]. therefore, finding more effective and sustainable methods for breaking down pet plastic and other polymers could have significant benefits in terms of reducing pollution and increasing the recyclability of plastic waste. in this study, we applied computational techniques [17] for the first time in studying the ease of hydrolysis of different pet nanoplastic chains by a microbial enzyme. molecular docking of some pet nanoplastic oligomers was performed at the active site of the novel enzyme polyester hydrolase leipzig 7 (phl7). the binding affinities of the oligomers at the active site of the enzyme were used to estimate the chain lengths at which pet hydrolysis is most effective. also, artificial neural network (ann) was used to identify ligand-dependent factors responsible for the degradation process. 2. computational methods 2.1. preparation of pet nanoplastic oligomers polyethylene terephthalate (pet) nanoplastic (np) chains ranging from 1-10 polymer units were designed in chemdraw and saved in mdl sdfile fileformat [18]. they were optimized using open babel in python prescription (version 0.8), which converted them to their most stable structures using merk molecular force field 94 (mmff94). the optimized structures (table 1) were used as small molecules in the study. 2.2. identification and preparation of enzyme target the 3d x-ray crystallographic structure of the novel enzyme polyester hydrolase leipzig 7 (phl7) with identity 7nei [19] was retrieved from the protein data bank (pdb). the chain a of the enzyme was used as target to study the effect of chain length on pet np hydrolysis. removal of the interfering crystallographic water molecules and minimization of the protein was done using ucsf chimera 1.14 [20, 21, 22]. 2.3. molecular docking studies site-directed docking of the pet np chains was performed on the active site of the enzyme with autodock vina in pyrx software version 0.8 [23]. the amino acids at the active site were selected and toggled on the enzyme surfaces in the pyrx software. the specific site on the receptor was set using the grid box with dimensions:center x: 22.249, center y: – 1.869, centerz: – 22.211, and size x: 23.795, size y: 14.112, sizez: 15.463. at the end of the molecular docking, the binding poses of the enzyme-ligand complex were generated, and their scoring results were also created. theinteractions between the enzymenp complex were visualized using bioviadiscovery studio 4.5 [24]. 2.4. artificial neural network (ann) analysis computational models with numerous processing layers may learn data representations at various abstraction levels [25, 26]. the current study employed a feedforward artificial neural network (ann) made up of many perceptron layers (with threshold activation). backpropagation is a supervised learning method that the ann uses during training. a minimum of three layers of nodes make up this ann: the input layer, the hidden layer, and the output layer. each node, except the input nodes, is a neuron that employs a nonlinear activation function. the network information for the ann is summarized in table 2. the input layers include the determined variables from the pet nps oligomers, including energy, molecular mass (mm), and chain length (cl). the anns used 70 % of the input data to train the model, while 30 % was used for testing the model. the ann had two hidden layers based on a hyperbolic tangent activation function. the dependent variable or binary classifications are contained in the output layer. the ann will examine the output layer’s dependent and the input layer’s independent 2 c. e. duru et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1154 3 table 1: optimized np chains used for the study np chain length structure chemical formula molecular mass minimized energy (ha) np1 c10h10o5 210.18 76.01 np2 c20h18o9 402.35 195.80 np3 c30 h26 o13 594.52 418.82 np4 c40 h34 o17 786.69 577.84 np5 c50 h42 o21 978.86 633.86 np6 c60 h50 o25 1171.02 995.98 np7 c70 h58 o29 1363.19 1427.46 np8 c80 h66 o33 1555.36 1159.54 np9 c90 h74 o37 1747.53 2118.52 np10 c100 h82 o41 1939.70 2415.53 3 c. e. duru et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1154 4 table 2: network information for the anns input layer covariates 1 energy 2 molecular mass (mm) 3 chain length (cl) number of unitsa 3 rescaling method for covariates standardized hidden layer(s) number of hidden layers 2 number of units in hidden layer 1a 1 number of units in hidden layer 2a 1 activation function hyperbolic tangent output layer dependent variables 1 binding affinity number of units 1 rescaling method for scale dependents adjusted normalized activation function hyperbolic tangent error function relative error sum of squares a excluding the bias unit variables during training to see how they relate to one another. the hidden layer’s nodes include mathematical functions that define the relationships. once the connections have been established, the testing data will be used to validate them. error functions, such as the relative error (re) and the sum of squares error (sse) shown in equations (1) and (2), would be used to verify and evaluate how well an ann model predicts the output. figure 1: structure of pet re = ∣∣∣∣∣ baa − bapbap ∣∣∣∣∣ × 100 (1) s s e = ∑ (bap − baa) 2 , (2) where (ba)p is the estimated value of the binding affinity in kcal/mol by ann model, (ba)a is the experimental value of the binding affinity in kcal/mol. table 3: chain lengths and binding affinity of nps chains at the phl7 active site np oligomers chain length (nm) binding affinity (kcal/mol) np1 1.09 5.4 np2 2.18 5.2 np3 3.27 5.1 np4 4.36 3.8 np5 5.45 0.8 np6 6.54 23.2 np7 7.63 38.5 np8 8.72 51.4 np9 9.81 137.8 np10 10.90 139.8 figure 2: plot of pet chain length against binding affinity at phl7 active site 4 c. e. duru et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1154 5 figure 3: fitting of np oligomers at the enzyme binding pocket (a) np1 (b) np2 (c) np3 (d) np4 (e) np5 (f) np6 figure 4: anns for predicting pet nps degradation based on its propertiesenergy, molecular mass (mm), and chain length (cl) figure 5: linear correlation of predicted binding affinity and actual values from molecular docking 5 c. e. duru et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1154 6 figure 6: the most important property for nps degradation by phl7 from the ann prediction 3. results and discussion polyethylene terephthalate is a semi-crystalline polymer produced from the reaction of terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol. each monomer unit (figure 1) has a physical length of about 1.09 nm and a molecular weight of ≈ 200 [27]. it is a thermoplastic material with excellent chemical resistance, melt mobility, and spinnability. the bacterial strain ideonellasakaiensis 201-f6 was recently found to exhibit a rare ability to grow on pet as a major carbon and energy source [28]. a novel enzyme, polyester hydrolase leipzig 7 (phl7), isolated from a compost metagenome, can completely hydrolyze amorphous pet films within hours has been freshly reported by sonnendecker and coworkers [19]. we have shown in this study the binding affinities of modeled pet np oligomers at the phl7 active site, and the results are given in table 3. the pet monomer, which served as control in this study, had a binding affinity of 5.4 kcal/mol at the enzyme target and was closely followed by np2 and np3 with binding affinities of -5.2 kcal/mol and 5.1 kcal/mol respectively. these results suggested that the degradation of pet at this enzyme target would be most efficient at 2.18 nm and 3.27 nm chain lengths. the drop in the binding affinity from -3.8 kcal/mol for np4 to – 0.8 kcal/mol for np5 indicated a reduction in the hydrolyzing ability of the enzyme as the chain length increased from 4.36 nm to 5.45 nm. positive binding affinity values, which increased steadily, were obtained with np6-np10 oligomer units. this implied that the hydrolysis of pet within the range of 6.54 nm chain length and above was not feasible with this enzyme. therefore, pet polymer materials should be within 5.45 nm and below for efficient binding and hydrolysis at the phl7 active site. a plot of the binding affinity of pet np oligomers as a function of np chain length is shown in figure 2. as chain length increased, three notable degradation characteristics of pet at the enzyme target were observed. there is a reactive stage at np2-np5 where hydrolysis was feasible, an intermediate nonreactive stage at np6-np8 where enzyme action is highly limited, and a recalcitrant stage at np8 and above where total recalcitrance of the np was manifest. the 3d views of enzyme-np interactions showed that the pet trimer (np3) is the maximum chain unit that can fit perfectly in the enzyme binding cavity (figure 3). this fitting becomes increasingly difficult from np5 and above. the recalcitrant nature of pet polymer and the difficulty in its hydrolysis could therefore be reduced by subdividing it to less than 5.45 nm chain lengths which have good fitting in the enzyme pocket. the ann for the degradation of pet nps oligomers by phl7 based on the intrinsic properties of the oligomers is shown in figure 4. the network involved two hidden layers, which processed the input variables. the output results from this network were compared with the actual binding affinity values from the molecular docking by linear regression (figure 5). the results showed that the anns could predict the binding affinity with high accuracy with r2 of 0.985. the ann was further checked using error models, which gave small errors for sse (0.045) and re (0.028). the results indicated that the energy of the oligomers was the most important property for its degradation, with 100 % normalized importance (figure 6). the energy of the oligomers increases with an increase in their sizes. the high energy of the longer oligomers reduced their binding affinity at the active site, which makes their degradation difficult at the enzyme target. efficient degradation would therefore occur at a lower energy of the nps, which is obtainable at chain lengths between np2-np4. 4. conclusion the molecular docking of pet np oligomers ranging from 1.09 nm 10.90 nm at the phl7 active site was performed and their binding affinities were used to determine the effect of chain length on the degradation of pet. binding affinities of the nps decreased from -5.2 kcal/mol to -0.8 kcal/mol, as pet chain length increased from 2.18 nm to 5.45 nm (2-5 pet chains). at chain lengths of 6.54 nm (6 pet chains) and above, the binding of the pet nps on the enzyme was nonspontaneous, as was seen in the resulting positive binding affinity values obtained with these chains. artificial neural network analysis revealed that structural energy is the major determinant factor in the pet degradation process. 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[28] g. j. palm, l. reisky, d. böttcher, h. muller, e. a. p. michels, m. c. walczak, l. berndt m. s. weiss, u. t. bornscheuer & g. weder, “structure of the plastic-degrading ideonella sakaiensis mhetase bound to a substrate”, nature communications 10 (2019) 1717. 7 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1075 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences collocation method for the numerical solution of multi-order fractional differential equations g. ajileyea, a. a. jamesb,∗ adepartment of mathematics and statistics, federal university wukari, taraba state, nigeria. b department of mathematics and statistics, american university of nigeria, yola, adamawa state, nigeria. abstract this study presents a collocation approach for the numerical integration of multi-order fractional differential equations with initial conditions in the caputo sense. the problem was transformed from its integral form into a system of linear algebraic equations. using matrix inversion, the algebraic equations are solved and their solutions are substituted into the approximate equation to give the numerical results. the effectiveness and precision of the method were illustrated with the use of numerical examples. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2023.1075 keywords: keywords: differential equation, fractional derivatives, approximate solution, power series. article history : received: 17 september 2022 received in revised form: 24 may 2023 accepted for publication: 25 may 2023 published: 11 june 2023 © 2023 the author(s). published by the nigerian society of physical sciences under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and doi. communicated by: tolulope latunde 1. introduction in the fields of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and engineering, differential and integral equations involving fractions are of the utmost significance. the use of functional equations, such as ordinary and partial differential equations, is typical when applying mathematics to the modeling of problems arising in the real world. in the early 1900s, italian mathematician vito volterra came up with a whole new sort of equation that came to be known as integro-differential equations in order to investigate the phenomenon of population expansion. in these types of equations, one or more derivatives of the function whose value is unknown is placed under the integral sign. integro-differential equations can be found in a ∗corresponding author tel. no: +2348077092831 email address: adewalejames974@gmail.com (a. a. james ) variety of mathematical formulations of physical phenomena. additionally, these equations can be found in the modeling of certain phenomena in the fields of science and engineering. for instance, the equations of kinetics that support the kinetic theory of rarefied gases, plasma, radiation transmission, and coagulation are some examples. [1]. some of the numerical solution of fractional differential equations developed in the literature include: perturbed collocation method [2], adomian decompositions method by [3-5], collocation method by [6-9], chebyshevgelerkin method [10], bernoulli matrix method [11], differential transform method [12], pseudospectral method [13], bernstein polynomials method [14, 15], the mellin transform approach [16]. [17] utilized a numerical approach based on the boubaker polynomial to generate approximate numerical solutions to the multi-order fractional differential equations. their decision was to use an operational matrix for fractional integration based on boubakar polynomi1 ajileye & james / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1075 2 als. collocation approach for the computational solution of fredholm-volterra fractional order of integro-differential equations was presented by [18]. they solved the problem by first obtaining the linear integral form of it and then transforming it into a system of linear algebraic equations by making use of conventional collocation points. in this research, the collocation method is utilized to solve multi-order fractional differential equations of the form dβy(x) = n∑ j=0 q j(x)d α j y(x) + h(x) (1) subject to the initial condition y( j)(a j) = λ j, j = 0, 1, ..., n − 1, n ∈ n β > αn, (2) where y(x) is the unknown function, dα j and dβ are the caputo’s derivative, h(x) is the force known -prior. q j(x) is the known function, a j and λ j are known constants. 2. basic definitions in this section, we present certain definitions and fundamental ideas of fractional calculus for the purpose of the formulation of the problem that has been presented. definition 2.1: the caputo derivative with order α > 0 of the given function f (x), x ∈ (a, b) is defined as c x d α a y(x) = 1 γ(m −α) ∫ x a (x − s)m−α−1y(m)(s)d s (3) where m − 1 ≤ α ≤ m, m ∈ n, x > 0 definition 2.2: let (an) , n ≥ 0 be a sequence of real numbers. the power series in x with coefficients an is an expression y(x) = a0+a1 x+a2 x 2 +a3 x 3 +· · ·an x n = n∑ n=0 an x n = φ(x) a(4) where φ(x) = [1 x x2 · · · xn ], a = [a0 a1 · · · an ]t then y(x, n) = xna, n = 0(1)n, n ∈ z+ definition 2.3: standard collocation method (scm). this method is used to determine the desired collocation points within an interval. i.e [a,b] and is given by xi = a + (b − a)i n , i = 1, 2, 3, ...n (5) definition 2.4: let y(x) be a continuous function, then 0 i β x ( c 0 d β xy(x) ) = y(x) − n∑ k=0 y(k)(0) k! xk (6) where m − 1 < β < 1 definition 2.5: let p(s) be an integrable function, then 0 i β x ( p(s)) = 1 γ(β) ∫ x 0 (x − s)β−1 p(s)d s (7) definition 2.6: the riemann -liouville derivative of order α > 0 with n − 1 < α < n of the power function f (t) = t p−α is given by dαt p = γ( p + 1) γ( p −α + 1) t p−α (8) 3. mathematical background in this part, we create a collocation approach for numerically solving multi-order fractional differential equations utilizing power series polynomials as the basis function. lemma (3.1) (integral form) let y(x) be a solution to (1) subject to (2), the integral form is y(x) = w(x) + n∑ j=0 1 γ(m j −α j) 1 γ(β) (9) × ∫ x 0 (x − s)β−1q j(s) [∫ s 0 (s − t)m j−α j−1y(m j )(t)dt ] d s where w(x) = n∑ k=0 y(k)(0) k! xk + 1 γ(β) ∫ x 0 (x − s)β−1h(s)d s proof. multiply equation (1) by 0 i β x (.) gives 0 i β x ( dβy(x) ) = 0 i β x  n∑ j=0 q j(x)d α j y(x) + 0 iβx (h(x)) (10) using (6) on equation (10) gives y(x) = n∑ k=0 y(k)(0) k! xk + 0 i β x  n∑ j=0 q j(x)d α j y(x)  (11) applying equations (3) and (7) to equation (11) gives y(x) = n∑ k=0 y(k)(0) k! xk + 1 γ(β) ∫ x 0 (x − s)β−1 (12) ×  n∑ j=0 q j(x) 1 γ(m j −α j) ∫ s 0 (s − t)m j−α j−1 y(m j )(t)dt  d s substituting equation (4) into equation (12) gives y(x) = n∑ k=0 y(k)(0) k! xk + 1 γ(β) ∫ x 0 (x − s)β−1 (13) ×  n∑ j=0 q j(x) 1 γ(m j −α j) ∫ s 0 (s − t)m j−α j−1 dm j dtm j (φ(t)) dta  d s 3.1. method of solution collocating at xi in equation (13) gives y(xi) = w(xi) + n∑ j=0 1 γ(m j −α j) 1 γ(β) ∫ xi 0 (xi − s) β−1q j(s) × (∫ s 0 (s − t)m j−α j−1 dm j dtm j (φ(t)) dt ) d s a (14) where w(xi) = n∑ k=0 y(k)(0) k! xk + 1 γ(β) ∫ x 0 (x − s)β−1h(s)d s 2 ajileye & james / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1075 3 simplifying equation (14) gives φ(xi)a = w(xi) +  ∑n j=0 1 γ(m j −α j) 1 γ(β) ∫ xi 0 (xi − s)β−1q j(s) × (∫ s 0 (s − t)m j−α j−1 dm j dtm j (φ(t)) dt ) d s  a (15) factorizing the values of a from equation (15) gives φ(xi)− ∑n j=0 1 γ(m j −α j) 1 γ(β) ∫ xi 0 (xi − s)β−1q j(s) × (∫ s 0 (s − t)m j−α j−1 dm j dtm j (φ(t)) dt ) d s  a = w(xi) (16) equation (16) can be in the form v (xi)a =w(xi) (17) where v (xi) = φ(xi)− n∑ j=0 1 γ(m j −α j) 1 γ(β) ∫ xi 0 (xi − s) β−1q j(s) (∫ s 0 (s − t)m j−α j−1 dm j dtm j (φ(t)) dt ) d s (18) and a = [a0 a1 · · · an ]t multiplying both sides of equation (17) by v−1(xi) gives a =v−1(xi)w(xi) (19) lemma (3.2) let y(x) be approximated by (11) and let l(x) = 0 i β x  n∑ j=0 q j(x)d α j y(x)  (20) if q j(s) = sp j, then l(x; n) = γ(n + 1)γ(n −α j + p j + 1) γ(n −α j + 1)γ(β + n −α j + p j + 1) × x β+n−α j +p j i a (21) proof. applying equation (3) and (7) into equation (20) gives 0 i β x  n∑ j=0 q j(x)d α j y(x)  = n∑ j=0 1 γ(m j −α j) 1 γ(β) ∫ xi 0 (x − s)β−1q j(s) [∫ s 0 (s − t)m j−α j−1y(m j )(t)dt ] d s (22) substituting (8) into (22) gives = n∑ j=0 1 γ(m j −α j) 1 γ(β) ∫ x 0 (x − s)β−1s p j (23) [∫ s 0 (s − t)m j−α j−1 ( γ(n + 1) γ(n − m j + 1) tn−m j ) dt ] d s a let s − t = (1 − v)s, then t = vs =⇒ dt dv = s =⇒ dt = sdv, substituting into (23) gives = n∑ j=0 γ(n + 1) γ(m j −α j)γ(n − m j + 1) 1 γ(β) ∫ x 0 (x − s)β−1s p j (24) [ s n−α j ∫ 1 0 (1 − v)m j−α j−1v n−m j dt ] d s a simplifying (24), we get l(x; n) = γ(n + 1)γ(n −α j + p j + 1) γ(n −α j + 1)γ(β + n −α j + p j + 1) xβ+n−α j +p j a(25) lemma (3.3) let y(t) be approximated by (9), let c(x) = 0 i β x (h(x)) (26) if h(s) = sm, then c(x) = γ(m + 1) γ(β + m + 1) xβ+m proof. applying equation (7) into (26) gives 0 i β x (h(x)) = 1 γ(β) ∫ x 0 (x − s)β−1h(s) d s substituting for h(s) gives = 1 γ(β) ∫ x 0 (x − s)β−1 smd s let x − s = (1 − u)x, s = ux =⇒ d s du = x =⇒ d s = xdu. c(x) = γ(m + 1) γ(β + m + 1) xβ+m (27) lemma (3.4) let y(x) be the solution of (1) and (2) then the numerical result gives y(x) = φ(xi)v −1(xi) w(xi) (28) where v (xi) = γ(n + 1)γ(n −α j + p j + 1) γ(n −α j + 1)γ(β + n −α j + p j + 1) x β+n−α j +p j i and w(xi) = − n∑ k=0 y(k)(0) k! xki + γ(m + 1) γ(β + m + 1) xβ+mi 3 ajileye & james / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1075 4 proof. approximate solution of equation (17) is y(x) = φ(x) a from equation (19) a =v−1(xi) w(xi) where v (xi) = γ(n + 1)γ(n −α j + p j + 1) γ(n −α j + 1)γ(β + n −α j + p j + 1) x β+n−α j +p j i + br+n+1γ(r + 1) (σ + n + 1) γ(β + r + 1) xβ+r + γ(r + σ + n + 2) (σ + n + 1) γ(β + r + σ + n + 2) xβ+r+σ+n+1 substituting for a in the approximate solution gives the numerical result y(x) = φ(xi)v −1(xi) w(xi) 4. convergence analysis in this section, we establish the convergence of the method by substituting the approximate solution into equation (3.0) yn (x) = w(x) + n∑ j=0 1 γ(m j −α j) 1 γ(β) (29) × ∫ x 0 (x − s)β−1q j(s) [∫ s 0 (s − t)m j−α j−1y (m j ) n (t)dt ] d s subtracting (9) from (29) gives en (x) = yn (x) − y(x). hence |en (x)| ≤ 1 γ(β) ∫ x 0 (x − s)β−1 n∑ j=0 1 γ(m j −α j) q j(s)∣∣∣∣∣∣ [∫ s 0 (s − t)m j−α j−1 en (t)dt ] d s ∣∣∣∣∣∣ therefore ‖en (xi)‖∞ ‖en (t)‖∞ ≤ 1 γ(β) ∫ xi 0 (x − s)β−1∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣  n∑ j=0 1 γ(m j −α j) q j(s) (∫ s 0 (s − t)m j−α j−1dt ) ∣∣∣∣∣∣∣∣ d s 5. numerical examples in this section, we considered two numerical examples to evaluate the effectiveness and clarity of the method. a maple 18 program is used to perform the computations. let yn(x) and y(x) be the approximate and exact solutions respectively. errorn = |yn(x) − y(x)| . example 5.1. [2] consider multi-order fractional differential equation . d1.5y(x) = −x−1 d0.5y(x) − x0.5y(x) + f (x) with this condition y ′ (0) = y(0) = 0 and exact solution y(x) = x3 − x2 f (x) = [ 6x ( γ(3.5) + γ(2.5) γ(2.5)γ(3.5) + x2 6 ) − 2 ( γ(2.5) + γ(1.5) γ(1.5)γ(2.5) + x2 2 )] x0.5 solution 1. comparing with equation (1.1) and equation (1.2), β = 1.5,α = 0.5 using n = 4 for illustration, and applying equation (6) gives y(x) = w(x) − 1 γ(1 − 0.5) 1 γ(1.5) ∫ x 0 (x − s)1.5−1 s−1 (30)[∫ s 0 (s − t)1−0.5−1 γ(n + 1) γ(n − 1 + 1) tn−1dt ] d s a − 1 γ(1.5) ∫ x 0 (x − s)1.5−1 s0.5 (sn) d s a where w(x) = n∑ k=0 y(k)(0) k! xk + 1 γ(1.5) ∫ x 0 (x − s)1.5−1 f (s)d s substituting (4) into equation (30) gives φ(x) a = w(x) − 1 γ(1 − 0.5) 1 γ(1.5) ∫ x 0 (x − s)1.5−1 s−1 (31)[∫ s 0 (s − t)1−0.5−1 γ(n + 1) γ(n − 1 + 1) tn−1dt ] d s a − 1 γ(1.5) ∫ x 0 (x − s)1.5−1 s0.5 (sn) d s a where w(x) = n∑ k=0 y(k)(0) k! xk + 1 γ(1.5) ∫ x 0 (x − s)1.5−1 f (s)d s equation (31) can be in the form τ(x)a =w(x) (32) where τ(x) = φ(x) + 1 γ(1 − 0.5) 1 γ(1.5) ∫ x 0 (x − s)1.5−1 s−1[∫ s 0 (s − t)1−0.5−1 γ(n + 1) γ(n − 1 + 1) tn−1dt ] d s + 1 γ(1.5) ∫ x 0 (x − s)1.5−1 s0.5 (sn) d s 4 ajileye & james / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1075 5 collocating at x4 = [ 1 4 2 4 3 4 1 ] and substituting the initial conditions gives τ(xi) ∗a = f (xi)∗ (33) where τi (x) ∗ = 0.0000000000 0.0000000000 0.0000000000 0.0000000000 0.0000000000 0.0470157986 0.2239605405 0.1797773130 0.0750069286 0.0274673600 0.1880631945 0.5184447788 0.7543711011 0.6176863534 0.4482932221 0.4231421877 0.9539764130 1.8295669120 2.1838653930 2.3438648990 0.7522527781 1.6010791410 3.5816739880 5.5056804110 7.7368811360 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  f (x)∗ = [0.0000000000 − 0.1047703844 − 0.1366847478 0.3542984804 1.9240064220] we now solve for the unknown values a making use of matrix inversion results in equation (33): y4 = ( 1.365574320288940 × 10−14 − 2.546407529280260 × 10−12 x −0.999999999275360x2 + 0.999999998413614x3 + 6.644427230639850 × 10−10 x4 ) example 5.2. [2] consider multi-order fractional differential equation . d1.5y(x) + 1 x d0.5y(x) + x 1 2 y(x) = + f (x) with this condition y ′ (0) = y(0) = 0 and exact solution y(x) = −x3 + x2 f (x) = [ 2 ( γ(2.5) + γ(1.5) γ(1.5)γ(2.5) + x2 2 ) − 6x ( γ(3.5) + γ(2.5) γ(2.5)γ(3.5) + x2 9 )] x 1 2 solution 2. comparing with equation (1.1) and equation (1.2), β = 1.5,α = 0.5 using n = 4 for illustration, applying equation (6) gives y(x) = w(x) − 1 γ(1 − 0.5) 1 γ(1.5) ∫ x 0 (x − s)1.5−1 s−1(34)[∫ s 0 (s − t)1−0.5−1 γ(n + 1) γ(n − 1 + 1) tn−1dt ] d s a − 1 γ(1.5) ∫ x 0 (x − s)1.5−1 s0.5 (sn) d s a table 1: exact, approximate and absolute error values for example 1 x exact our methodn=4 errorn=4 error [2]=4 0.0 0.00000000000 1.36557432000e-14 1.3656e-14 5.9232e-13 0.1 -0.900000000e-2 -0.89999999950e-2 5.0000e-12 2.6668e-10 0.2 -0.320000000e-1 -0.31999999980e-1 2.0000e-11 9.6994e-10 0.3 -0.630000000e-1 0.06299999997000 3.0000e-11 1.9604e-09 0.4 -0.960000000e-1 -0.95999999980e-1 2.0000e-11 3.0781e-09 0.5 -0.12500000000 -0.1250000000000 0.0000000 4.1532e-09 0.6 -0.14400000000 -0.1439999999000 1.0000e-10 5.0056e-09 0.7 -0.14700000000 -0.1470000000000 0.0000000 5.4456e-09 0.8 -0.12800000000 -0.1280000001000 1.0000e-10 5.2733e-09 0.9 -0.810000000e-1 -0.81000000160e-1 1.6000e–10 4.2787e-09 1.0 0.00000000000 -2.3555727690e-10 2.3555e-10 2.2421e-09 where w(x) = n∑ k=0 y(k)(0) k! xk + 1 γ(1.5) ∫ x 0 (x − s)1.5−1 f (s)d s substituting (4) into equation (34) gives φ(x) a = w(x) − 1 γ(1 − 0.5) 1 γ(1.5) ∫ x 0 (x − s)1.5−1 s−1(35)[∫ s 0 (s − t)1−0.5−1 γ(n + 1) γ(n − 1 + 1) tn−1dt ] d s a − 1 γ(1.5) ∫ x 0 (x − s)1.5−1 s0.5 (sn) d s a where w(x) = n∑ k=0 y(k)(0) k! xk + 1 γ(1.5) ∫ x 0 (x − s)1.5−1 f (s)d s equation (35) can be in the form τ(x)a =w(x) (36) where τ(x) = φ(x) + 1 γ(1 − 0.5) 1 γ(1.5) ∫ x 0 (x − s)1.5−1 s−1[∫ s 0 (s − t)1−0.5−1 γ(n + 1) γ(n − 1 + 1) tn−1dt ] d s + 1 γ(1.5) ∫ x 0 (x − s)1.5−1 s0.5 (sn) d s collocating at x4 = [ 1 4 2 4 3 4 1 ] and substituting the initial conditions gives τ(xi) ∗a = f (xi)∗ (37) where τi (x) ∗ = 0.5000000000 2.3817583340 1.9118819450 0.7976779168 0.2921077680 0.7071067812 1.9493225120 2.8363918970 2.3224651180 1.6855566990 0.8660254038 1.9524590850 3.7444893700 4.4696155660 4.7970791030 1.0000000000 2.1283791670 4.7612638900 7.3189233350 10.2849485700 1 0 0 0 0 0‘ 1 0 0 0  f (x)∗ = [ 1.1142040280 0.5139267798 -0.7251261978 -2.5576594460 0 0 ] we now solve for the unknown values a making use of matrix inversion results in equation (37); y4 = ( 1.428190898877800 × 10−12 − 2.777014174171200 × 10−10 x +1.000000001121990x2 − 1.000000001716120x3 + 6.387779194483300 × 10−10 x4 ) 5 ajileye & james / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1075 6 table 2: exact, approximate and absolute error values for example 2 x exact our methodn=4 errorn=4 error [2]=4 0.0 0.00000000000 1.428190899000e-12 1.4281908990000e-12 3.7782e-12 0.1 0.00900000000 0.00899999998200 1.8000000000000e-11 2.4706e-09 0.2 0.03200000000 0.03199999997000 3.0000000000000e-11 1.4306e-08 0.3 0.06300000000 0.06299999997000 3.0000000000000e-11 3.9585e-08 0.4 0.09600000000 0.09599999999000 1.0000000000000e-11 78988e-08 0.5 0.12500000000 0.12499999990000 1.0000000000000e-10 1.2980e-07 0.6 0.14400000000 0.14399999990000 1.0000000000000e-10 1.8590e-07 0.7 0.14700000000 0.14699999980000 2.0000000000000e-10 2.3778e-07 0.8 0.12800000000 0.12799999970000 3.0000000000000e-10 2.7253e-07 0.9 0.08100000000 0.08099999952000 4.8000000000000e-10 2.7386e-07 1.0 0.00000000000 -3.6122208060e-10 3.6122208060000e-10 2.2207e-07 6. discussion of results in this section, we discuss the numerical results obtained by applying the derived numerical method to the solved examples. we observed from the result obtained for example 1 as shown in table 1 that the approximate solution at n=4 gives y4(x) = 1.365574320288940 × 10−14 − 2.546407529280260 × 10−12 x+ 1.000000001121990x2 − 1.000000001716120x3 + 6.387779194483300 × 10−10 x4. the numerical result almost converges to the exact solution and produces extremely small errors. this demonstrated that our method outperformed the proposed method by uwaheren et al (2020). the results of the numerical example 2 in table 2 shows the approximate solution at n=4 as y4(x) = 1.428190898877800 × 10−12 − 2.777014174171200 × 10−10 x + 1.0000001121990x2 − 1.0000001716120x3 + 6.387779194483300 × 10−10 x4. the numerical result converge to the exact solution and give better result than the method proposed by uwaheren et al (2020) at the same value of n. this shows that the numerical method developed is consistent and converges faster. 7. conclusion in this paper, a new numerical method was developed for solving multi-order fractional differential equations with initial conditions using collocation method. the numerical method derived is consistent, efficient and reliable and easy to compute. maple code was used to implement the developed method. solved numerical examples show that the method is reliable and suitable for these kind of problems. we also compare our absolute errors with uwaheren et al. 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[18] g. ajileye, a. a. james, a. m. ayinde & t. oyedepo, “collocation approach for the computational solution of fredholm-volterra fractional order of integro-differential equations”, j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 4 (2022) 834. 6 j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1029 journal of the nigerian society of physical sciences first principles calculation of half metallic proprieties of qcras (q=hf, ti and zr) m. i. babalola∗, b. e. iyorzo, s. o. ebuwa department of physics, university of benin, nigeria abstract the structural, electrical, magnetic, mechanical, and thermodynamic properties of some novel half-heusler alloys qcras(q=hf, ti and zr) are investigated using first principles calculations. the results show that the three half heusler alloys are half metals and they can find application in spintronics industries. they possess magnetic moment of 3µb. the mechanical properties shows that they are mechanically stable. the b/g ratio of the three half-heusler alloys show that they are ductile in nature and the poisson’s ratio reveal that the plasticity of ticras and zrcras are higher than that of hfcras. the debye temperature and average sound velocity of zrcras is observed to be higher than the other two alloys. this implies that the thermal conductivity of zrcras is the highest. doi:10.46481/jnsps.2023.1029 keywords: half heusler, half-metallic gap, electronic band structure, mechanical properties article history : received: 03 september 2022 received in revised form: 01 november 2022 accepted for publication: 08 november 2022 published: 21 january 2023 c© 2023 the author(s). published by the nigerian society of physical sciences under the terms of the creative commons attribution 4.0 international license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and doi. communicated by: k. sakthipandi 1. introduction for many years now, the search for functional materials has been on the increase in the scientific community. examples of functional materials include thermoelectric materials [1], piezoelectric materials [2], optoelectric materials [3], spintronic materials [4] etc. of all materials that have been found and synthesized till date, the heusler alloys and its family have been one of the most widely studied material [5-7], this is because they can be easily synthesized and have multifunctional capability which are very useful in technological industries. the heusler family with this multifunctional capabilities include the full heusler alloy [8], quaternary heusler alloy [9], half heusler ∗corresponding author tel. no: +234 8060797955 email address: michael.babalola@uniben.edu (m. i. babalola) alloy [10], binary heusler alloy [11], and inverse heusler alloy [12]. interestingly, different characteristics of these heusler family can be predicted just by knowing their valence electron count [13]. some years back, gautier and coworkers predicted over 300 half heusler alloys [14], ever since then, more half heusler alloys have been investigated till date. half heusler alloys having valence electrons greater or less than 18 can be said to be ferromagnetic, hence such half heusler allloys could possess half-metallic properties which is useful in spintronics industries. one of the properties sough after in spintronics is the half-metallic property. the half-metallic property is described as a situation whereby a material having metallic nature in one spin channel and having semiconducting properties in another spin channel. this concept was discovered by de groot and co-workers in 1983 [15]. half-metals possess 1 babalola et al. / j. nig. soc. phys. sci. 5 (2023) 1029 2 100% spin-polarization at the fermi level, thereby making it possible for them to be used as a spin valve to enhance giant magneto-resistance [16], spin injector electrode in tunnel magneto-resistance [17] and current perpendicular to plane giant magneto-resistance (cpp-gmr) in spintronics [18]. they also find application in spin torque devices [19] and magnetic tunnel junction (mtj) devices [20]. half-heusler alloys uvw(xyz) with half-metallic character are usually described as having the u atomic position occupied by one of the followings: main group 1 or 2 element, the rare earth metals and a transition metal [13]. the v atomic position is occupied a transaction metal which is less electropositive compared to u. the w atomic position is occupied by elements from a main group 3, 4 and 5. in this work, we use ab initio calculation to explore the half-metallic, mechanical and thermodynamic properties of the novel half heusler alloys qcras (q=hf, ti and zr). the remaining portion of this work is divided into the following sections: section 2 covers the computational specifics, section 3 covers the discussion and results, and section 4 concludes with a summary. 2. computational details first principles spin-polarized density functional theory (spdft) calculation has been used to perform the ground state properties of qcras(q=hf, ti and zr) alloys. a projected augmented wavefunction (paw) type of the generalized gradient approximation (gga) which is the choice of exchange correlation as implemented in the quantum espresso code[21] is used. the valence electron configurations of hf(4f146s25d2), ti(4s23d2),cr(3d54s1), as(4d25s2) and zr(5s24d2) are used. an optimized value of 70ry for the plane-wave basis set of the kinetic energy cutoff and a 9×9×9 k-point mesh are used to determine the structural parameters for the three half heusler alloys. optimizaion was carried out for various values of k-point starting with 4x4x4, 5x5x5, . . . 15x15x15. at the end of the calculation, the difference between the last k-point and the others were observed. the difference between the energies of k-point 9x9x9 and the last k-point fell within the acceptable range of 0.1mev.convergence threshold for all selfconsistency calculation is set at 10−6 ry/atom. spin-polarised was taken care of by introducing nspin which activates the magnetism in the compounds. magnetic spins were allocated to the atoms of the transition metals using starting magnetization. duriing band calculation, we used spin component to distinguish between spin up and spin down components. the thermo pw package is used to compute the thermodynamic and mechanical properties [22]. 3. results and discussion 3.1. structural properties a cubic structure with mgagas type c1b structure forms during the crystallization of half heusler alloys (uvw). they have space group of f-43m (no 216). the half heusler stucture is seen as a combination of zincblende and rocksalt structure. wyckoff locations 4b(1/2,1/2,1/2), 4c(1/4,1/4,1/4), and 4a figure 1. unit cell of qcras (q=ti, hf and zr) hh alloys (0,0,0) are occupied by the u, v, and w atoms, respectively. the unit cell of the half-heusler alloy is shown in fig. 1. the structural parameters such as the equilibrum lattice constant, bulk modulus and pressure derivative are computed by fitting the total energies versus lattice constant curve with the murnaghan equation of state with the results presented in table 1. fig. 2 shows the ferromagnetic state and non magnetic state of the three half-heusler alloys, and from the graph, their ferromagnetic state posses the lowest ground state energies. this implies that the three half-heusler alloys are ferromagnetic in nature. the lattice constant of the three hh alloys satisfy the condition ti0, c44 >0, c11 >c12 and c11+2c12 >0, c11c12 >0. once this criteria is satisfied then the material is said to be mechanically stable. according to the results in table 2, zrcras has the strongest resistance to linear and shear deformation when compared to ticras and hfcras. the b/g ratio of the three half-heusler alloys are greater than the critical value of 1.75, it means the three alloys are ductile. the poisson’s ratio determines a compound’s plasticity. the critical value for metals and their alloys is 0