Abstract Plastic waste pollution has become one of the most critical environmental issues in the recent years as it adversely affects the ecosystem in many ways. River has been reported for playing an important role in transporting plastic waste into the environment and continued efforts have been done to prevent, control, and treating plastic waste intending to support river conservation. In this present work, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was conducted to study the performance of solar heat collector (SHC) as a baseline study for the application of plastic drying at the post-treatment stage for recycling and upcycling of plastic waste. SHCs incorporated with different absorber configuration (flat and V-grooved) and absorber material (aluminum and copper) were tested in the aspect of heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics to identify the enhancement mechanism occurs in the collector. The findings indicate that SHC with V-grooved copper absorber exhibits highest collector efficiency (44.95%). However, the application of aluminum absorber would be sufficient for the case where low velocity drying process is performed.

Abstract Formation of zeolites from bentonite clay has not been largely explored since most research on zeolite formation from clay is currently more focused on kaolinite clay. In this study, zeolite A was synthesized via hydrothermal technique using commercial bentonite clay. To activate the bentonite clay, it underwent thermochemical treatment for 24 hours at 98 ± 2 ^oC in the presence of concentrated hydrochloric acid. Reaction mixture of zeolite A was obtained by mixing the activated bentonite clay with sodium hydroxide and sodium aluminate. The reaction mixtures were prepared at various silica to alumina ratio (1.0, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75 and 2.0) and molarity of sodium hydroxide (1.5M, 2.0M, 2.5M, 3.0M and 3.5M). All of the reaction mixtures underwent aging for 30 minutes and crystallized for 8 hours at 100oC. The effect of silica to alumina ratio and molarity of sodium hydroxide was examined using XRD and SEM. The optimum silica to alumina ratio and molarity of NaOH for the synthesis was found to be 1.5 and 2.5M respectively.

Abstract A good diet plan is one of the important aspects in developing healthy adolescent athlete because the main sources of energy and other nutrients come from the choices of food intake. This study aims to modify an integer goal programming model which can produce a nutritious diet menu plan that maximizes protein and minimizes fat while fulfilling the nutrient recommendation intake for Malaysian adolescent athletes aged between 13 to 18 years old. There are 50 food items with nutrition compositions and twelve nutrients are considered in the model formulation in this study. The data was mainly gathered mainly from websites of the Malaysian Food Composition Database (MyFCD) in addition to other food and diet websites. The computation experiment was run by Microsoft Excel Solver. The output results produce a solution containing 30 servings a day with optimum value of 115.8 grams of protein and 69.99 grams of fat. The diet planning solution can be referred to as the guidelines for sport schools to prepare nutritious diet meals for adolescent athletes.

Abstract Saccharum officinarum (Sugarcane) is primarily cultivated for its juice from which sugar is processed. This study aimed to evaluate the microbiological state of street vended sugarcane sold within Lafia Metropolis by determining microbial count, coliform count, and identifying the bacterial and fungal pathogens. A total of forty (40) samples, ten (10) from each location were collected from Mararaba Akunza, Lafia Main Town, Bukan Sidi and Ombi 1. All samples were analyzed for bacterial, coliform and fungal using pour plate method and were cultured on Nutrient Agar, MacConkey Agar and Potatoes Dextrose Agar, respectively. The mean total microbial count ranged from 2.51×10⁵±0.31 cfu/g to 7.63×10⁵±0.75 cfu/g, 2.24×10³±0.36 cfu/g to 7.38×10³±0.90 cfu/g and 2.00 ×10³±0.24 cfu/g to 6.60×10³±0.45 cfu/g for total heterotrophic bacterial, total coliform and total heterotrophic fungal count respectively. Bacterial species isolated include; E. coli (55.00%), S. aureus (37.50%), Shigella spp (35.00%), Samonella spp (32.5%), Micrococcus spp (32.50%), Bacillus spp (30.00%), E. faecalis (27.50%), S. epidermidis (27.50%), Streptococcus spp (17.5%) and Pseudomonas spp (5.00%) while the fungal species include A. flavus (10.00%), A. niger (10.00%), A. fumigatus (10.00%), Rhizopus spp (5.00%), Penicillium spp (5.00%), A. clavatus (2.50%) and Mucor spp (2.50%), respectively. There was a significant difference (P<0.001) observed in distribution of bacterial isolated from different locations. It is recommended that Nigerian government and food regulatory agencies should regularly analyzed hawked sugarcane for the possibility of pathogenic agents.

Abstract Plastic is a cheap and versatile material. The production and manufacture of plastics has risen tremendously to cater the needs of the growing world population, even more in the effort of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Lack of proper technology and human irresponsibility contribute to the mismanagement of plastic waste. Hence, the severity of plastic waste pollution is heightening, and the Earth and all living things are suffering the consequences. This review explores thermal pyrolysis as a more effective method to manage plastic waste in developing countries like Malaysia. Thermal pyrolysis is compared to existing plastic waste management methods. Factors influencing the yield and composition of pyrolysis products are also being discussed. These include feedstock type, reactor type, temperature, residence time, pressure, and fluidizing gas type and flow rate. Several topics such as the manipulation of pyrolysis parameters and the use of Appropriate Technology-based reactors, are raised as possible areas for further research.