Abstract Hydrogenolysis of EFB into hydrocarbon and phenolic compounds were successfully carried out at different reaction pressure using acid catalyst of 10Ce-MeSiC. From the GC-MS analysis it showed the main composition of hydrogenolysis of lignin was phenol. However, increasing the reaction pressure to 12 bars, increased the selectivity of hydrocarbon with value 23.31% while the phenol conversion was 26.50%. Cyclopentadecane hydrocarbon appears as a main composition in alicyclic hydrocarbon. While, phenol, 2-methoxy- and phenol, 2,6-dimethoxy- was appears as a phenol derivatives compound.

Abstract Mosquitoes are important vector of several human diseases in tropical and sub-tropical Africa. Thus, this study was aimed to determine the species composition and gonotrophic stages of indoor resting mosquitoes in lecture halls of main campus, University of Jos. Collection of mosquito species was carried out between October and December 2016 from 6am-10am, using prokopack aspirator. An overall total of 8,139 indoor resting mosquitoes belonging to 1 family, 2 subfamily 3 genera and 3 species were collected and identified from 20 lecture halls. There was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in the mean abundance of mosquito species. Culex quinquefasciatus was the most abundant species of indoor resting mosquito collected. There was a significant difference in the mean number of male and female indoor resting mosquitoes.Whereas 6,283 representing 77.20% were males, 1,856 representing 22.80% were females. There was a significant difference in relation to blood digestion stages of indoor resting mosquitoes. 1,451 representing 78.18% of the total were unfed, 229 (12.34%) were gravid, 95 (5.12%) were fed and 81 (4.36%) were half gravid respectively. There was a significant difference in the abundance of indoor resting mosquitoes in relation to name of lecture halls. However, there was no significant difference in the abundance of indoor resting mosquitoes in relation to shape and type of walls respectively. The association of the overall abundance of indoor resting mosquito species with number of hall users correlated positively. Thus, periodic indoor residual spraying of lecture halls to reduce the vector density and thereby interrupting the transmission of mosquito borne diseases in the main campus of University of Jos should be carried out.

Abstract It is undeniable that the popularity of hiking activities has gradually increased over the years, particularly in Sabah. Therefore, people are looking for activities that will help them both physically and socially. Henceforth, this study aims to investigate the public’s motivation for participating in hiking activities in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The instrument's reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha test, which generated a result of 0.947. A total of 109 respondents took part in this study, via social media platforms such as WhatsApp. The Chi-square test was used to explain the relationship between the recreation motivation and demographic variables (age, gender, education level). However, the result showed that there was no significant relationship between the public’s motivation to participate in hiking activities and demographic variables.