https://ir.cut.ac.zw:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/11 2026-06-05T23:21:17Z https://ir.cut.ac.zw:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/592 Identification of Zimbabwe’s locally grown banana (Musa Spp.) cultivars using morphology and genome-targeted sequencing Beaton, Kumbirai; Mazadza, Allen; Chikwambi, Zedias Background Banana production is increasingly under threat due to harsh weather conditions as a result of climate change and different diseases. As such there is a need for the preservation and the characterization of the banana cultivar population for the purposes of crop improvement. The identification of collected banana germplasm in Zim babwe was conducted based on the Inter-transcribed spacer region as well as morphology. The study was con ducted with the aim of distinguishing one cultivar from another towards genetic conservation as well as banana improvement. Results ITS 1 and ITS 4 region targeting primers were used to amplify the DNA from twelve cultivars as well as sequence. Blast results identified five Musa groups which are Musa balbisiana (BB), Musa ABB, Musa AB hybrid, Musa acuminata (AAA), and Musa acuminata subsp. Malaccensis (AA). Phylogenetic analysis was done on the sequences under study and a maximum likelihood tree was generated to determine relationships between the sequences. Further identification was done using the inflorescence, bract, and male bud and fruit characteristics of each cultivar complementing the molecular evaluation. Conclusion Genetic and morphological identification of locally grown bananas was therefore successful. An impor tant step towards identifying pure lines suitable for breeding. 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.cut.ac.zw:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/433 Establishing the most cost effective reliability for off-grid solar systems in Zimbabwe: Trade-off, between energy supply reliability and levelised cost of energy. Kavu, Shorai; Tsvere, Maria; Mtangi, Wilbert; Hove, Tawanda The traditional method for designing off-grid stand-alone solar energy systems is based on a monthly-average daily energy balance approach whose only objective is to provide 100% energy supply reliability. However, such an approach tends to grossly oversize the systems thus rendering solar off-grid systems too costly for the target communities. This study has focused on designing a cost effective off-grid solar power system to ensure balancing of the trade-off between cost and reliability of power supply. Based on a time-step energy balance approach, an Excel spreadsheet-based model was developed to optimise the solar stand-alone system. Two dimensionless variables representing the size of the two main components of a solar photovoltaic off-grid system- the solar photovoltaic (PV) array and battery- were used to define the system size. For a given level of supply reliability, there is an infinite number of combinations of PV array and battery size- as the PV array size is increased, the required battery size reduces in a certain trend. However, for the given level of reliability, only one PV array-battery combination (the Optimum Design) results in the minimum Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE), whose coordinates depend on the relative costs of the two components. The LCOE for the Optimum Design corresponding to each level of supply reliability was plotted against supply reliability. From such a plot it was observed that the LCOE increases disproportionately above a certain level of reliability. This point, which lies near the “elbow” LCOE-reliability plot, defines the most cost-effective reliability for the stand-alone solar system, and therefore the optimum combination of PV generator and battery to deploy. The results showed that sustainable cost effective off-grid systems can be operated at 98% reliability level and still satisfy the customer requirements and at the same time ensuring affordable tariffs. Increasing the PV system components beyond the optimum (98% reliability) point, in a quest to achieve 100% reliability, results in a disproportionate 22% increase in LCOE. 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.cut.ac.zw:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/432 Elastic constants of titanium carbide films using surface Brillouin scattering Sumanya, C; Wamwangi, DM; Jakata, K; Comins, JD Surface Brillouin scattering (SBS) from surface phonons has been used for determining the dispersion curves of guided acoustic modes propagating along titanium carbide (TiC) films. Dispersion curves have been obtained by varying both the layer thickness and the angle of incidence. Elastic stiffnesses for the TiC on silicon and TiC on silicon carbide systems were determined from a least-squares fitting procedure of the velocity dispersion curves and used to simulate the respective SBS spectra. For each system there is good agreement between measured and calculated SBS spectra. 2023-04-28T00:00:00Z https://ir.cut.ac.zw:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/431 Chiral “doped” MOFs: an electrochemical and theoretical integrated study Kawondera, Rufaro; Bonechi, Marco; Maccioni, Irene; Giurlani, Walter; Salzillo, Tommaso; Venuti, Elisabetta; Mishra, Debabrata; Fontanesi, Claudio; Innocenti, Massimo; Mehlana, Gift; Mtangi, Wilbert This work reports on the electrochemical behaviour of Fe and Zn based metal organic framework (MOF) compounds, which are “doped” with chiral molecules, namely: cysteine and camphor sulfonic acid. Their electrochemical behaviour was thoroughly investigated via “solid-state” electrochemical measurements, exploiting an “ad hoc” tailored experimental set-up: a paste obtained by carefully mixing the MOF with graphite powder is deposited on a glassy carbon (GC) surface. The latter serves as the working electrode (WE) in cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements. Infrared (IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and absorbance (UV-Vis) techniques are exploited for a further characterization of the MOFs’ structural and electronic properties. The experimental results are then compared with DFT based quantum mechanical calculations. The electronic and structural properties of the MOFs synthesized in this study depend mainly on the type of metal center, and to a minor extent on the chemical nature of the dopant. 2023-08-08T00:00:00Z