The world and Kenya face a potential pandemic as the respiratory virus Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) affects world populations. Nations have been forced to intervene and issue directions under executive orders to ensure the pandemic is contained. Kenya has reported 110 confirmed COVID-19 cases (as at 2nd April, 2020), three persons have succumbed and 2 people have fully recovered. Most of the affected people had entered/returned to Kenya from different parts of the world. Most of the people who have contracted COVID 19 are between the 16e74 years of age. As a result, since February 2020, Kenya put in place several precautionary measures to mitigate the pandemic in its early stages. However, the economic status of the population of country won't be simple to control COVID 19, if government won't integrate the realistic feasible timely plans.
Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, and the Internet of Things (IoT) are changing the way tasks are accomplished. CHATGPT is a well-known conversational artificial intelligence (AI) system based on the generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) architecture, launched by OpenAI. CHATGPT is trained through reinforcement learning based on human feedback. There are advantages to the use of CHATGPT in Civil engineering, including but not limited to design and planning: structural analysis and simulation, code compliance and regulations construction management, knowledge repository and information retrieval, education, and research. The limitation of CHATGPT is the bias based on the datasets used in CHATGPT training, the requirement of sufficient input information, as well as the risk of bias and transparency issues, and negative consequences if generating inaccurate content. The use of CHATGPT and other language models in civil engineering requires careful consideration to ensure not bypassing expert consultation in particular cases. Deep Learning based language models would have a positive impact on civil engineering rather than replacing human expertise and improving the infrastructure development in the world and solving challenges facing mankind
The global rapid population growth is leading to accelerated food production thus accelerating the generation of agricultural wastes (AWs). Among the AWs management strategies is the valorisation of the AWs into useful products such as the production of silica nanoparticles (SNPs) which are useful in the road construction sector. Production of useful SNPs from AWs for the road construction industry is considered sustainable road construction, as not only does it reduces the carbon dioxide footprint from similar materials such as cement, but it is also cheap and readily available to low-income countries such as Kenya and Zambia. SNPs are of great importance in the production of high-strength materials such as stabilized soil and asphalt of significant strength than the conventional stabilised soil/asphalt with ordinary Portland cement. In this review, recent progress on AWs corresponding ashes (AWAs) with significant silica is studied. The production of SNPs from this AWAs is examined in detail concerning their synthesis methods for high purity SNPs, structure, phase, morphology, sizes, and their application in soil and asphalt stabilisation in road construction. The use of AWs to produce SNPs for use in the stabilisation of soils, bitumen, and asphalt for roads construction is promising, however, there is a need for further research on the large-scale production of SNPs from AWAs.
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