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PROFESSIONALISM AND IMAGE LAUNDRY IN THE ICT AGE: A STUDY OF NIGERIAN LIBRARIANS
Get PDFThis study investigated professionalism and image laundry in the ICT age of librarians in Nigeria with a view to encourage librarians to make more positive effort at becoming more relevant in society, give them the right perception their profession and proffer solution (s) that will properly launder the present image of the library profession in Nigeria. The survey design of research was adopted for the study and the simple random sampling technique was used in choosing the study population. The instruments for collecting data were the structured questionnaire, interview and focus group discussion. 350 copies of the questionnaire were administered to respondents while 336 were found valid for the study. The descriptive statistical method of analysis using mean and standard deviation was employed for data analysis. The study revealed that many Nigerian librarians were never interested in the profession before going in to study the course. Rather they studied librarianship because it was their last resort. Others studied Library Science because they were told to start with it, at entry and change to a better course later. The study recommended among other things that librarians should break out of the stereotype their predecessors left them, be proud of their profession and vigorously engage in self development thereby gaining new knowledge an.d imbibing current trends
Analysis of Sustainable Cassava Biofuel Production in Nigeria
Get PDFNigeria's biofuels policy advocates the adoption of cassava as feedstock for a 10%-biofuel substitution option in Nigerian transport fuel demand. This policy option is expected to address energy security and environmental consequences of using fossil fuels as the sole source of transport energy in the country. This paper appraised the technological and economic factors necessary for achieving Nigeria's cassava-based biofuel initiative at different substitution levels of 5, 10, and 15% by the Year 2020. A multi-stage energy forecasting and project analysis framework adapted from Coate's structure for technology assessment, as well as engineering economy methodology was used for the study. Technological analysis entailed determining petrol consumption projection, R&D capability, input feedstock requirements, environmental considerations and land requirement for feedstock crop production while engineering economy analysis evaluated the economic viability of the project. The results showed that petrol consumption in Nigeria and bioethanol substitution requirements were in the range of 18,285.7 – 19,142.84 thousand tons and 914.28 (5% low demand) – 2871.43 (15% high demand) thousand tons, respectively by 2020. Cassava feedstock and landmass requirements for bioethanol production were in the range of 4.64 – 14.53 million tons and 4.08 – 12.80 thousand sq. km, respectively while carbon dioxide savings were between 1.87 – 5.89 million tons by 2020. The recovery price for cassava bioethanol was estimated to be US$ 0.74/litre . Petrol being subsidised presently is harmful to the environment though it ‘oils’ the economy. Nigeria currently subsidizes petroleum products to the tune of 28% of 2011 budget. The government plans to remove this by 2012. Thus we conclude that weighing both economic and environmental benefits of bioethanol substitution in petrol consumption in Nigeria, the study showed that bioethanol production from cassava feedstock would be both technically and economically viable, provided subsidy, which depends on political will on the side of the government, is introduced for the first ten years of its implementation
THE IMMUNOSTIMULATORY POTENTIAL OF FERMENTED BENISEEDS (SESAMUM INDICUM LINN) LIQOUR ON ALBINO RATS
Get PDFThe immune-stimulatory potential of natural liquid fermentation of
beniseed liquor was assessed in-vivo using young adult albino rats. They
were fed with a specific volume of the liquor at 100mg/ml for a period of
three weeks after which their blood was subjected to haematological and
biochemical analyses. The haematological assay for the biosafety analyses
of the liquor on the albino rats showed that the liquor significantly
increased the blood parameters when given a dose of 0.75ml at 100mg/ml
daily. The biochemical analyses of the blood of the albino rats used showed
that the liquor caused significant increase in the level of bicarbonate, urea,
uric acid and calcium. The liver functioning tests for the rats showed that
the liquor caused a little increase in the serum total protein and alkaline
phosphatase without any significant rise in the cholesterol level. The results
obtained from these in-vivo analyses of fermented beniseed liquor has
shown that beniseeds possess excellent nutraceutic properties with good
immunostimulatory potential and that it can be used as a good antidiarrhoeagenic agent
The Physicochemical Characteristics of Ibiekuma River Ekpoma, Nigeria
Get PDFThe Ibiekuma River is an important source of livelihood to its catchment. It contributes enormously to research success and living standard of students and staffs of the Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma, Nigeria. The aim of the study was to determine the impact of anthropogenic activities on the physicochemical properties of Ibiekuma River. Twenty seven water samples were collected at four stations during the study period and analyzed accordingly. The results obtained shows that the physicochemical parameters of the river were in conformity with the World Health Organization (WHO), National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS) safe limits, except for pH values which ranged from 4.69 to 4.81. The heavy metal concentrations were found to be within the limit of the guidelines prescribed by WHO and NAFDAC. Also, there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the concentrations of the physicochemical parameters across the four stations sampled along the Ibiekuma River. Water obtained from Ibiekuma River will be fit for domestic use, only if purified
Indigenous Food Consumption Pattern in South West, Nigeria
No full textThe study investigated the types and frequency of consumption of indigenous dishes in South western, Nigeria. Purposively, the study was conducted in tourist circuit region / that comprises of six states in the old Western Region of Nigeria. The five states selected are specifically Ogun, Osun Ekiti, Ondo and Lagos states. There were three hundred and thirty (330) respondents. The method used was food frequency questionnaire. The results showed that the indigenous dishes were consumed weekly, monthly or yearly, and none ate daily. In Ogun state, more than fifty percent of the respondents consumed Ikokore a water yam based recipe. The legume based dishes from cowpea; Awuje 76 %; Jogi 71.6% and Ekuru (66.7%) were eaten weekly. However Apapa (100%) and Obe oki (100%) also from legume group were disappearing since the consumption is only once a year. In the vegetable group, Efo ebolo soup with lyan ogede consumption by 80% of the Ogun state respondents on a weekly basis. Prominent in Osun state were vegetable soups such as Efo Odu (73%), Efo Ogunmu (73%) and Efo osun (73%) with pounded yam/cocoyam all consume.'on a monthly basis. Very few indigenous foods were consumed weekly in Osun state. In ondo, Obe elegede from pumpkin vegetable with pounded yam were consumed weekly by 66.7% of the Ondo respondents. More than fifty percent also utilised Gbure vegetable soup; Obe luru soup and ila alasepo on a weekly basis. Respondent in Ekiti has no specific indigenous food on a weekly basis except few cowpea based food like Ewa ibeji and ekuru. Among vegetable based soup, is Efo odu and ogede agbagba (leafy vegetables, unripe plantain and yam) consumed by 55% every week. On a monthly basis were Obé efirin a herbal soup with pounded yam/cocoyam/cassava (72.2%). Yearly were Obe oogun a herbal soup with pounded yam/cocoyam and Ogiri with Ila alasepo by indigenes of Ekiti. In Lagos state, indigenous dishes were Imoyo eleja with Imoyo Eba (73); Ofada rice with pepper sauce (57%) and Vegetable soup iyana ipaja (56%) on weekly consumption. In all, legumes based foods were in higher consumption as well as vegetable and herbs with nuts among indigenous dishes of south west. The indigenous dishes like cocoyam based are disappearing therefore need to advocate with agriculturist and industrialist to add value to cocoyam for upgrade usage. Keyword: Indigenous, Frequence, Yoruba Dishes, Consumption
A novel routing algorithm for energy optimization in wireless sensor networks
No full textWireless sensor networks (WSNs) have become an interesting area to researchers in recent times due to the low cost of sensor nodes, wide application areas and with low or no cost of maintenance after deployment in a target area. Sensor nodes are expected to remain in operation for a longer time without human intervention. However, due to the small size and cost of these nodes, they have been equipped with small batteries with limited energy source. This has been a major constraint to WSNs, since in most cases sensor nodes are deployed in large number where it may be difficult or impossible to replace the batteries of each node when they run out of supplying power. In this study, a novel Routing Algorithm for Energy Optimization in WSNs (RAEO) has been proposed to reduce communication distance among the nodes by transmitting sensed data through the shortest path from source node to the base station along the neighbouring nodes. The simulation results show that our approach reduces energy consumption during data transmission and increases networks lifetime compared with MECN and SPIN protocols. Finally, the proposed algorithm reduces protocol propagation delay and packets loss during data transmission
Evaluation of Iron, Zinc, Sodium and Phytate Contents of Commonly Consumed Indigenous Foods in Southwest Nigeria
No full textThe iron, zinc, sodium and phytate contents of commonly consumed indigenous foods in southwest Nigeria were evaluated. Twelve dishes/foods were selected from the six states that constitute the southwest portion of Nigeria. These foods were obtained through a structured questionnaire that assessed the food ingredients availability, accessibility and affordability. The dishes were prepared in accordance with the recorded food standards of Oguntona and Akinyele, 1995. The food samples were prepared, homogenised, oven dried and grinded for analysis following standards from the Association of Official Analytical Chemist (AOAC).
The moisture and mineral contents were determined in compliance with AOAC standard procedures. The
phytate content was, however, analysed using Wheeler and Ferrel’s procedure. The results indicated that yam potage (1.9 ± 0.11), ebiripo (1.25 ± 1.00), and eba (1.23 ± 0.01), have high iron values, while fufu appeared relatively low in iron content (0.39+0.02 mg/percent). The zinc levels were significant in pounded yam, ebiripo and pound cocoyam, which measured (3.65 ± 0.03), (2.34 ± 1.01) and (2.30 ± 1.00), respectively. The phytate contents ranged from 0.26-4.61 mg/percent; however, some food roots, pulses and grains were relatively higher in phytate than most vegetables soups and staple foods. Sodium levels were relatively high in roots, such as laafun, eba fufu and ikokore (3.50-5.23 mg/percent)
The impact of work-life balance on the commitment and motivation of Nigerian women employees
Get PDFThis study borders on motivating female employees in Nigerian organisations in order to widen
possibilities for business growth, high performance and organisational commitment. It is also
about the impacts of work-life balance (WLB) on the commitment and motivation of women
employees in Nigeria. Thus, the main thrust of this paper is to articulate how WLB affects these
variables: women’s commitment and motivation in bringing about better organisational
performance particularly at the turn of the millennium when organisations are in a constant
flux of competition and change precipitated largely by the pressures of ascendancy of women’s
involvement in work-related activities, the descent of patriarchy and above all postmodernist
pressure. The realities of African (Nigerian) patriarchal society have brought about serious
challenges for women employees both at home and in organisations causing them to be
pressured, which is largely responsible for the nature of motivation and commitment they bring
to work. To this end, this paper will be exploring how to enhance (Nigerian) women employees’
motivation to bring about commitment for better organisational performance, given their
perceived interests to get paid employment as precipitated by pressures of work-life imbalance
as well as postmodernist burden to be part of providing for their families
35 Transient Multiexponential Data Selection Using Cramer Rao Lower Bound
Get PDFPreviously, analysis of transient multiexponential data using a combination of Gardner
transform and parametric methods was shown to yield good results. However, one
problem that remains unsolved is that of the nonstationarity of the data resulting from the
associated deconvolution. Hitherto, trial and error methods have been used to select the
qualitative length of the deconvolved data. In this paper, Cramer Rao Lower Bound
(CRLB) is used to select the data truncation points for use with the MUSIC (Multiple Signal
Classification), minimum norm and ARMA (autoregressive moving average) methods.
Several simulations are made based on which truncation points are recommended for
each of the three parametric methods
The performance evaluation of a cassava pelletizer
Get PDFThis paper reports on the development and performance evaluation of a machine for cottage level
production of pellets from cassava mash. Cassava flour was produced by peeling, grating and
drying freshly harvested cassava tubers. Experiments were conducted to determine the physical
properties, such as moisture content, particle size distribution and bulk density and the chemical
composition of the flour. The flour was mixed with water at different blend ratios to form
cassava mash of different moisture contents. A cassava pelletizer was then developed
incorporating relevant properties of the flour. The pelletizer consists of a barreled screw auger,
which compresses cassava mash against a perforated end plate, through which the pellets are
extruded. The barrel is encased in a co-axial counter flow heat exchanger to provide cooling for
the system. The performance of the pelletizer was evaluated in terms of the density, durability,
crushing strength and cyanide content of the pellets, and the throughput of the machine, against
the moisture content of the mash (18, 20 and 22 % w.b.), die size (4, 6 and 8 mm) and the auger
speed (90, 100 and 120 rpm). Test results showed that the bulk density and the durability of
pellets decreased while the moisture content increased significantly (p<0.05) and separately with
increasing die size and moisture content of cassava mash. The pellets with the best quality
attributes were obtained from cassava mash at 18% moisture content (w.b.) extruded through the
4 mm die at 90 rpm and a maximum throughput of 54 kg/hr. The pellets exhibited a bulk density
of 635 kg/m3
, 15% moisture content (w.b.) crushing strength of 34.24 MPa and a high durability
(85.7%). The machine, thus, provides a significant leverage in the utilization of cassava as
pelletized animal feed