37 research outputs found
The Impact of Islamic Finance on Road Transport Infrastructure in the North-EastZone,Nigeria
No full textSunusi Abdulkarim, Muhammad Zaly Shah,Nafiu Abubakar Babaji, Musa Shitu Maisalati, Shuaibu Muhammad, Dahiru Abdulmumin, Usman Abdullahi, Aminu Muktar Isa, Musa Bala Riba
Passengers’ Safety Perception on Public Transport UsageDuring Post-COVID-19 inFederal Capital Territory Abuja, Nigeria
No full textSunusi Abdulkarim,Zuhra Junaida Husny,Nafiu Abubakar Babaji, Aminu Muktar Isa, Mubarak Kabiru Musa, Sani Babayaro, Lawrence Solomo
MEDIATING ROLE OF TRUST IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BRAND EXPERIENCE, BRAND IMAGE, PERCEIVED VALUE AND CUSTOMER LOYALTY AMONG AIR PASSENGERS IN NIGERIA
No full textSimply assessing service evaluation characteristics is insufficient to create consumer loyalty. Thus, the quality of the customer-brand relationship is critical. As a result, the role of trust may be the defining factor in determining customer loyalty, particularly in light of the unprecedented changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic disruption in the Nigerian aviation industry. However, studies on how trust might be combined with other loyalty factors (brand experience, brand image, and perceived value) to influence customer loyalty among air passengers are still lacking. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the role of trust as a mediating mechanism in the relationship between brand experience, brand image, perceived value and customer loyalty among air passengers in Nigeria. The study gathered 416 usable data to determine 6 direct and indirect hypotheses developed to address the research problem. Purposive sampling was used for sample selection and PLS-SEM path modelling was employed to analyse the data. The results positively and significantly validated all 3 of the direct hypotheses giving empirical evidence of a significant relationship between customer loyalty and brand experience, brand image as well as perceived value. On the other hand, for the mediation relationships, trust was found to mediate the relationships between brand experience, brand image, perceived value and customer loyalty. Finally, the study recommended that airline operators should continue in their efforts at maintaining and encouraging good customer-brand relationship, particularly in terms of keeping its promise, so as to ensure customers’ trust in their business
Dispute resolution methods adopted by contractors during COVID-19 in Eastern Cape South Africa: A Case Study
No full textOver the past months, the socioeconomic consequences of the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic reverberated through and affected all segments of life. The construction industry is not left out. The severe impacts of COVID-19 have not only witnessed tragic human losses but have also caused colossal devastating implications for construction procurement and general contract condition. The study examined the dispute resolution methods adopted by contractors in Eastern Cape, South Africa, during the COVID-19 experience to determine their appropriateness and effectiveness. The study employed a snowballing, purposive, non-probability sampling technique with a mixed research design driven by respondents' participatory action. Twelve senior personnel were interviewed, while questionnaires were administered to 30 referred employees on the sites. XLSTAT statistical software and thematic analysis were used for the aggregated questionnaire and qualitative respondents' interviews in drawing inferences. The results revealed that an interest-based rather than a right-based approach are two sides of a coin that can make or mar the wheel of progress in arriving at an amicable agreement to contract terms in construction. The need for re-negotiation in billing, which is at variance with the various construction claim, cannot be over-emphasised. At the same time, the intuitive assertions of negotiation, mediation, and conciliation were used in resolving unforeseen delays, claims, and added costs due to disruptions of COVID-19. The study's main contribution lies in mastering and deploying appropriate dispute resolution methods in project execution. The study is of utmost importance in planning, restoring, and deriving optimal societal benefits from conflict management amidst the adverse effect of Covid -19 on any construction project.
Keywords: Conciliation, Construction dispute, COVID-19; Mediation, Negotiatio
Heavy Metals Source Apportionment and Human Health Risk Assessment of Contaminated Soils of Zamfara State, Nigeria
No full textProgressive illegal artisanal mining activities threaten public health without functional law enforcement on pollution control and proper management practices. This is not an exception of Zamfara State, Nigeria, where a large portion of the populace participates in artisanal mining. The study was conducted to assess the level of health risk associated with heavy metals contaminated soils of Zamfara state, Nigeria. Soil samples were collected from five mining locations (Abare, Bagega, Dareta, Sunke, and Tungar Kudaku) and Anka-town (control site) with no record of mining activities. In each place, bulked soil samples were collected from three sites (mining site, processing site, and village), and the concentration of six heavy metals (Fe, Pb, Cd, Cr, Zn, and Ni) in all the samples were analyzed. The result of the principal component analysis and correlation analysis revealed that Pb, Zn, Cr, and Ni originated from the same source, i.e., anthropogenic/mining activities. While Fe and Cd originated from the geogenic processes because of their high abundance in the soil of the study area, as Anka-town (control site) also recorded high concentrations of Fe and Cd. Health risk assessments were carried out in two groups of population (adult and children) through three exposure pathways (i.e., ingestion, dermal contact, and inhalation). The results showed that ingestion dominated dermal contact and inhalation pathways, and Fe is the riskiest metal while Cd and Ni have the lowest risk of exposure for daily intakes. The non-cancer hazard quotient (HQ) values were all recorded below 1. For the total hazard index (THI), all the adult's exposure pathways were negligible, while for children, only Bagega has ingestion of heavy metals exceeding one (1.10), indicating that non-cancer health risks for children exist. The other four mining locations, Abare, Sunke, Tunga, and Dareta, have values approaching one (i.e., 0.71, 0.60, 0.50, and 0.74, respectively). While for Anka town, which is the control site, it has a value far less than one (0.16). These indicate that all the study locations have the potential for children's health risk through ingesting food produced from contaminated soils. Therefore, there is an urgent need to apply remediation measures immediately to combat complications raised due to heavy metal contaminations
Deracemization and Stereoinversion of Alcohols Using Two Mutants of Secondary Alcohol Dehydrogenase from Thermoanaerobacter pseudoethanolicus
No full textWe developed a one-pot two-step deracemization approach for alcohols using two mutants of Thermoanaerobacter pseudoethanolicus secondary alcohol dehydrogenase ( Te SADH). This approach relies on consecutive non-stereospecific oxidation of alcohols and stereoselective reduction of their prochiral ketones using two mutants of Te SADH with poor and good stereoselectivities, respectively. More specifically, W110G Te SADH enables a non-stereospecific oxidation of alcohol racemates to their corresponding prochiral ketones, followed by W110V Te SADH-catalyzed stereoselective reduction of the resultant ketone intermediates to enantiopure ( S )-configured alcohols in up to >99% enantiomeric excess. A heat treatment after the oxidation step was required to avoid the interference of the marginally stereoselective W110G Te SADH in the reduction step; this heat treatment was eliminated by using sol-gel encapsulated W110G Te SADH in the oxidation step. Moreover, this bi-enzymatic approach was implemented in the stereoinversion of ( R )-configured alcohols, and ( S )-configured alcohols with up to >99% enantiomeric excess were obtained by this Mitsunobu-like stereoinversion reaction.The authors acknowledge the support provided by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR) at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) for funding this work through project number DF191007. The authors also thank Prof. Claire Vieille, from the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics as well as Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Michigan State University, for providing the plasmids of TeSADH
A CRITIQUE OF TAKFῙR TENDENCY IN BARBAHĀRI’S SHARḤ AS-SUNNAH
No full textTakfῑr (excommunicating Muslims from Islam) has recently attracted renewed attention among Muslim scholars due to its devastating effects on Muslims. Modern Salafism is mostly accused of the trend. Hence, the present research traces the genesis of Takfῑr tendency to one of the most acceptable classical works among the modern Salafis, Sharḥ as-Sunnah of Imam Barbahāri (d. 329 A.H.). The paper is library-based and adopts the analytic method of research. The study reveals that Barbahāri is guilty of loose declaration of worthless matters as an act of apostasy. Some of the matters in which he displayed the Takfῑr tendency are differing from the Companions in any religious matter, the beatific vision of Allah in this world, the consecration of his work, treating Muslims as non-believers, and sweeping declaration of his contemporaries as an apostate. It also found the Takfῑr -laden approach of the author in his work was triggered by the nature of the heretic Jahmiyyah sect he targets. It will be out of context to apply his texts to the generality of non-Hanbali Muslims who don’t share the grave and dangerous creeds of the Jahmiyyah. This is the point where many modern Salafis who hold the work in high esteem become guilty. They adopt the letters of Barbahāri ’s texts as a general guideline for relating with their opponents, even if their religious differences are not up to the standard of the heretic Jahmiyya
A CRITIQUE OF TAKFῙR TENDENCY IN BARBAHĀRI’S SHARḤ AS-SUNNAH
No full textTakfῑr (excommunicating Muslims from Islam) has recently attracted renewed attention among Muslim scholars due to its devastating effects on Muslims. Modern Salafism is mostly accused of the trend. Hence, the present research traces the genesis of Takfῑr tendency to one of the most acceptable classical works among the modern Salafis, Sharḥ as-Sunnah of Imam Barbahāri (d. 329 A.H.). The paper is library-based and adopts the analytic method of research. The study reveals that Barbahāri is guilty of loose declaration of worthless matters as an act of apostasy. Some of the matters in which he displayed the Takfῑr tendency are differing from the Companions in any religious matter, the beatific vision of Allah in this world, the consecration of his work, treating Muslims as non-believers, and sweeping declaration of his contemporaries as an apostate. It also found the Takfῑr -laden approach of the author in his work was triggered by the nature of the heretic Jahmiyyah sect he targets. It will be out of context to apply his texts to the generality of non-Hanbali Muslims who don’t share the grave and dangerous creeds of the Jahmiyyah. This is the point where many modern Salafis who hold the work in high esteem become guilty. They adopt the letters of Barbahāri ’s texts as a general guideline for relating with their opponents, even if their religious differences are not up to the standard of the heretic Jahmiyya
Revolutionizing nitrogen fixation: communicating the potentials of nanostructured photocatalysts for sustainable ammonia/nitrate synthesis
No full textPhotocatalytic nitrogen fixation (PNF) using nanostructured materials is a promising approach that is likely to rival the most expensive and high-energy-demanding Harber-Bosch method of ammonia synthesis. This is because the process is deemed the most sustainable method of nitrogen fixation, through the direct production of ammonia and/or nitrate from water and atmospheric nitrogen with the aid of sunlight; and the system has zero emission of carbon dioxide. The PNF process is receiving much attention making it among the hot research topics in recent years. There is, however, a knowledge gap between the photocatalytic processes and the nanostructured photocatalyst. In this review, therefore, recent breakthroughs and achievements in the photocatalytic reaction processes were discussed. In addition, the nanostructured photocatalysts used in nitrogen fixation were discussed in detail. This includes the importance of the nanomaterials in photocatalysis, the types used in photocatalytic nitrogen fixation, and the synthesis methods of the nanomaterials. Also, limitations that affect the photocatalytic reaction processes as well as the ways of overcoming them such as the creation of oxygen, sulphur, and nitrogen vacancies, doping techniques, formation of heterojunctions, and the use of cocatalysts were all discussed in detail. From the aforementioned discussions, PNF could be seen as the most eco-friendly and sustainable method of nitrogen fixation. However, understanding the mechanisms of PNF is very critical to identifying and designing an efficient photocatalytic system
Association of Leukocyte with Maximal Oxygen Uptake in Trained and Untrained Healthy Adult Males
No full text
