96 research outputs found
Retraction notice to “MPPT efficiency enhancement of a grid connected solar PV system using Finite Control set model predictive controller” [Heliyon 10 (2024) e27663]
No full textThis article has been retracted: please see Elsevier policy on article withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies-and-standards/article-withdrawal).This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-In-Chief.An investigation conducted on behalf of the journal by Elsevier's Research Integrity & Publishing Ethics team found a significant increase of citations to papers published by the author, Ayodeji Olalekan Salau, between the original submission and the revised version of this article. In summary, zero papers by the author were cited in the original version of the article. This increased to ten papers in the revised version of the article. The investigation also found phrases that make some passages in the article difficult to parse. The authors were requested to explain the use of these passages of text but were unable to do so. The Editor has lost confidence in the findings of the article and has determined that it should be retracted.The authors disagree with the retraction and dispute the grounds for it
THE INTERFACE BETWEEN GOVERNMENT POLICIES, HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY REDUCTION IN NIGERIA
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The Effects of Human Resources Development on Financial Performance of Organisations
Get PDFContemporary organisation invests huge resources on a regular basis on Human Resources Development (HRD) initiatives because of the age long belief that this will enhance efficiency and effectiveness. But sadly, these expectations often go unfulfilled. This study empirically tests the effect of HRD on financial performance with employee competence and organisational commitment acting as mediating mechanisms. A total of 84 copies of a questionnaire that was distributed to and received from bank workers of two of Nigeria’s leading banks: First Bank of Nigeria Plc and Zenith Bank Plc to elicit relevant data on employee participation in and perceived benefits of HRD, commitment & competence and financial performance were analysed using Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha and multiple regression analysis. Results show a significant relationship between employee participation in HRD including perceived benefits of HRD and organisational commitment and employee competence. The study also shows a significant relationship between competence & commitment and financial performance. Thus organisation should focus attention on delivering consistent HRD initiatives relevant to the need of employees and focused on addressing identified Skills, Knowledge and Abilities (KSA) gaps for a continuous financial performance improvement.
JEL Classification Code: M12
Effect of the school principal in creating an inclusive school culture during times of change and challenge, The
Get PDFThis qualitative case study examined the leadership styles that five selected school principals in southwestern Manitoba, Canada, utilize to encourage and sustain an inclusive school culture. These principals found ways to successfully embrace difficult issues and challenging people while sustaining a positive culture and building a school community that supported diversity and embraced change. The framework that undergirded this study—the critical, inclusive praxis—reinforced that the school principal was charged with the responsibility of transforming the school through reflective, critical, and dialogical action. The author engaged in an interaction (i.e., interview) with these principals to learn about their lived experiences, particularly their patterns of behaviour related to their leadership approaches within a critical inclusive praxis. The study’s conclusions confirmed that through collaboration and dialogue, by building positive relationships in safe and caring environments where there is concern for others and a supportive approach, all the while still adopting a growth mindset, these school principals built positive cultures where stakeholders felt valued, safe, respected, and included. This research deepens our collective understanding of how principals negotiate the political dynamics within their schools and vary leadership styles to encourage and sustain an inclusive school culture.Includes bibliographical references (pages 183-194).
"Master's thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education.
Effect of impression material, tray space and attachment on cast accuracy
No full textAt King Saud University's College of Dentistry, final impressions for removable partial dentures are made using polysulfide rubber, fast-set and regular set irreversible hydrocolloid impression materials. Custom trays used are either single-spaced or double spaced. Further, impression material attachment to the tray could be through tray perforations or the use of adhesives. Literature to support each one of these methods separately to obtain an "accurate impression" is available. There is, however, a dearth on literature reporting on the influence of these combined variables. The purpose of this investigation was to simultaneously study the influence of impression material type, tray space and method of tray attachment on the accuracy of the resulting cast dimensions. A factorial experimental design was used. One master model representing a Kennedy Class 111 Modification 2 partial edentulous arch was used. Three reference points A, B, and C were placed on the master cast and reproduced on all experimental casts. Ten combined variables of tray space (2), impression material (3), and method of tray attachment (2) were usedCorresponding Author:
Dr. Ayodeji Idowu, College of
Dentistry, King Saud University, PO Box 60169, Riyadh, 11545, K.S.A
Optimization of Process Variables in the production of Biodiesel from Jatropha-Neem Hybrid Feed stock Mixture
Get PDFIn the search for suitable clean and renewable fuels to replace conventional diesel, alternatives such as biodiesels are being researched upon daily. Challenges of low biodiesel yield per hectare of vegetable oils have prompted the need for optimization. This research is aimed at optimizing process variables in the production of biodiesel from the mixture of Jatropha and Neem seed oils. A 31-run Central Composite Design was employed in a response surface optimization process; four independent process variables, namely temperature, time, catalyst concentration and mixing speed were optimized in an alkali based transesterification process of biodiesel synthesis. The result was a 97.05% biodiesel yield from Jatropha –Neem hybrid mixture
Sexual functions of female patients with chronic liver disease from two centers in Nigeria
No full textBackground: Chronic liver disease (CLD) is a disease with significant morbidity and mortality in Nigeria. This study assessed the sexual functions of women with chronic hepatitis B infection (CHB), liver cirrhosis (LC), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) designated as cases and normal women as controls. Methods: A prospective, comparative, case–control study of CHB, LC, HCC, and controls. Consenting cases and controls completed a self-administered Female Sexual Function Questionnaire (FSFI). Bio-data was obtained for all participants and cases were graded using the Child–Turcotte–Pugh scores (CTP). Data obtained were entered into SPSS version 20 and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: A total of 176 women completed the study, comprising 88 cases and 88 controls. Mean age (standard deviation) was 39.5 + 8.5 years and 40.5 + 8.2 years for cases and controls, respectively. Cases comprised CHB – 46, LC – 25, and HCC – 17, and their CTP classes were CTP A, 54; CTP B, 22; and CTP C, 12. The FSFI scores for CHB compared with controls were not statistically significant in all domains of the FSFI. The FSFI scores for LC and HCC in all domains were statistically significant compared with controls. Total mean FSFI scores for cases in CTP Class C showed sexual dysfunction, where 13.6% of CLD and 6.8% of all participants had sexual dysfunction and none among the controls. Conclusions: Females with advanced CLD had sexual dysfunction. Sexual concerns of females with CLD should be inquired for and treated
Uterovesical migration of copper-containing intrauterine device complicated by bladder stone formation
No full textCopper-containing intrauterine device (IUD) is a common method of contraception with a low failure rate and high acceptability. However, complications could follow its use including expulsion and migration of the device out of the uterus. When migration occurs, the device could pierce other structures in the pelvis such as the rectum, sigmoid colon, small bowel, or urinary bladder. The pattern of the patient's complaints will guide the clinician on the possible organ involved and the manner of care. This case report presents a 44-year-old woman with IUD migration into the urinary bladder with resulting stone formation. She presented with pelvic pain and hematuria. Following ancillary investigations, she had laparotomy and removal of the IUD along with bladder stones. She had a satisfactory recovery after the surgery and had a complete resolution of all her preoperative symptoms
A Feminist Evaluation of Lola Shoneyin’s The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives
Get PDFFeminism came into use in English Language as a concept for evaluating the politics of equal rights for women in 1890’s. Ogundipe-Leslie (222) notes that the word feminism is derived from the Latin word ‘femina’, which means all things that are related to ‘woman’. Before 1890’s however; there had been occasions of feminist protests in some places in Europe, for example, the 18th century document by Mary Astell ‘Some Reflections upon Marriage’ (1700) and Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) are written documents of feminist protests. What can actually be regarded as feminist literary criticism, however, started in the West in late nineteenth century with the works of writers and critics such as Virginia Woolf who wrote A Room of One’s Own (1929), Simon de Beauvoir, Second Sex (1974), Elaine Showalter, A Literature of Their Own. British Women Novelists from Bronte to Lessing (1977), Eva Figes, Patriarchal Attitudes (1970), Kate Millett, Sexual Politics (1969), Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (1963), Germaine Greer, The Female Eunuch (1970).
It took a long time for feminist criticism to take root in Africa. It actually started emerging in the 1980s and flourished in the 1990s. A few feminist critics from the West had written about the works of Flora Nwapa and Buchi Emecheta, who are among the first generation of female writers. Such Western feminist critics include: Sabine Jell Bahlsen, The Concept of mammy water in Flora Nwapa’s Novels (1995), Brenda F. Berrian, The Reinvention of Woman through Conversation and Humour in Flora Nwapa’s One is Enough (1990), Katherine Frank, Women without Men (1987), Kenneth Little, The Sociology of Urban Woman’s Image in African Literature (1980). It was however, not until African women critics, most of whom were Nigerians, came into the field of criticism that the women writers received the attention they deserved. Among the prominent feminist critics that changed the face of Nigerian literary criticism in the 20th century by analysing the works of women writers were Chikwenye Okonjo-Ogunyemi author of African Wo/man Palava, (1995), Helen Chukwuma, editor of Feminism in African Literature, (1994), Molara Ogundipe, author of Recreating ourselves, African Women and Critical Transformations, (1994), Catherine Acholonu, author of Motherism: The Afrocentric Alternative to Feminism, (1995), Akachi Ezeigbo, author of Gender Issues in Nigeria: a Feminist Perspective (1996), Mary E. Modupe Kolawole, author of Womanism and African Consciousness (1997), Mabel Evwierhoma, author of Female Empowerment and Dramatic Creativity in Nigeria (2000), Obioma Nnaemeka, author of “Nego-Feminism: Theorizing, Practicing and Pruning Africa’s Way” (2004). The challenge of putting women writers on the platform of criticism was taken up by these critics. Some of the women writers whose works have been critiqued by feminist scholars include Flora Nwapa (Efuru, 1966), Buchi Emecheta (The Joys of Motherhood, 1979), Tess Onwueme (The Reign of Wazobia,1988), Zaynab Alkali (The Stillborn, 1984), Ifeoma Okoye (Behind the Cloud, 1982).
This study examines Lola Shoneyin’s debut novel, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives, using Akachi Ezeigbo’s snail-sense feminism, a recent model of indigenous feminist theory as a viable model for solving women’s problems orchestrated by patriarchy. Snail-sense feminism complements other contemporary African feminist variants that deemphasise the controversies that have deterred the progress of improvement in the integrity of the woman. According to Maduka (109), each feminist writer has used literary work to expose, and analyse the significance of the ‘quest for female identity in Nigeria/Africa’
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