Trendovi, ograničenja i konkurentnost izvoznika krumpira u Nigeriji

This article analyzed the trends, constraints and competitiveness of potato exports in Nigeria from 1961- 2016. This article employed trend analysis, Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) and Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA). The results revealed that the trend in export is positive. The constraints to the exports of potato are mainly administrative and institutional, which include the documentation process; time required to export and costs of exports. Nigerian potato exports were more competitive from 2010 – 2016. There should be a more judicious effort in implementing the executive orders for the ease of doing business in Nigeria.Ovaj je članak anlizirao trendove, ograničenja i konkurentnost izvoznika krumpira u Nigeriji od 1961 do 2016. U članku se koristila analiza trendova, generalizirana metoda momenata (GMM) i pokazatelj komparativnih prednosti (RCA). Rezulatati su pokazali da je trend u izvozu pozitivan. Ograničenja izvoza krumpira uglavnom su administrativna i institucionalna, što uključuje proces izrade dokumentacije, vrijeme potrebno za izvoz i trošove izvoza. Nigerijski izvoznici krumpira bili su više konkurentni od 2010. do 2016. Trebalo bi uložiti više napora od strane sudova za provedbu izvršnih naloga za olakšavanje poslovanja u Nigeriji

Mobile money innovations, income inequality and gender inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa

This study assesses the role of mobile money innovations on income inequality and gender inclusion in 42 sub-Saharan African countries from 1980 to 2019 using interactive quantile regressions. It finds that, first, income inequality unconditionally reduces the involvement of women in business and politics. Second, mobile money innovations interact with income inequality to have a positive impact on women in business and politics. Third, the net effects of mobile money innovations on gender inclusion through income inequality are consistently negative. Fourth, as the positive conditional or interactive effects and negative net effects are consistent across the conditional distribution of gender inclusion, thresholds at which mobile money innovations can completely dampen the negative effect of income inequality on gender inclusion are provided. Therefore, policymakers should work toward improving conditions for mobile money innovations. They should also be aware that reducing both income inequality and enhancing mobile money innovations simultaneously leads to more inclusive outcomes in terms of gender inclusion

Corrosion Inhibition of Mild Steel and Aluminium in 1 M Hydrochloric Acid by Leaves Extracts of Ficus sycomorus

Inhibitory effects of Ficus sycomorus leaves extracts on the corrosion of mild steel and aluminium in 1 M hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution was studied at temperature of 30°C using gravimetric technique. Corrosion rates of mild steel and aluminium in the aggressive medium were found to increase as temperature increased, but decreased upon the addition of leaves extract of Ficus sycomorus compared to the blank. At 30°C, the inhibition efficiency increased with increase in inhibitor concentration reaching 87.84% for mild steel and 98.92% for Aluminium in the presence of 5 g/L of Ficus sycomorus leaves extracts. The results obtained show that aluminium had correlation coefficients (R2) of 0.999 and 0.876 for Langmuir and Temkin isotherms respectively while Mild steel had correlation coefficients of 0.989 and 0.751 for Langmuir and Temkin isotherms respectively. However, the inhibitor adsorption was found to fit Langmuir adsorption isotherm better than Temkin isotherm. The free energy of adsorption (∆G°ads) has negative values and this indicates that the adsorption of Ficus sycomorus on the metal surface follows a spontaneous process

IMECE2008-67935 DYE DOPED CLAD MODIFIED EVANESCENT OPTICAL FIBER (CMEOF) SENSOR ARRAY FOR THE DETECTION OF AQUEOUS-AMMONIA

ABSTRACT We are currently developing pH sensitive dye doped clad modified evanescent optical fiber (CMEOF) sensor array for the detection of aqueous-ammonia. The quasi-distribution of CMEOF ammonia sensors allows efficient measurement of aqueous-ammonia at several locations using a single fiber optic line. CMEOF sensors are fabricated by immobilized pH sensitive dyes in sol-gel and applying the dye doped sol-gel as a thin film around a bare core optical fiber. The CMEOF sensors are then sealed from water using a gas permeable membrane, PDMS-vinyl. The dyes in each CMEOF sensor are tailored to operate at slightly different wavelengths by appropriate choice of dyes. Wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) and linear system of equations (LSE) are used to interrogate each CMEOF sensor and determine the concentration of aqueous-ammonia at each sensor location

IMECE 2009-12513 INVESTIGATION OF INDOOR ENVIRONMENT FOR A DATA CENTER

ABSTRACT Special indoor air environment requirements are needed for the data center, such as ambient temperature, airflow pattern, relative humidity and ozone concentration to maintain the reliability of a computer system. In this paper, a numerical simulation based on 3-D Finite Volume Method has been conducted for a data center at Purdue University Calumet. The purpose of the simulation is to find out the most effective and low-cost air condition system. Results for temperature, relative humidity distributions as well as velocity patterns are presented. Mesh independent studies are performed. Numerical results are validated by experimental data. Suggestions are given based on the simulation results for improving the indoor environment of the data center

Thermal transport phenomena in buoyancy-driven nanofluids,"

Abstract This paper presents an experimental investigation of the thermal transport phenomena in buoyancy-driven nanofluids. The experimental model for this study is a rectangular enclosure with differentially heated vertical walls and adiabatic horizontal walls. The nanofluids were confined within the enclosure. Simulations were performed to measure the transient and steady-state temperature response of the nanofluids to applied load. Experimental observation shows settling of the nanoparticle at low heat loads and a remixing of the nanofluid at higher loads. At high loads, the buoyancy force increased hence increasing the re-circulatory motion of the nanofluid. This may be one method of addressing the settling of nanoparticles in nanofluid. For natural convection in an enclosure, this paper shows that the thermal behavior of nanofluids is identical to pure fluids. Temperature data collected during the experiment were used to study the variation of Nusselt number with Rayleigh number

Genetic gains in grain yield of a maize population improved through marker assisted recurrent selection under stress and non-stress conditions in west Africa

Open Access JournakMarker-assisted recurrent selection (MARS) is a breeding method used to accumulate favorable alleles that for example confer tolerance to drought in inbred lines from several genomic regions within a single population. A bi-parental cross formed from two parents that combine resistance to Striga hermonthica with drought tolerance, which was improved through MARS, was used to assess changes in the frequency of favorable alleles and its impact on inbred line improvement. A total of 200 testcrosses of randomly selected S1 lines derived from the original (C0) and advanced selection cycles of this bi-parental population, were evaluated under drought stress (DS) and well-watered (WW) conditions at Ikenne and under artificial Striga infestation at Abuja and Mokwa in Nigeria in 2014 and 2015. Also, 60 randomly selected S1 lines each derived from the four cycles (C0, C1, C2, C3) were genotyped with 233 SNP markers using KASP assay. The results showed that the frequency of favorable alleles increased with MARS in the bi-parental population with none of the markers showing fixation. The gain in grain yield was not significant under DS condition due to the combined effect of DS and armyworm infestation in 2015. Because the parents used for developing the bi-parental cross combined tolerance to drought with resistance to Striga, improvement in grain yield under DS did not result in undesirable changes in resistance to the parasite in the bi-parental maize population improved through MARS. MARS increased the mean number of combinations of favorable alleles in S1 lines from 114 in C0 to 124 in C3. The level of heterozygosity decreased by 15%, while homozygosity increased by 13% due to the loss of some genotypes in the population. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of MARS in increasing the frequency of favorable alleles for tolerance to drought without disrupting the level of resistance to Striga in a bi-parental population targeted as a source of improved maize inbred lines

Appraisal of Heavy Metal Contents in Commercial Inorganic Fertilizers Blended and Marketed in Nigeria

Abstract Human food chain toxicity has been shown to be influenced by application of inorganic fertilizers. Three samples of commercial inorganic fertilizers marketed in Nigeria were analysed for their heavy metal contents. The fertilizer samples used were N 15 P 15 K 15 (CF1), N 20 P 10 K 10 (CF2) and N 27 P 13 K 13 (CF3). Molybdenum (Mo) levels were the highest and Vanadium (V), Arsenic (As), Mercury (Hg) and Silver (Ag) were not detected by our analytical method. The concentrations of Mo in the CF1 (2, 570.0 mg/kg), CF2 (2,3000.0 mg/kg) and CF3 (1,340.0 mg/kg), were above the maximum acceptable concentration (20mg/kg) while CF1 (0.129 mg/ha/yr) and CF2 (0.115 mg/ha/yr) were above the maximum annual metal addition to soil (0.079 mg/ha/yr), as established by Canadian standard for fertilizers. Only CF1 (5.805 kg/ha) was above long-term cumulative assessment of metal addition to soil (3.57 kg/ha). Other heavy metals detected were Magnesium(Mg), Iron(Fe), Nickel(Ni), Zinc(Zn), Cadmium(Cd), Manganese(Mn), Cupper(Cu), Cobalt(Co), Lead(Pb), Chromium(Cr) and Boron(B). Cd and Pb mean concentrations of the fertilizer samples examined ranged from 2.84 to 11.32 mg/kg and 7.43 to 9.02 mg/kg respectively. Cd followed significantly (p<0.05) with phosphate percentage by weight of the inorganic fertilizers. Though the concentrations of these non-nutrient/toxic metals were below the recommended levels, it is important to encourage manufacturers to indicate their concentrations on the fertilizer labels in view of their health implications

Evaluation of Second National Fadama Development Project in Nigeria: A Rapid Policy Appraisal

The Second National Fadama Development Project was borne out of the need to ensure all year round agricultural production using available Fadama resources in Nigeria and also a follow – up to Fadama 1 that was adjudged successful. Its approach was Community Driven Development (CDD) with emphasis on social inclusiveness and empowerment of the rural people to take charge of their development agenda. The Project focused on increasing sustainably the incomes of Fadama Users via empowerment in terms of capacity building, advisory services, acquisition of productive assets and rural infrastructure development. As at mid – term, beneficiaries have increased their income by about 25%. So far, an estimated 2.3 million Fadama households have benefited from the expansion in incomes and wealth (asset) derived from the previously unavailable services provided by the project. The project had created about 126, 000 permanent jobs and an additional savings of more than $40.8 million have been realized by the majority of the participating states

Evaluation of Second National Fadama Development Project in Nigeria: A Rapid Policy Appraisal

The Second National Fadama Development Project was borne out of the need to ensure all year round agricultural production using available Fadama resources in Nigeria and also a follow – up to Fadama 1 that was adjudged successful. Its approach was Community Driven Development (CDD) with emphasis on social inclusiveness and empowerment of the rural people to take charge of their development agenda. The Project focused on increasing sustainably the incomes of Fadama Users via empowerment in terms of capacity building, advisory services, acquisition of productive assets and rural infrastructure development. As at mid – term, beneficiaries have increased their income by about 25%. So far, an estimated 2.3 million Fadama households have benefited from the expansion in incomes and wealth (asset) derived from the previously unavailable services provided by the project. The project had created about 126, 000 permanent jobs and an additional savings of more than $40.8 million have been realized by the majority of the participating states