Reversible reaction of 5,5′-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoate) with the CysF9[93]β sulfhydryl groups of the hemoglobins of the domestic cat: Variation of the equilibrium and reverse rate constants with pH

We have determined for the first time the equilibrium constant, Keq, for the reaction of Ellman's reagent, 5,5′-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoate), with the CysF9[93]β sulfhydryl groups of the hemoglobins of the domestic cat. In the pH range 5.6 to 9.0 Kequ varies over four orders of magnitude — between ca 10 and 10−3 — for all hemoglobin derivatives. Using these Kequ values and published data on the dependence of the apparent second order forward rate constant, kf, on pH we have calculated the apparent second order reverse rate constant, kr, as a function of pH. This parameter increases strongly with pH, particularly above pH 7.5. Quantitative analyses of the pH dependence profiles of log10kr indicate that the reverse reaction is coupled to the ionization of two groups on the protein with pKas of 7.2±0.2 and 9.4±0.1 in the major hemoglobin and 6.7±0.3 and 8.4±0.1 in the minor hemoglobin. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Economics of bio-fortified cassava varieties (BCVs) adoption and its gender implication among farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria

Cassava bio-fortification is presented as a cost-effective approach, and it is predicted to provide some economic benefits to its adopter. On the other hand, gender-blind agricultural innovation delivery strategies impede short- and long-term impact among adopters. Due to a disregard for gender differences, many agricultural programs fall short of their objective. Recent studies in Nigeria are yet to adequately capture the gender differentials in the economic implication of BCVs adoption. This study, therefore, investigates the gender differentials in the economic implication of BCVs’ adoption among farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select a total of 180 respondents for the study. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and budgetary techniques. Descriptive statistics revealed a significant difference between the socio-economic characteristics of male and female cassava farmers. The results suggested that BCVs’ production is profitable and can serve as a panacea for the economic improvement of households. Study findings thus concluded that the adoption of BCVs is economically beneficial to cassava farmers and thus recommended that concerted efforts are made to ensure all farmers adopt BCVs for planting. The study proposes an integration of gender-responsive strategies to further enhance the delivery of BCVs in Nigeria

Perception and Attitudes of Christian Youths towards Condom Use (Implications for HIV/AIDs in Nigeria)

The study examined religiousity, perception and attitude towards condom use among Christian youths in Ile Ife, Nigeria with the aim of examining the implications on HIV/AIDs. A structured questionnaire based on Likert-type scales was employed to rate respondents’ attitudes. A total of 260 youths were interviewed, but 210 (80.8%) were found to be sexually active as at the time of the survey. Those who had sexual initiation before the age of 20 years were 42.9%, while less than 5% had ever gone for HIV test. Gender and level of religiousity were not significant predictors of age at first sex (p>0.05), but gender was a significant predictor of attitude towards sexual activeness(

Design of A Mobile Phone Data Backup System

This study examined how mobile phones work, the design of the graphical user interface, the design of the application and the design of the database used for the K-Backup system.  This application backs up mobile phone and Subscribers Identification Module (SIM) data (contacts and SMS) on the computer storage. It also allows for easy retrieval and restoration of the data to phone memory when the need arises. The objectives considered in the design included:  user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) for user interaction; modular subroutines, methods and functions that retrieves data from the phone and stores it on the computer memory; modular subroutines, methods and functions that retrieves data from the SIM and stores it on the computer memory; modular subroutines and functions that send data from the computer back to the phone; portable database for storing and retrieving the data. Keywords: Mobile Phone, Data Backup, System Design, GSM, Phone Data

The Impact of Information Technology (IT) on Human Resource Management (HRM): Empirical evidence from Nigeria Banking Sector. Case Study of Selected Banks from Lagos State and Oyo State in South-West Nigeria

Information technology (IT) has become an indispensable part of contemporary world while human resource management globally has equally being affected in a number of ways through its adoption and application. Despite the considerable growth in the use of information technology in human resource management (HRM), the level of impact is still under-researched. Using the descriptive statistics, this study seeks to harness the overall and generalized impact of IT on HRM in the Nigeria Banking Sector by exploring some aspects of HRM that have been affected by IT and the effect of such adoption on HRM activities through primary data collected with a structured questionnaire administered to selected Banks in South-West Nigeria.It was revealed that IT has significantly increase the efficiency of HR management activities and processes through an effective and efficient employee communication and engagement while the roles and skills of HR managers has expand considerable overtime due to their adoption and continuous upgrade of knowledge in the use of IT in the discharge of their primary functions. Hence, it is duty bound for Banks policy formulators to determine the right size of IT required to derived the best result in an organisation. Keywords: Technology, Information Technology (IT), Human Resource (HR), Human Resource Management (HRM), Nigeria Banking Secto

On the performance of energy harvesting AF partial relay selection with TAS and outdated channel state information over identical channels

Energy scarcity has been known to be one of the most noticeable challenges in wireless communication system. In this paper, the performance of an energy harvesting based partial relay selection (PRS) cooperative system with transmit antenna selection (TAS) and outdated channel state information (CSI) is investigated. The system dual-hops links are assumed to follow Rayleigh distribution and the relay selection is based on outdated CSI of the first link. To realize the benefit of multiple antenna, the amplified-and-forward (AF) relay nodes then employs the TAS technique for signal transmission and signal reception is achieved at the destination through maximum ratio combining (MRC) scheme. Thus, the closed-form expression for the system equivalent end-to-end cumulative distribution function (CDF) is derived. Based on this, the analytical closed-form expressions for the outage probability, average bit error rate, and throughput for the delay-limited transmission mode are then obtained. The results illustrated that the energy harvesting time, relay distance, channel correlation coefficient, the number of relay transmit antennas and destination received antenna have significant effect on the system performance. Monte-carol simulation is employed to validate the accuracy of the derived expressions

Consumerism: A Contradiction to the Marketing Concept the Nigerian Experience.

The marketing concept starts with a firm's target customers through the identification of the needs and wants of these esteemed customers. It goes ahead with a . coordinated set of products and programmes to serve their needs and wants. It finally derives profit by ensuring total customer satisfactions. The objectives of this paper include (i) To x-ray the ideals of the marketing concept and find out if Nigerians sellers have been following the ideals. (ii) To find out how this consumerism influence manufacturers, and seLlers especially food and drug products in Nigeria and (iii) to find out whether the activities of and regulatory agencies have had positive impact, or improvement on made in Nigeria products, especially food and drug products, amongst others. The paper employs two hypotheses and three research questions. The hypotheses were tested with the aid of chi-square test statistics, while logical answers were provided to the research questions. As regards findings of the paper, it is pathetic to note that the ideals of the marketing concept have been ignored by many manufacturers and sellers in their pursuit of profit. Nigerian case is no exception to the phenomenon being experienced world-wide. The paper draws logical conclusion, and offers useful policy recommendations, which if faithfully implemented would make many manufacturers live up to the ideals of the marketing concept, and to take the interest and satisfaction of consumers a priority

Comparative Assessment between Provisional Sums in Private and Public Client Initiated Project in Nigeria

A project is an activity moderated and measured within its set cost, time and quality. Funding of projects is as important as the project itself. Most projects are either funded by taxpayer’s money (Public initiated projects) or from individual’s pockets (Private initiated projects). Abuja, the capital of Nigeria is still developing after more than 30 years of creation, as evident with the volume of construction projects on going within the city. Cost overrun in the Nigerian construction industry is fast becoming a very popular occurrence especially in Abuja. This paper aims to conduct a comparative assessment of provisional sums in public and private client initiated projects in Abuja in a view to proffer solutions to the plague of cost and time overrun in construction projects. 50 structured questionnaires were administered to property developers and only 36 were eventually retrieved and employed for data analysis. The data was analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and frequency distribution table. Findings revealed that the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between the two groups indicates that p<0.03 meaning that significant difference exist between the percentage differences of provisional sum in a private initiated project and public initiated project. It was also discovered that the Federal, State, and Local tiers of government are the biggest funders of public initiated projects while individuals; banks and churches are the biggest funders of private initiated projects. . The paper concluded that bureaucratic bottlenecks, corruption amongst other factors is responsible for fewer developers in public initiated projects. Government must reduce corruption, operational lapses and promote project continuity to reduce the number of abandoned projects and ensure qualitative delivery. Recommendations include that projects should be awarded and executed as soon as they are tendered to reduce the effect of inflation between tender time and project execution. Keywords: Provisional Sum, Private Initiated Project, Public Initiated Project, Cost, Funding

EVALUATION OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES RELATING TO EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE (EVD) PREVENTION AND CONTROL IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

A cross sectional study was carried out from 1st June to 30th June, 2015, to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices related to the prevention and control of Ebola Virus Disease in Ogun State, Nigeria. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to gather data from 300 respondents selected by multistage sampling technique across four local governments in the state. The data collected included socio-demographics, awareness, knowledge, practices and misconceptions about EVD among the respondents. Knowledge of respondents about EVD was assessed on 20 items with a 3-points rating scale of good >14, fair 10-14 and poor <10. Of the 308 respondents that took part in the study, 111 (36%) were males and 127 (41.2%) rural dwellers and 43 (14%) of the respondents were between the ages of 9-18, 139 (45.1%) were between the ages of 19-25, 83 (26.9%) were between the ages of 26-35 and the remaining 43 (14%) were above 35 years of age. Five (1.6%) of the respondents had no formal education, 9 (2.9%) had primary education, 133 (43.2%) had secondary education and 161 (52.3%) had tertiary education. All the respondents (100%) have heard of Ebola.  Only 2.6% had poor knowledge of Ebola with 12% being able to identify four misconceptions surrounding Ebola transmission and prevention. Respondents in the study reported various changes in practices such as avoidance of physical contact (33.4%), regular hand washing with soap and water (69.2%) and hand cleaning with other disinfectants (61.7%), nevertheless 73.1% of the respondents will not report infected member of the family. Television was the major source of receiving information with the internet being the trusted source of receiving information on Ebola by the respondents. In Ogun State, awareness and comprehensive knowledge on Ebola Virus Disease transmission is high with good knowledge on misconceptions. There is need to emphasize importance of reporting suspected case(s) to the hospital