Thin layer drying models for sweet potato in tray dryer

Sweet potato is increasingly becoming important and popular as food stuff all over the world.  Therefore investigation of thin layer drying of sweet potato slices in three different dimensions was carried out between 50oC and 80oC in tray dryer using hot air at a flow rate of 2.5 m/s and 10% relative humidity.  Eight thin-layer drying kinetic models were assessed on blanched and unblanched sweet potato slices presented in three different dimensions.  The drying rate was observed to decrease with thickness and mass at a constant drying temperature.  Also, the drying rate was found to increase with temperature and the blanched slices dried faster than unblanched slices.  The eight models investigated fitted the experimental data of the six sweet potato samples between 50oC and 80oC adequately.  However, Page model was found to be the best for all the samples.  The results obtained are comparable to some of the reported works. Keywords: sweet potato, thin-layer drying models, page model, tray dryer, diffusion mechanis

Vocational Skill Acquisition and Venture Creation among Undergraduates in Osun State

The study assessed the intention of venture creation from vocational skill acquisition training among undergraduate students in Osun state. Specifically, the study identified skills acquired by respondents during vocational training, evaluated respondents’ intention to start new venture(s), and assessed the factors affecting venture creation. The population for this study comprised of undergraduate students that have learnt or learning at least one vocational skill. 336 respondents were selected using non-probability purposive sampling technique. Data collected was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings from the study showed that fashion designing (30.7%), vocational computer skills (16.1%), and photography (14.9%) were the most acquired technical skills while time management (66.4%), business management (64.3%) and financial management (63.4%) were the most acquired non-technical skills during vocational trainings. Majority (72.2%) had moderate level of intention of venture creation. Internal and external factors greatly affect venture creation with grand mean of 3.34 ± 0.66 and 3.35 ± 0.70 respectively. The correlation coefficient of the independent variable reveals that acquisition of vocational skill (r= 0.052, P= 0.339) had no significant relationship with intention of venture creation. The study concluded that learning or acquiring a particular vocational skill does not translate directly to venture creation. The study therefore recommends that while entrepreneurship and skill acquisition is being encouraged among students, government in partnership with other institutions should provide incentives to stimulate venture creation from acquired skills

EFFECTS OF COMPENSATION PRACTICES ON ACADEMIC STAFF’S JOB PERFORMANCE IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE, ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

The study examined the effect of compensation practices on academic staff’s job performance in Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. Multi stage sampling technique was used to purposively select 3 Agricultural base colleges followed by proportionate stratified sampling technique where respondents were randomly selected. One hundred and three (103) respondents from the three colleges of agriculture of the university were selected of which 92 questionnaires were retrieved. Data obtained was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as mean, standard deviation, chi-square and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Finding revealed that the mean age of the respondents was 42.71 years, 71.7% of the respondents were male, 81.5% of them were married and 79.3% of the respondents were PhD holders. The mean years of experience was 10 years while their mean income was ₦217447.29. Most (79.4%) academic staff perceived that there is a pressing need to review and rationalize the pay structure to improve employee efficiency, some of the compensation packages available were; retirement benefit (100%), study leave (91.3%), career development opportunity (82.6%). The major constraints to compensation strategies identified were poor insurance scheme (21.7%), inadequate welfare package (20.7%) and poor communication network (19.6%). Furthermore, a significant relationship existed between respondents’ age (r= -0.204, P<0.05), compensation packages (r= 0.26, P<0.05) and their job performance. The results concluded that academic staff perceived a pressing need to review the compensation packages by involving them in the compensation decision making process. Effective management and implementation of compensation packages is highly recommended. , , Job Performanc

PREVALENCE AND MANAGEMENT OF FALCIPARIUM MALARIA AMONG INFANTS AND CHILDREN IN OTA, OGUN STATE, SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

Studies were carried out to determine the prevalence of malaria parasite infection among infants and children (0-12yrs) in Ota, Southwestern Nigeria between April and December 2008. The two hospitals used were Ota General Hospital and Covenant University Health Centre, Canaanland, Ota. Thick and thin films were made and stained using standard parasitological procedures. Structured Questionnaires were distributed to ascertain the age, sex, drugs or insecticides used and state of health of the subjects before recruiting them into the study. Overall, 215 (80.5%) of the 267 children investigated were found to have malaria infection. Age group (0-5 years) had the highest frequency rate of 84.7% with mean parasite density of 900 and the difference between the age groups was statistically significant (p<0.05). Children of illiterates from suburb villages had the highest mean parasite density of 850 with 78.1% prevalence rate. 20% of the children were given local herbs and 22% used orthodox medicine as prophylaxis. Only 18% used insecticide treated mosquito nets while 24% of the parents spray insecticides to prevent mosquito bites. There is therefore need for more awareness on effective use of drugs and Insecticide Treated bed nets in malaria hyperendemic regions

A rare metastatic region of cervical cancer; the brain: a case report

Cervical cancer metastasizes commonly to the bone, lungs, liver and the supraclavicular lymph nodes. Rare sites of metastasis the brain, breast, paraspinal muscles, duodenum and heart have been reported. Case report: A 53-year-old postmenopausal woman presented to our facility with a one-month history of vaginal bleeding. She was found to have an exophytic cervical mass on pelvic examination. She was managed as a case of stage IIIB cervical cancer. Histology revealed Squamous Cell Carcinoma type. She had radiotherapy and was symptoms free. She represented 3 months later with visual disturbance, headache and vomiting. She was found to have metastatic lesion to her brain. She survived for 3 months and 3weeks after first treatment. Conclusion: The prognosis of cervical cancer patients with brain metastases is frequently poor with median survival of only a few months such as in this case who survived 3 months and 3 weeks after first treatment. Only few reports have incidences of long-term, disease-free survival in these patients

Detection of Molecular Markers of Antimalarial Drug Resistance in Plasmodium Falciparum from South-Western Nigeria

The widespread of drug resistant Plasmodium falciparum has led to a rise in malaria- associated mortality most especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Falciparum malaria was confirmed by microscopic examination of Giemsa-stained blood samples of patients who presented with fever in selected State Hospitals in Ogun State, Southwestern Nigeria. Molecular methods were employed to detect the markers of resistance of P. falciparum to Chloroquine, sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine,and artesunate in Ogun State, Southwestern Nigeria. DNA was extracted from patient blood using the QiaAmp DNA Blood Minikit extraction method. Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction followed by Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (PCR/RFLP) were used for the detection of P. falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (Pfcrt), P. falciparum multidrug resistance 1 (pfmdr1), P. falciparum dihydrofolate reductase (Pfdhfr), P. falciparum dihydropteroate synthase (Pfdhps) and P. falciparum sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium-dependent ATPase (SERCA) PfATPase6 genes. Pfcrt (K76T ) Pfmdr1 (mdr 1 ) Pfdhfr (S108N), and Pfdhps (K540E) resistant genes were detected among the isolates while resistant SERCAPfATPase6 gene which codes for artemisinin resistance was not detected in the population

Genetic Diversity of Plasmodium falciparum Field Isolates from South Western Nigeria

Background: Plasmodium falciparum the main causative agent of malaria is an important public health vector. With the use of PCR, its genetic diversity has been extensively studied with dearth information from Nigeria. Methods: In this study, 100 P. falciparum strains merozoite surface protein 1( msp-1), merozoite surface protein 2 (msp-2) and Glutamate rich protein (Glurp) from Ogun State General Hospitals were characterized. The genetic diversity of P. falciparum isolates was analyzed by restriction fragment length polymorphism following gel electrophoresis of DNA products from nested polymerase chain reactions (PCR) of their respective allelic families KI, MAD 20, RO33 (MSP-1);FC27, 3D7 (MSP-2) and Glutamate rich protein respectively. Results: Majority of the patients showed monoclonal infections while multiplicity of the infection for msp-1 and msp-2 were 1.1 and 1.2 respectively. The estimated number of genotypes was 8 msp-1 (4 KI; 3 MAD; 1 RO33) and 6 msp-2 (3 FC27; 3 3D7). 80% of the isolates coded for Glurp with allelic size ranged between 700 and 900 bp. Conclusion: The allelic distributions however were similar to those previously reported in other endemic malaria countries. Future studies will be designed to include other malaria endemic regions of Nigeria such as the oil exploration region

Female adolescents and the future of female genital mutilation/cutting: a report from an endemic area

Background: Despite collaborative efforts aimed at its eradication, Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) continuesin endemic areas. Objective: To evaluate the experience and preparedness of female adolescents to protect their future daughters from FGM/C. Methods: A cross-sectional survey involving adolescent secondary school girls in North Central Nigeria. Participants were secondary school students who completed the study’s self-administered questionnaire after informed parental or participant’s consent. Data management was with SPSS 20.0 (IBM, USA), P-value &lt;0.05 was significant. Results: There were 2000 participants aged 13-19 years (mean 15.56±1.75), prevalence of FGM/C was 35.0%, awareness was 86.1%, mutilation was performed between infancy and eight years of age (mean 3.85±3.24 years), 644(32.2%) desire to mutilatetheir future daughters, 722(36.1%) expressed support for FGM/C and 63.1% of victims of FM/C reported adverse post-mutilation experiences. Support for FGM/C was associated with low social class (P0.0010), opinion that FGM/C has benefit (P0.001) and desire to mutilate future daughters (P0.001) while awareness of efforts to eradicate FMG/C was 813(40.7%). Conclusion: FGM/C remains prevalent with potential support for its continuation among female adolescents despite reported adverse post-mutilation experiences. The multi-pronged approach to eradicate FGM/C should prioritize re-orientation for adolescent girls, rehabilitation of mutilated girls and girl child formal education. Keywords: Female genital mutilation/cutting; female circumcision, harmful traditional practices, adverse childhood experiences

A HYBRID MACHINE LEARNING MODEL FOR NETWORK INTRUSION DETECTION

&nbsp;Intrusion detection is a significant challenge in network security, as it involves detecting unseen attacks in a network or system. In this research, we aimed to build a hybrid machine learning model for intrusion detection using artificial intelligence (AI). To do this, we used the KDD CUP 99 dataset and applied two machine learning algorithms: AdaBoost and Stochastic Gradient Descent Classifier (SGDC). These algorithms were combined to form two hybrid models: SGDC_ADA and ADA_SGDC.&nbsp; The results of our study showed that the SGDC_ADA model had an accuracy of 0.97 and outperformed the ADA_SGDC model, which had an accuracy of 0.96. In addition, the SGDC_ADA model had an average precision of 0.97, average recall of 0.96, and average F1-score of 0.97, while the ADA_SGDC model had an average precision of 0.96, average recall of 0.95, and average F1-score of 0.96.&nbsp; Overall, our research suggests that the SGDC_ADA hybrid model is an effective method for intrusion detection, with high accuracy and low error rates. This model may be useful in improving network security and protecting against unseen attacks

Assessment of performance indices of selected gas turbine power plants in Nigeria

In this study, performance assessment of selected gas turbine power plants in Nigeria was evaluated using performance indices. The results of the study showed that for the period under review (2006–2010), the percentage shortfalls from the target energy in the selected power plants range from 26.33% to 86.61% as against the acceptable value of 5–10%. The capacity factor of the selected power plants varies from 16.88% to 73.67% as against the international value of 50–80%. The plant use factor varies from 45.89% to 97.03% and the utilization factor varies from 6.31% to 93.074% as against the international best practice of over 95%. From this result, it can be concluded that the generating units were underutilized. This is due to inadequate routine maintenance and equipment fault development. The analyses of reliability indicators revealed that the mean time between failures varies from 5.42 to 378.44 h, the mean time to repair varies from 18.3 to 153.88 h and the plant availability varies from 12.86% to 91.31% as against the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers recommended standard of 99.9%. Evaluation of operating figures of the selected power plants revealed that starting reliability (SR) and operating reliability vary from 71.95% to 93.9% and 5.33% to 55%, respectively. The SR of the selected power plants is low in value compared with standard value of 99.9%. The statistical analysis carried out on plant availability revealed that at 95% confidence level; there is a significant difference in availability of the selected power plants. This indicates differences in their systems installation, operation and maintenance. The performance indicator developed to evaluate the performance indices for the selected stations can also be applicable to other power stations in Nigeria and elsewhere. Measures to improve the performance indices of the plants have been suggested in this paper