Supplier selection activities in the service sector: A case study in Nigeria

This paper presents the results of the supplier selection process conducted by a Nigerian service sector organization. One organization was used as a case study whereby data collection involved an action research approach; the data was then subject to statistical analysis via the SPSS Statistics software package. In total, 185 potential suppliers were assessed. Several statistically significant differences were also found between those suppliers that met the minimum requirements and those that did not as well as between organizations that offered products and organizations that offered services

Local reactions to the second dose of the BNT162 COVID-19 vaccine

Multiple strategies have been implemented worldwide to fight the burden of the pandemic caused by COVID-19, with vaccination being one of the most promising.1 Notably, the first vaccine to be authorized in Italy was the BNT162 mRNA-based vaccine, which has also been approved in the USA, United Kingdom, and Canada.1,2 As a matter of fact, RNA vaccines are immunogenic and cost-effective.

A study of the activities and impact of the Asian productivity organisation (APO)

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the activities of the Asian Productivity Organisation (APO). The study identifies the various roles and activities of the APO and evaluates how well it performs in these roles. The study also investigates the impacts of the APO on the productivity initiatives of National Productivity Organisations (NPOs) in sixteen Asian countries. These productivity initiatives are important in enhancing productivity performance and national competitiveness in the countries of interest. Design/methodology/approach: The study collects data from stakeholders in the NPOs in sixteen countries. A likert-scale questionnaire was used to collect data from two types of respondents – NPO CEOs and NPO professional/technical staff. Data was analysed by comparing the responses across the participating countries. Findings: The result shows that there was general satisfaction with the mission, vision, and strategic direction of the APO. With respect to the operational performance of the organisation, the study showed that there were some differences in perception of the performance of the APO although the overall perception was positive. Practical Implications: The study provides insights to the top management of the APO with regards to deciding on the future direction of the organisation and, in particular, the ways in which it understands and supports the varied requirements of the different NPOs. Originality/value: Organisations such as the APO dedicate significant resources into supporting NPOs, and by extension productivity-related commercial operations, in several countries. It is important to understand how these services are perceived and experienced in these countries and a definitive study to examine this has not previously been carried out

Development of a Densification Equipment for Organic Biomass Solid Fuel Pellets

In South Western Nigeria, after the harvesting of maize cobs from the field, large amount of maize stock remains as agricultural residues and wastes. The maize stock constitutes a menace to the environment if not property handled. In this study, densification equipment was designed, fabricated and tested using maize stock grind as raw material. The equipment consists of mixer/ moisture conditioner and a pelleting machine. The power rating for the mixer/moisture conditioner is 0.069 kW with an input capacity of 81 kg/h while the power consumption of the pellet machine is 0.8 kW with throughout capacity of 40 kg/h. The result of the test showed that the highest product temperature, which gives an indication of the quality and durability of the pellets produced was 930C at 0.8 mm hammer mill screen size, 10% moisture content and 150 rpm die speed, at this temperature the machine is operating at optimum efficiency of 74%. High product temperature is an important parameter during pelleting/briquetting operations because it gives the degree of compaction and binding of the pellets/briquettes. The densification equipment for organic biomass was developed using locally sourced materials as a means of converting agricultural wastes into pellets for domestic cooking and cottage industry uses

Transverse orange nail lesions following SARS-CoV-2 infection

We report the case of an 89-year-old woman in a nursing home who amid an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presented cough and asthenia

Neuropathology and Inflammatory Cell Characterization in 10 Autoptic COVID-19 Brains

COVID-19 presents with a wide range of clinical neurological manifestations. It has been recognized that SARS-CoV-2 infection affects both the central and peripheral nervous system, leading to smell and taste disturbances; acute ischemic and hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease; encephalopathies and seizures; and causes most surviving patients to have long lasting neurological symptoms. Despite this, typical neuropathological features associated with the infection have still not been identified. Studies of post-mortem examinations of the cerebral cortex are obtained with difficulty due to laboratory safety concerns. In addition, they represent cases with different neurological symptoms, age or comorbidities, thus a larger number of brain autoptic data from multiple institutions would be crucial. Histopathological findings described here are aimed to increase the current knowledge on neuropathology of COVID-19 patients. We report post-mortem neuropathological findings of ten COVID-19 patients. A wide range of neuropathological lesions were seen. The cerebral cortex of all patients showed vascular changes, hyperemia of the meninges and perivascular inflammation in the cerebral parenchyma with hypoxic neuronal injury. Perivascular lymphocytic inflammation of predominantly CD8-positive T cells mixed with CD68-positive macrophages, targeting the disrupted vascular wall in the cerebral cortex, cerebellum and pons were seen. Our findings support recent reports highlighting a role of microvascular injury in COVID-19 neurological manifestations

A Challenging Nodular Lesion of the Ear

Skin nodular lesion are really frequent, but rapidly growing ones needs to be quickly removed since they can hide really aggressive skin tumor. Among malignant lesion Merkel cell carcinoma arise. It is a rare neuroendocrine skin tumor highly aggressive, not easy to diagnose at first stage, since at first diagnosis it is already widespreading all over the body. In order to renew interest in this letal skin tumori is mandatory to remind high risk population which include elderly people, white skin, chronically exposed to UV immunocompromised. Our unhappy case was described to increase awareness on this kind of skin tumor, since new drug appeared in the market can give an hope to these patients

The state of the art development of AHP (1979-2017): A literature review with a social network analysis

Although many papers describe the evolution of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), most adopt a subjective approach. This paper examines the pattern of development of the AHP research field using social network analysis and scientometrics, and identifies its intellectual structure. The objectives are: (i) to trace the pattern of development of AHP research; (ii) to identify the patterns of collaboration among authors; (iii) to identify the most important papers underpinning the development of AHP; and (iv) to discover recent areas of interest. We analyse two types of networks: social networks, that is, co-authorship networks, and cognitive mapping or the network of disciplines affected by AHP. Our analyses are based on 8441 papers published between 1979 and 2017, retrieved from the ISI Web of Science database. To provide a longitudinal perspective on the pattern of evolution of AHP, we analyse these two types of networks during the three periods 1979?1990, 1991?2001 and 2002?2017. We provide some basic statistics on AHP journals and researchers, review the main topics and applications of integrated AHPs and provide direction for future research by highlighting some open questions

The state of the art development of AHP (1979-2017): a literature review with a social network analysis

Although many papers describe the evolution of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), most adopt a subjective approach. This paper examines the pattern of development of the AHP research field using social network analysis and scientometrics, and identifies its intellectual structure. The objectives are: (i) to trace the pattern of development of AHP research; (ii) to identify the patterns of collaboration among authors; (iii) to identify the most important papers underpinning the development of AHP; and (iv) to discover recent areas of interest. We analyse two types of networks: social networks, that is, co-authorship networks, and cognitive mapping or the network of disciplines affected by AHP. Our analyses are based on 8441 papers published between 1979 and 2017, retrieved from the ISI Web of Science database. To provide a longitudinal perspective on the pattern of evolution of AHP, we analyse these two types of networks during the three periods 1979–1990, 1991–2001 and 2002–2017. We provide some basic statistics on AHP journals and researchers, review the main topics and applications of integrated AHPs and provide direction for future research by highlighting some open questions

Supplier qualification for high value goods and services in Nigeria: A comparison of qualified and non-qualified suppliers

This study set out to understand the capabilities of suppliers of high value products and services in Nigeria. Supplier capability data was collected from almost 500 potential suppliers across 28 product categories. The findings indicate that only a small minority of potential suppliers achieved the required levels of performance and that very few companies have suitable operational capabilities or corporate citizenship behaviour. Furthermore, significant differences were found between service suppliers and product suppliers with regard to performance. The findings suggest that the majority of suppliers of products and services in Nigeria need to improve their operational capabilities and corporate citizenship behaviours or else risk losing their ability to compete in a changing market place with new barriers to entry