Economic Analysis of the Factors Influencing the Performance of Small Scale Entrepreneurship in Kwara State, Nigeria

This study economically analysed factors influencing the performance of small scale entrepreneurship in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria.The study was carried out in Ilorin, Kwara State, which is one of the prominent entrepreneurial states in the middle belt of Nigeria. This study covered three Local Government Areas that are within Ilorin metropolis. A total of 245 respondents were randomly selected in the in the study area whereby copies of well-structured questionnaire were randomly administered on the Proprietors or Managing Directors and /or Management Staff members of the selected small-scale enterprises within the capital city of Kwara state. The study revealed that power supply (POS), labour (LAB), the patent laws (PAL); State and Local Government Policies (SLG) and the financial constraints (FIN) are highly correlated with the dependent variable. This implies that, these variables are the salient factors that influence the performance of entrepreneurs most in the study area and this is significant at 0.00 levels. Keywords: Economic, Factors, Performance, Small Scale, Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship

Bi-directional coordination of plug-in electric vehicles with economic model predictive control

© 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The emergence of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) is unveiling new opportunities to de-carbonise the vehicle parcs and promote sustainability in different parts of the globe. As battery technologies and PEV efficiency continue to improve, the use of electric cars as distributed energy resources is fast becoming a reality. While the distribution network operators (DNOs) strive to ensure grid balancing and reliability, the PEV owners primarily aim at maximising their economic benefits. However, given that the PEV batteries have limited capacities and the distribution network is constrained, smart techniques are required to coordinate the charging/discharging of the PEVs. Using the economic model predictive control (EMPC) technique, this paper proposes a decentralised optimisation algorithm for PEVs during the grid-To-vehicle (G2V) and vehicle-To-grid (V2G) operations. To capture the operational dynamics of the batteries, it considers the state-of-charge (SoC) at a given time as a discrete state space and investigates PEVs performance in V2G and G2V operations. In particular, this study exploits the variability in the energy tariff across different periods of the day to schedule V2G/G2V cycles using real data from the university's PEV infrastructure. The results show that by charging/discharging the vehicles during optimal time partitions, prosumers can take advantage of the price elasticity of supply to achieve net savings of about 63%

Ethnobotany survey of medicinal plants used in the treatment of fibroid in Ogun and Osun States, southwestern, Nigeria

This study was aimed at documenting information of ethno-botanical survey of plants traditional used as medicine in the treatment of fibroid in Ogun and Osun States, Nigeria. Structured and open-ended questionnaire were administered to respondents for data collection. Multistage sampling technique with a four stage design, simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used for this study. Four and six Local Government Areas were selected purposively from Ogun and Osun States, respectively. A total number of 192 respondents were interviewed; results showed that majority of the respondents were males in Ogun state (72.8%) and Osun state (65.8%). The mean ages of the respondents for Ogun and Osun state were 49.3 years and 50.2 years respectively. Most of the respondents had secondary school education in Ogun (34.6%) and Osun (33.3%) states respectively, while, 71.6% and 64.9% of the traditional healers and herb sellers were Muslims in Ogun and Osun states respectively. A sum of 102 plants species belonging to 49 families were found. Euphorbiaceae had the highest frequency of family species followed by Annonaceae.Keywords: Ethnobotany, Medicinal plants, Fibroid treatmen

Comparative Effects of Silver Nanoparticles, Sucrose and Sodium Chloride as Osmotic Solutions for Tomato Slices: Antioxidant Activity, Microbial Quality and Modelling with Polynomial Regression Model

This study has reported comparative effects of silver nanoparticles  (AgNPs),  sucrose and sodium chloride as osmotic solutions on antioxidant activity and microbial quality of 10 mm tomato slices. 40 g of tomato slices were dehydrated osmotically (OD) at different temperatures (60, 70 and 80 °C) and time (30, 60, 90, 120 150 and 180 min).Water loss, solid  impregnation, water and solid diffusivities of tomato slices were found to increase with increase in solution temperatures and concentrations with AgNPs having the greatest influence. Antioxidant activities using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl increased with increase in solution concentrations but decreased with increase in temperature. Three-wayANOVA(R2=0.998) revealed additive statistically significant effects of osmotic agents,  concentrations and temperatures on antioxidant activity;   F(8,54)=67.854,P=0.00. Polynomial regression analysis with response surface methodology validated experiments such that for each unit increase in concentration and temperature, antioxidant activity increased with good coefficients of determination; sucrose (R2 = 0.87), NaCl, (R2 = 0.89) andAgNPs (R2 = 0.91). Potato dextrose and nutrient agars were used for isolating and identifying microorganisms in OD tomato slices. Tomato slices dehydrated with AgNPs had the highest microbial inhibition of fungi with growth occurring after 7 days, unlike in treatments with sucrose and NaCl where fungal growth appeared after 2 and 5 days, respectively. Aspergillus niger was the most prevalent fungus. It can be concluded that AgNPs may serve as a viable means to dehydrate and preserve tomatoes without loss of antioxidant activity.Keywords: Osmotic dehydration, polynomial regression, response surface, antioxidant activity, three-way ANOVA, silver nanoparticles

Effect of Manure Application on Herbage Yield, Nutritive Value and Performance of Wad Sheep Fed Panicum maximum

Effect of types of manure on herbage yield, nutritive value and performance of WAD Sheep fed native Panicum maximum was investigated. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with each plot replicated thrice. Poultry manure and sheep - goat manure were applied through broadcasting to an established Panicum maximum stand to supply 200kgN/ha and 0kgN/ha (control). Grass herbage harvested from experiment plot were fed as sole diets to West African dwarf sheep to determine feed intake (g/h/d), nutrient digestibility (%) and weight gain (g/h/d). Results showed that Panicum maximum fertilized with poultry manure produced (P<0.05) higher values for biomass yield, number of tillers, tiller height, leaf length and leaf width. The chemical composition of Panicum maximum fertilized with poultry manure produced (P<0.05) higher CP and GE compared to sheep-goat manure. Similar trend of result was observed on mineral composition of Panicum maximum fertilized with poultry manure produced (P<0.05) higher values for P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn and Cu compared to sheep-goat manure. The feed intake (g/h/d), nutrient digestibility (%) and weight gain of the animals fed Panicum maximum fertilized with poultry manure produced higher values compared to its counterpart. It was concluded based on data obtained from this study that poultry manure application will promote higher yield and nutritive value for the Panicum maximum. Animals fed with this as sole diet and as short feeding regime experienced high weight gain

Growth and Development of Entrepreneurship in Nigeria: An Investigation of Microfinance from the Rural Settings

This study focused on the significance of microfinance to growth and development of entrepreneurship in rural settings of Nigeria. The study determined the role of microfinance on the economic development of the rural areas of Nigeria. For these purposes, survey research was explored, using well structured questionnaires. The universe of the study (80 respondents) consisted of 55 selected SMEs and 25 will-be entrepreneurs in some rural areas of Nigeria, particularly, Kogi State; and the sample size (67) was determined using Taro Yamane sampling method. Bowler’s proportional allocation method was further employed to ensure objective questionnaires distribution process. This study analyzed the data collected in tables with percentage method, and used Chi-Square for hypotheses testing. Findings revealed that microfinance is significant to the growth and development of entrepreneurship, and equally, economic development in the rural settlements of Nigeria. It was concluded that small scale agricultural practice and micro-small scale enterprises are developing in the rural settlements. This makes microfinance significant to the growth and development of entrepreneurship, and equally the economic development in the rural settings of Nigeria. The study therefore recommends that the government should design and implement policies and programmes that are capable of serving as road map for effective and efficient microfinance services in the rural settlements of Nigeria, and that entrepreneurs should carefully manage microfinance facilities to combat peculiar challenges facing their entrepreneurial activities and economic development. Keywords: Rural Entrepreneurs, Microfinance, Economic Development, Financial Products, Small Scale Enterprise

Influence of processing methods on the quality attributes of bio-fortified sweet potato products

Bio-fortified sweet potato (BSP) is one of the crops that can be used to address the problems of vitamin A deficiency in the Sub-Saharan Africa but it’s currently being underutilized. This study seeks to evaluate the effects of different heat processing methods on the quality of products made from BSP in order to increase its utilization. Freshly harvested tubers were purchased from a Research Farm in Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Nigeria and brought to the Processing Centre, Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI), Ilorin. The sample was taken through some standard pre-processing operations of sorting, peeling, washing, slicing (2.11 mm), and deep frying (3 minutes) while some portions were boiled immediately after sorting with or without skin for 10–15 minutes. Each treated sample was analysed for sensory, proximate, vitamins and mineral compositions following standard methods. Results showed that fried sample had highest acceptability for aroma (7.25) and crispiness (7.00) while sample boiled without skin (15 min) was rated with least scores in colour (5.30), appearance (5.40), texture (4.95), crispiness (4.65) and overall acceptability (5.70). Protein, vitamin C, phenolics, flavonoids and reducing sugar contents were 6.53–18.52%, 10.89–76.69 mg/100 g, 0.57–3.15 mg/L, 94.64–383.91 mg/L and 43.05–237.12 g/100 g respectively while some minerals such as Na, K and Zn ranged from 8.42–17.45, 5.12–9.30 and 0.03–0.09 mg/L respectively. Different heat processing at different durations affected the sensory attributes, nutritional and mineral compositions of BSP. Key words: Post-harvest, food security, potato, heat treatment, qualit

Aspects of reproductive biology of Hyperopisus bebe occidentalis (Gunther) in Zaria Dam, Nigeria

Studies were conducted on some aspects of the reproductive biology of Hyperopisus bebe occidentalis in Zaria dam. Fish were captured by using nets of various mesh sizes for 24 months. Sex ratio of female to male was 1:1.08. Fully matured gonads were observed from July to October (rainy season). Fish with spent gonads were found from December to February, virgin or immature gonads (stage I and II) were found in February to May, with the peak in March in female fish and January in male. The estimated fecundity ranged from 2025 to 4192 eggs per female with mean of 2822.4 ~c SD 781.43 eggs that had standard length range of 24.20cm to 35.50cm. The gonadosomatic index (GSI) ranged from 1.63% to 3.31%. There was a significant correlation (r = 0.873, p>0.05) between the weight of the fish and fecundity and insignificant correlation (r=0.497, p<0.05) between the standard length and fecundity

Effect of Manure Application on Herbage Yield, Nutritive Value and Performance of Wad Sheep Fed Panicum maximum

Effect of types of manure on herbage yield, nutritive value and performance of WAD Sheep fed native Panicum maximum was investigated. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with each plot replicated thrice. Poultry manure and sheep - goat manure were applied through broadcasting to an established Panicum maximum stand to supply 200kgN/ha and 0kgN/ha (control). Grass herbage harvested from experiment plot were fed as sole diets to West African dwarf sheep to determine feed intake (g/h/d), nutrient digestibility (%) and weight gain (g/h/d). Results showed that Panicum maximum fertilized with poultry manure produced (P&lt;0.05) higher values for biomass yield, number of tillers, tiller height, leaf length and leaf width. The chemical composition of Panicum maximum fertilized with poultry manure produced (P&lt;0.05) higher CP and GE compared to sheep-goat manure. Similar trend of result was observed on mineral composition of Panicum maximum fertilized with poultry manure produced (P&lt;0.05) higher values for P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn and Cu compared to sheep-goat manure. The feed intake (g/h/d), nutrient digestibility (%) and weight gain of the animals fed Panicum maximum fertilized with poultry manure produced higher values compared to its counterpart. It was concluded based on data obtained from this study that poultry manure application will promote higher yield and nutritive value for the Panicum maximum. Animals fed with this as sole diet and as short feeding regime experienced high weight gain. Keywords: Poultry manure, sheep - goat manure, herbage yield, Panicum maximum, WAD Shee

Climate Change: Mitigating Effects of Landscaping on Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Nigerian Built Environment

A great concern for environmentalist globally is the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and consequently the resultant effect on climate. The Nigerian built environment has a stake in this reality if it is to survive the adverse effects of climate change.  This paper focuses on Climate change and mitigating effects of landscaping on carbon dioxide emissions in Nigerian built environment. The objective of this study is to review factors responsible for carbon dioxide emissions in Nigeria, and how this can be curtailed to reduce the impact of climate change. The study was analytical in nature and relied on secondary sources of reliable data, critical review of literature and synthetic presentation of facts. It was found that burning of municipal wastes, soil erosion, wood and bush burning, deforestation and fossil fuel combustion are major sources of C02 emission in the atmosphere. Likewise, the review identified establishment of large scale agro-forestry progammes, providing cost effective alternatives to charcoal and firewood, soil conservation measure in agriculture, recycling non-biodegradable wastes and banning the exportation of logs as effective mitigation strategies. It was concluded that sustaining the environment in which we live is very crucial to the survival of man on earth. Hence, promulgating relevant laws and environmental friendly policies, by government would mitigate emission levels