Transfer factor of radionuclides from soil-to-palm oil produced from Elere palm tree plantation near Ibadan Oyo state, Nigeria

The migration of contaminants including radionuclides from soil-to-plant system is usually predicted by mathematical models commonly employed in a soil-to-plant transfer factor for activity concentration. Local palm trees found mostly in Nigeria are very tall and their fruits are used for production of red palm oil. Ibadan and its environs including Elere are underlain by crystalline basement complex which is known to be rich in natural radionuclides. Hence enhanced radioactivity and soil-toplant transfer factor influenced by physical-chemical form of the radionuclides in the soil and types of plant could be obtained. The study is aimed at determining the radioactivity levels of 40K, 238U and 232Th in the soil and palm oil; and calculating the soil to palm oil transfer factor. A total number of 20 palm trees were randomly selected in the study areas. From each palm tree, bunches of palm fruits were collected to prepare palm oil and the soil samples at the spot of the tree were also collected. The activity concentration of the natural radionuclides were determined using a single crystal 0.51cm x 0.51cmNaI (Tl) detector coupled through a Hamamatsa (R1306NSV3068) photomultiplier tube to a Multichannel Analyser, MCA (2100R:01). The activity concentrations of 40K, 238U and 232Th in palm oil ranged from 50.48 Bqkg-1 to 112.16 Bqkg-1; 6.35 Bqkg-1to 12.80 Bqkg-1and 6.08 Bqkg-1to 10.13 Bqkg-1 respectively. The activity concentrations of 40K, 232U and 232Th in the soil samples ranged from 412.43 Bqkg-1to 672.16 Bqkg-1; 10.25 Bqkg-1to17.43 Bqkg-1and 8.12 Bqkg-1to 12.48 Bqkg-1respectively. The mean transfer factors were 0.17±0.02, 0.27±0.06 and 0.28±0.02 for 40K, 238U and 232Th respectively. The 40K, 238U and 232Th radioactivity levels in the soil are comparable to the world average values of 420Bqkg-1, 32 Bqkg-1and 40 Bqkg-1respectively. The transfer factors indicated that about 17%, 27% and 28% of 40K, 238U and 232Th respectively are transferred from soil to the palm.Keywords: radionuclide, transfer factor, mathematical model, palm oil, Ibada

65The Nexus Between Talent Management and Organizational Commitment: An Empirical Evidence of a Private University in Southwest Nigeria

Sustainability of organizational activities depends largely on the commitment of the talented workforce involved. Talented employee’s organizational commitment lies on talent management practices embraced by the management of such an organization. This empirical study seeks to establish the relationship between talent management practices (talent attraction, talent development and talent retention) and organizational commitment (affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment). Six (6) point Likert scale questionnaires were administered to the members of faculty of the University identified for the study. The data gathered were analyzed and results revealed positive significant relationships between talent management practices and organizational commitment. Talent development was identified by Friedman Rank correlation as the most predicting factor of faculty’s organizational commitment. It was thus recommended in the study, that management of organizations should create enabling environment through various strategies such as wage increase, good working condition and incentives etc., in order to combat the high rate of turnover confronting educational sector of the economy. Areas for further studies were also suggested

Radiation Protection Strategies in Medical Diagnostic Centers in Lagos State, Nigeria

In recent years, Medical imaging has recorded a canonized level of advancement in the medical chronicles of achievement feats. This has made the diagnosis of ailments easy in reducing the death rate of patients. Imaging machines have different functions and some of them use radiation that is dangerous to the human body. Although radiation is important and it is needed for the patients in need of treatment but not needed by the machine operators, staff and visitors of the building where the imaging machines are been housed. The aim is to investigate different design and construction strategies employed to reduce transfer of radiation in various diagnostic imaging centres in Lagos State Nigeria; in order to reduce health risk associated during radiation emission in medical facilities. Qualitative method of research was adopted and data were collected via review of pertinent literature and field work of three diagnostic centres in the study area. The data were analysed using content analysis and presented with sketch and pictures. The finding reveals that lead lining was the most common material used to shield the different diagnostic rooms in the study area. This shielding was not only done for walls but also embedded in the doors. In addition, Lead glass was also used to protect the machine operators from radiation. Finally, this study recommended that other less harmful materials need to be explored for radiation shielding other than the use of Lead. For competency in Educational, professional, curricular practices and even hygienic exigencies; further research may advance investigations to find out other protective materials and strategies that are relevant to medical exploits as well as Architects design specification knowledge for the design of medical facilitie

Value-adding post harvest processing of cooking bananas (Musa spp. AAB and ABB genome groups)

Cooking bananas (including plantains) are among the major commodities used in Sub Saharan Africa to combat food insecurity. It is estimated that more than 30% of the banana production are lost afterharvest. The losses are mostly due to the rapid ripening of the fruits, poor handling, inadequate storage and transportation means, and poor knowledge of food processing options. Processing the fresh fruits into food products with a longer shelf life can provide a major outlet to use surpluses and to exploit a greater number of marketing options. In this paper, we provide ingredients and recipes for food products made by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) from its improved hybrids of cooking bananas to decrease post harvest losses, diversify the industrial potentials of bananas, and add value to farmers’ products. Some of these processing methods can be used by farmers and ruralentrepreneurs in their communities to ensure food security and raise their incomes, or upgraded by the private sector in a value chain approach to curb production losses in bananas.Keywords: Bananas, food security, post harvest, food processing, value additio

Regional Imbalances and Inequalities in Nigeria: Causes, Consequences and Remedies

Regional inequality and polarization of activities have persisted in most developing countries despite their quest over many decades for socio-economic and political development and modernization. This condition contributes to serious distributional problems such as hyper-urbanization, spatial concentration of population and modern activities, unemployment and underemployment, income inequality and poverty, persistent food shortages, deteriorating material conditions of farm populations, and external dependency. This paper seeks to evaluate the causes and consequences of regional imbalances and inequalities in Nigeria, and attempt the strategies that can be employed in correcting the imbalances. It thereafter, recommends remedies such as special government policies, legislative measures, urban development planning, integrated rural development planning, and strict adherence to the principle of federal character as entrenched in the constitution of the country. It also recommends massive concentration of industrial development in rural areas across the nooks and crannies of the country as a way of reducing the imbalances. Keywords: Region, imbalance, poverty, planning, development, causes, consequences, remedie

Transactional Leadership Style and Employee Job Satisfaction among Universities' Guest Houses in South-West Nigeria

This article seeks to establish the relationship that exists between the dimension of transactional leadership style and job satisfaction among employees in Universities’ guesthouses in the hospitality sector of the economy. Quantitative cross sectional research design was adopted for the study. The correlation result reveals that contingent reward of transactional leadership style have weak positive relationship on the employee job satisfaction with 0.267 at Pvalue less than 0.05 level of significance, thus prompting the acceptance of alternative hypothesis

EVALUATION OF OPEN POLLINATED MAIZE VARIETIES FOR RESISTANCE/TOLERANCE TO Striga hermonthica Del. Benth AT MOKWA SOUTHERN GUINEA SAVANNAH OF NIGERIA

Three trials were conducted on the College of Agriculture experimental field which was highly anduniformly infested by Striga at Mokwa (latitude 09o 18'N and longitude 05o 04'E) in the SouthernGuinea Savanna agro- ecological zone of Nigeria during 2004, 2005 and 2006 wet seasons. The studywas conducted to evaluate fifteen maize genotypes consisting of eleven improved, open- pollinatedStriga tolerant varieties, a susceptible 8338-1 and tolerant hybrids 9022-13, an improved recommendedopen pollinated variety and a local selection (Mokwa Dzurugi) for their reaction to Striga hermonthica.The treatments were laid out in a randomized complete block design and replicated fourtimes. Among the varieties tested, TZL Comp.1Syn Y-1F2, Cam, 1 STR – 1 and hybrid 9022-13 consistentlyresulted in significantly lower Striga emergence and crop syndrome reaction to Striga parasitismcompared to all the other varieties including STR genotypes in 2004 and 2005 and of very lowvalues of the parameters in 2006. The varieties also gave higher grain yield comparable to most oftolerant varieties evaluated. Under Striga infestation, maize grain yields of var. TZL Comp. 1 Syn Y-1F2 were 2.94, 3.04 and 2.93 times than those of the recommended TZB- STR (1015kg/ha, 989kg/haand 993kg/ha) in 2004, 2005 and 2006, respectively. The corresponding values for the other promisingvariety, Cam- 1STR-1 were 2.93, 3.05 and 2.89 times higher than TZB STR in 2004, 2005 and 2006respectively. The local selection, Mokwa Dzurugi also exhibited good performance with respect toStriga and maize parameters and could therefore be used in the breeding programme for Striga resistance

From Job Satisfaction to Organizational Commitment: The Mediating Influence of Perceived Treatment of Diversity among Nigeria’s Public Healthcare Employees

BACKGROUND: In the Nigerian, like most developing economies’, health sector, employees’ perceptions about treatments of diversity are crucial not only to their satisfaction with the job but equally to their commitment to the organisation. The importance of this view of the public health sector, is that it could induce political behaviours, result in conflict situations and hence promote tensed work environments, if not properly managed. Despite these facts, there is again, a dearth of existing literature that shows an element of empirical analysis to demonstrate the moderating influence of workforce diversity on job satisfaction and organisational commitment of public healthcare employees in Nigeria. AIM: This study is focused on investigating the mediating effect of employees’ perceived treatments of diversity in the workplace on the relationship between job satisfaction and their commitment to the organisation. METHODS: The survey method was used to collect data. One hundred thirty-three public health workers from the Lagos State Health Ministry in Nigeria were involved in this research. The research used questionnaires as the main tools to perform this research. The statistics on the reliability of the tools used in this study were 0.747. The statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS (version 22) and AMOS (version 23) software for this study. RESULTS: The results from the statistical analysis indicate that job satisfaction significantly relates with all dimensions of workforce diversity in the following ways: education (r = 0.19), gender (r = 0.48), religion (r = -0.20), ethnicity (r = 0.42) and position (r = 0.15). The mediating effects of workforce diversity on the relationship between job satisfaction and employee commitment is also evident from the statistical analysis, especially with respect to education (affective commitment = 0.16, normative commitment = 0.18, continuance commitment = 0.18); gender (affective commitment = 0.32, normative commitment = 0.42); and religion (continuance commitment = 0.14). CONCLUSION: This study concluded that not only is job satisfaction significant to ensuring the commitment of healthcare workers to their organisation, but more critical is the role of workforce diversity as viable leverage for transiting the interest of employees from the level of job satisfaction to organisational commitment

Petroleum Hydrocarbon Fingerprints of Water and Sediment Samples of Buffalo River Estuary in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

. Surface water and sediment samples were collected from five points in the estuary and extracted using standard methods. The extracts were subsequently analyzed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection. Results showed that total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) varied from 7.65 to 477 g/L in the water and 12.59 to 1,100 mg/kg in the sediments, with mean values of 146.50 ± 27.96 g/L and 209.81 ± 63.82 mg/kg, respectively. Concentrations of TPH in the sediments correlated significantly with organic carbon (OC) in both seasons. TPH and OC levels were slightly lower in summer than in autumn in the two environmental matrices, and the average amount of TPH in the water samples collected from all the sampling stations was generally lower than the EU standard limit of 300 g/L. However, the levels in the sediments exceeded the EGASPIN target value (50 mg/kg) for mineral oil but were below the intervention value (5,000 mg/kg), indicating a serious impact of industrial growth and urbanization on the area, although the n-alkane ratios and indexes used for source tracking revealed excessive flow from both natural and anthropogenic sources

Awareness and factors influencing farmers’ decision in establishing private forest plantation in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State

Private investments in forestry in Nigeria have not been as attractive as private investments in cash and food crops such as cocoa, rubber, rice, and maize. It is thought that these agricultural crops yield financial returns earlier than forestry crops. This study therefore, assessed factors influencing private forest plantations establishment among farmers in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State. Simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques were used to select 120 farmers from six wards in the study area. Data were collected from the respondents using interview guide. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency Tables and Charts. Results showed that 44.2% of the respondents were aware of private forest plantation establishments while 55.8% were not aware. The major sources of awareness were through community leaders (25.8%), radio (20.8%), and friends (15%). Major factors influencing farmers’ decision to establish private forest plantation are seasonal bush burning (93.3%), long gestation period (85.8%), inadequate extension services (90.8%), Government policies (87.5%), climatic conditions (80.0%), transportation (79.2%), land availability (79.2%), planting stocks (76.7%). It was recommended that farmers’ decision to establish private forest could be influenced by making land available to interested farmers, granting credit facilities and free planting stock