Consumer Preference for Rice Consumption in Nigeria

Rice consumption is of interest to the Nigerian economy because of the huge amount of foreign exchange being spent on its importation and the consequent depletion of scarce resources on which the level of economic activities and productivity are based. This study was aimed at identifying the quality of rice preferred by Nigerians for rice food recipes and consequently efforts made to improve the quality of locally produced rice to the taste of Nigerians. A total of 23 rice varieties were acquired from experimental fields of National Cereal Research Institute (NCRI), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan and Badegi Rice Breeding Centre in Bida. Consumer preference survey of boiled rice and ‘Tuwo’ foods were carried out in 6 major commercial and traditional cities of Nigeria to determine the quality of rice preferred for boiled rice and ‘Tuwo’ rice foods. The survey was in questionnaire format and was carried out in Bida (Niger State), Zaria (Kaduna State), Maiduguri (Borno State), Benin (Edo State), Port-Harcourt (Rivers state) and Ibadan (Oyo State). Consumers preferred parboiled over unparboiled rice and moderate to flaky rice quality over to soft and sticky rice foods. The rating by taste panelists in Bida, Zaria and Maiduguri metropolis indicated IRAT 112, FARO 15, ITA 117 and ITA 123 were most preferred for ‘Tuwo’ foods, while the least-preferred varieties were ITA 132 and TOX 1768. Consumers also preferred high amylose rice for ‘Tuwo’ to low amylose, sticky rice quality. Also the rating of 6 rice varieties with respect to boiled rice indicated that ITA 117, IART 112 and FARO 15 were most preferred for boiled rice, while TOX 1768 and ITA 132 were the least-preferred in Rivers, Edo, and Oyo States perhaps as a result of people’s preference for flaky rice quality for most of their rice recipes. The results indicated that most Nigerians prefer rice with moderate to high flaky rice quality suggesting that in any rice improvement programme in Nigeria these characteristics should be given a premium. &nbsp

Continuous Interpolation of Solution Sets of Lipschitzian Quantum Stochastic Differential Inclusions

Given any finite set of trajectories of a Lipschitzian quantum stochastic differential inclusion (QSDI), there exists a continuous selection from the complex-valued multifunction associated with the solution set of the inclusion, interpolating the matrix elements of the given trajectories. Furthermore, the difference of any two of such solutions is bounded in the seminorm of the locally convex space of solutions

Media Reportage and Audience Perception of Hepatitis Disease in Nigeria.

The growing incidence of hepatitis disease has become a perennial issue across the globe. Healthcare providers and communication experts agree that hepatitis disease is a highly infectious and deadly disease that has infected several millions of individuals in high and low-resource countries. This study examined the media reportage of hepatitis disease as well as the perception of Nigerians on the awareness and knowledge of the disease. This study was anchored on the Health Belief Model (HBM), which explains how attitude of individuals can be influenced by media and health communication messages. This study adopted a dual research method that made use of survey and content analysis to achieve the objectives of the study. The results indicated that 53.3% of the respondents had been previously informed about the hepatitis disease, with only 62 people getting to know through the mainstream media (television, radio and newspaper) and 42 people were informed through the internet (the new media). The study further revealed that just 55 stories were published in duo years of 2015 and 2016 by four national newspapers in Nigeria. This study recommends that the media in Nigeria need to urgently align with the Health Belief Model (HBM) by positively affecting the perception of the people to live a sensitive and conscious life against the hepatitis disease

EFFECT OF PARBOILING AND COOKING PROCESSES ON THE QUALITY OF NIGERIAN MILLED RICE

This study aimed at identifying factors affecting the cooking quality of rice preferred by Nigerians and consequently to improve the locally produced rice to the taste of Nigerians. A total of 23 rice varieties were acquired from experimental fields of National Cereal Research Institute (NCRI), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan and Badegi Rice Breeding Centre in Bida. Three (3kg) of each sample was parboiled, dried and milled. Cooking tests were done on both parboiled and unparboiled samples to determine water up-take, volume of expansion, gell consistency and solid residue ratio. Parboiled samples took a longer time to cook, had lower water absorption and decreased percentage solid residue. Texture of parboiled cooked rice was fluffy and less moist, cooked separate when compared to unparboiled rice samples

Gender differences in time-poverty among rural households in Southwest Nigeria

This study seeks to assess gender inequality in and correlates of time poverty among 360 rural households in Southwest, Nigeria. A person is deemed to be time poor if (s)he works more than 10.5 hours per day, the internationally accepted threshold. Using the time allocation domain of the Abbreviated Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index, the study found that on the average, rural women and men spent about 10.3 hours and 8 hours, respectively, on work activities on a daily basis. Work activities for women were found to be diverse, spreading across reproductive and productive domains largely farming, own business e. g. trading, cooking and domestic work, while for men, work activities centred on productive economic activities, dominated by farming. Using a Probit regression model, the study found experience in agriculture and adoption of television to reduce the likelihood of time poverty among rural men. Surprisingly, participation in empowerment projects was found to increase the likelihood of time poverty among rural women. In conclusion, empowerment programmes should be expanded to address the non-material aspects of human well-being. Hence, the study recommends a gender-sensitive approach to intervention programmes in agriculture and adoption of a broader definition of empowerment which not only focus on expanding access to markets and increasing income but enhances control over time. This is more important for women who are already under the double burden of paid and unpaid domestic work

IN VITRO COMPARISON OF PHYTASES FROM TWO MICROBIAL SOURCES

The chemical properties of two different commercial microbial phytases (Natuphos and Ronoxyme P)        were compared. Natuphus production was based on the use of   a recombinant of Aspergillus niger        strain while the Ronoxyme P was from Peniophora lycii. The enzymes were studied for their optimum        pH, optimum temperature and enzyme stability, resistance to protease and stability in digesta super-        natants. The phytases were found to exhibit different properties depending on source of the phytase        gene and production organism. An optimum pH of 5.5 was recorded for the enzyme from Peniophora                                                                                                       0        lycii while pH of 5.0 was recorded for the enzyme from Aspergillus niger. Both phytases had 50 C as        their optimum temperature. The result of the enzyme - stability in aqueous solution indicated that the        Peniophora lycii phytase was more thermo-stable than the Aspergillus niger phytase. Incubation of the        phytases preparations with porcine proteases revealed that Aspergillus niger was more resistant to        pepsin and trypsin than Peniophora. Incubation of the phytases in digesta supernatants from various        segments of the digestive tract of hens revealed that digesta from the small intestine (SI) inactivated        the enzymes most efficiently. Nevertheless, the enzyme from Peniophora lycii retained more activity        than the enzyme from Aspergillus niger in all of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). In conclusion, phyta-        ses of various microbial origins behave differently with respect to their in vitro properties, which could        be of importance for future developments of phytase preparation

Surface state band mobility and thermopower in semiconducting bismuth nanowires

Many thermoelectrics like Bi exhibit Rashba spin-orbit surface bands for which topological insulator behavior consisting of ultrahigh mobilities and enhanced thermopower has been predicted. Bi nanowires realize surface-only electronic transport since they become bulk insulators when they undergo the bulk semimetal-semiconductor transition as a result of quantum confinement for diameters close to 50 nm. We studied 20-, 30-, 50- and 200-nm trigonal Bi wires. Shubnikov-de Haas magnetoresistance oscillations caused by surface electrons and bulklike holes enable the determination of their densities and mobilities. Surface electrons have high mobilities exceeding 2(m^2)/(Vsec) and contribute strongly to the thermopower, dominating for temperatures T< 100 K. The surface thermopower is - 1.2 T microvolt/(K^2), a value that is consistent with theory, raising the prospect of developing nanoscale thermoelectrics based on surface bands.Comment: 19 pages. 3 figure

Magnetic properties of submicron Co islands and their use as artificial pinning centers

We report on the magnetic properties of elongated submicron magnetic islands and their influence on a superconducting film. The magnetic properties were studied by magnetization hysteresis loop measurements and scanning-force microscopy. In the as-grown state, the islands have a magnetic structure consisting of two antiparallel domains. This stable domain configuration has been directly visualized as a 2x2-checkerboard pattern by magnetic-force microscopy. In the remanent state, after magnetic saturation along the easy axis, all islands have a single-domain structure with the magnetic moment oriented along the magnetizing field direction. Periodic lattices of these Co islands act as efficient artificial pinning arrays for the flux lines in a superconducting Pb film deposited on top of the Co islands. The influence of the magnetic state of the dots on their pinning efficiency is investigated in these films, before and after the Co dots are magnetized.Comment: 6 pages including figure

Strategies for recruitment and retention of teen mothers in a program to prevent repeat pregnancy

Background: We describe challenges to recruitment and retention of teen mothers in a study to prevent repeat teen pregnancies, and strategies used to overcome them. Methods: We documented recruitment efforts, the teens who were retained at each stage of the intervention and changes to strategies. Results: Challenges to recruitment and retention were related to lifestyles, immaturity, and competing demands, among others. Successful strategies included bus advertisements, early pairing of teens with mentors, using electronic media, convenient meeting times with a meal, providing child care, transportation vouchers and immediate incentives. Conclusions: This study highlights impediments to teen mother research recruitment and retention, and the value of emerging technologies and strong bonding relationships early in the intervention to maximize recruitment and retention