Thin Layer Drying Kinetics and Modelling of Okra (Abelmoschus Esculentus (L.) Moench) Slices under Natural and Forced Convective Air Drying

The effect of sample thickness (10 and 20 mm), method of drying (open sun, solar and hot air drying) and drying air temperature (50, 60 and 70 oC) on the drying characteristics and kinetics of okra slices were investigated. The results showed that sample thickness, method of drying and drying air temperature significantly (P = 0.05) affected the drying rate and thus the drying time. It was observed that okra slices would dry perfectly within 216 – 240 h, 192 -216 h, and 12 – 19 h under open sun, solar and hot air drying, respectively. Irrespective of the drying method, all the samples dried in the falling rate period with no constant rate period. Four thin-layer semi-empirical mathematical drying models (Newton, Page, Henderson and Pabis, and Logarithmic models) were fitted to the experimental drying curves. The models were compared using the coefficient of determination ( ) and the root mean square error (RMSE). The logarithmic model has shown a better fit to the experimental data obtained from the open sun, solar and hot air drying respectively as relatively compared to other tested models. Correlation between the model parameters and the drying air temperature (under hot air drying) to calculate moisture ratio in relation to the drying time were also determined. The transport of water during drying was described by application of Fick’s diffusion model and the effective moisture diffusivity was estimated. The value ranges from 0.253 to 0.901 × 10-10 m2/s for open sun, 0.31 to 1.01 × 10-10 m2/s for solar drying and 3.29 to 14.7 × 10-10 m2/s for hot air drying, respectively. The Arrhenius-type relationship describes the temperature dependence of effective moisture diffusivity and was determined to be 16.74 kJ/mol and 10.39 kJ/mol for 10 and 20 mm sample sizes, respectively. Keywords: Okra; Open sun drying; Solar drying; Hot air drying; Mathematical modelling; Effective moisture diffusivity.

Mathematical Modelling and Simulation of the Mass and Heat Transfer of Batch Convective Air Drying of Tropical Fruits

In the present study, a mathematical model capable of predicting the instantaneous moisture and temperature distribution inside fruit and vegetable material undergoing shrinkage during drying process has been developed. The model takes into account moisture content and shrinkage of material as well as shrinkage dependent effective diffusivity. The mass transfer and heat equations were solved using a numerical technique. For evaluation and validation purposes, the model was applied to drying data obtained from the drying tests carried out on banana slices. An oven dryer was used to conduct the test. Banana slices of approximately 5 mm thickness and 30 mm diameter were dried over a temperature range of 50 oC and 70 oC for 6 hours. The predicted results compared favourably with the experimental results. Thus, the experimental results validated the model developed. In addition, empirical drying rate equations are developed. The model is therefore capable of predicting dynamic behaviour of drying of fruits undergoing shrinkage and, as such, it can be used as a design tool. Keywords: Drying; Mathematical modelling; Shrinkage; Simulation; Moisture diffusivit

Modelling the Water Absorption Characteristics of Different Maize (Zea Mays L.) Types during Soaking

Water absorption characteristic of six different types of maize namely; dent corn (white and yellow), corn flour (white and yellow), popcorn and sweet corn during water soaking were studied at four different temperatures of 30, 40, 50 and 60 o C.The water absorption data fitted very well into both Peleg’s and Becker's models as to correspondingly determine the saturation moisture content (hydration equilibrium moisture content) and moisture diffusivity. The water absorption capacity and saturation moisture contents of each maize type increased as the water soaking temperature increased. The absorption kinetics followed the Fick's law of diffusion during the first hours of soaking. The determined diffusion coefficients values varied from 10.6 to 13.5 × 10-11 m2/s for sweet corn, 6.74 to 8.88 × 10-11 m2/s for white flour, 5.27 to 7.09 × 10-11 m2/s for yellow flour, 4.44 to 5.79× 10-11 m2/s for popcorn, 4.25 to 5.69 × 10-11 m2/s for dent white corn and 3.28 to 4.68 × 10-11 m2/s for dent yellow corn, respectively. An Arrhenius–type equation was used to relate the moisture diffusivity (diffusion coefficient) of dent corn (white and yellow), corn flour (white and yellow), popcorn and sweet corn to temperature, and the energy of activation for dent corn (white and yellow), corn flour (white and yellow), popcorn and sweet corn was estimated. The values determined were 8.17, 9.59, 7.83, 8.45, 6.61 and 8.01 kJ/mol for dent white corn, dent yellow corn, white corn flour, yellow corn flour, sweet corn and popcorn, respectively. Keywords: Maize varieties; Water absorption; Peleg’s model; Becker’s model; Arrhenius-type equatio

Correlation between manufacturing sectors and foreign direct investment

Abstract : The manufacturing sectors of nation’s economies have without doubt been noted as the chief driver of economic growth the world over. The connection between the Nigerian manufacturing sector and foreign direct investment (FDI) was assessed in this work. The study, in order to empirically examine how the variables are related in the long term and short term, utilised time series data spanning 36 years, while the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) and co- integration technique were used. From the result, it is seen that the dependent variables explained R2 of 97% of the variations in manufacturing sector indicators (MFI), while Foreign direct investment, (FDI), Inflation rate (INF), government expenditure (GOE), and money supply (MSP) represent the independent variables. One of the recommendations of the study is that the federal government should consciously increase amount of foreign direct investments (FDI) made available to this all-important sector-manufacturing sector to boost its efficiency especially with respect to percentage impact on GDP and employment generation in Nigeria

ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF CLASS ATTENDANCE ON STUDENTS'ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE USING ASSOCIATION RULE MINING TECHNIQUE

Many institutions of learning encourage students to have good lecture attendance records. The belief is that an above average attendance rate will enhance students’ academic performance. However, very few studies have attempted to answer questions that relate to: i) the actual impact of good attendance record on students' academic performance; ii) the extent, in quantitative terms, of the effect of good attendance record on students’ academic performance. This paper reports the findings from an experimental analysis of students’ attendance record and corresponding academic performance results using Association Rule Mining. Over the years, Association Rule Mining has proved to be effective in analysing relationship between variables in transactional databases. The result of the case study provides useful information for the managements of higher institutions of learning on appropriate perspective to adopt on class attendance policies

A Fuzzy-Ontology Based Information Retrieval System for Relevant Feedback

International audienceObtaining correct and relevant information at the right time to user's query is quite a difficult task. This becomes even complex, if the query terms have many meanings and occur in different varieties of domain. This paper presents a fuzzy-ontology based information retrieval system that determine the semantic equivalence between terms in a query and terms in a document by relating the synonyms of query terms with those of document terms. Hence, documents could be retrieved based on the meaning of query terms. The challenge has been that surface form does not sufficiently retrieve relevant document to user's query. However, the results presented showed that the Fuzzy-Ontology Information Retrieval system successfully retrieve relevant documents to user's query. This is irrespective of different meaning and varieties of domain. The System was tested on words with different meanings and some set of user's query from varied domains

PERCEPTION ON DATING, COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE AMONG UNDERGRADUATES IN FEDERAL TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN OGUN STATE

The study examined the perception on dating, courtship and marriage amongst undergraduates in Federal Tertiary Institutions in Ogun State. The study adopted a survey design. The sample size consisted of 445 students using random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was questionnaire constructed by the researchers. Results indicated that 57.8%  were of the opinion that marriage shouldn’t be an obligation as it is in our society, 77.5% agreed that to be adequately prepared for adulthood, dating must be practiced, the study also revealed that 97.1% agreed that courtship prepares individuals for marriage life. The study further indicated that there was a significant relationship between undergraduates perception on courtship and mother’s educational level with a value of (χ2 = 13.21. P <0.05). The study concluded that dating helps in the development of adolescents but could pose dangers if not properly practiced, courtship is a structured relationship leading to a long lasting union. It is recommended that practices of sexual adventures a as a result of dating calls for family life education as it would equip young people with knowledge on dating. &nbsp

Development of a Web-Based Human Resource Sourcing System for Labour Only Contracts

Nowadays in some areas of Nigeria, it has been noticed that the search for a satisfactory team of labourers (skilled and unskilled) or even the right amount of people to undertake the job has become a laborious activity. Therefore, there is need to build a two-way partnership system linking construction firms with the required skilled labour and vice versa. The aim of this research is to develop a web-based human resource sourcing system for labour only contracts. The study made use of a questionnaire instrument and developed a web-based interface for skilled labour sourcing. The questionnaire was distributed to fifty (50) construction professionals who were selected through a convenience sampling technique. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS v.21. The design of the system was done using hypertext markup language (HTML) for authoring web pages. The study revealed that contractors’ sourcing techniques for skilled labour on construction projects were mostly by referral from colleagues and workers from past projects. The study identified the major barriers in sourcing for skilled labour on construction projects as the unavailability of trained skilled labour. The study revealed that years of experience, wages charged and behavior of the worker were major criteria considered while sourcing for skilled labour on construction projects. In conclusion, the study developed a web based human resource sourcing system for labour only contracts that incorporated the needs of the skilled labour and requirement of construction firms. It was recommended that construction professionals and contractors need to harness the benefits of web-based technologies. In addition, there is need to increase the information and communication technology (ICT) trainings of workers in the construction industry so has to have a successful integration of ICT and the construction industry

Improving Rural Healthcare Delivery in Nigeria using Distributed Expert System Technology

Provision of adequate healthcare for the citizens is the responsibility of governments. This involves recruiting qualified medical personnel, and providing quality medical services nationwide. Theratio of medical doctorsto patients in Nigeria is 1:6,800, which means the citizens are grossly underserved in terms of medical services. Hence, there is need for new strategies that will ensure that more citizens access healthcare services, particularly people in the rural areas. In this paper, a framework for an SMS based expert system for rural healthcare delivery is proposed, which takes advantage of the wide coverage of telephony services in the rural areas in Nigeria. A preliminary evaluation of the expert system for pulmonary heart disease that was developed reveals that it emulates human expert capability at a reasonable level. This makes it suitable for deployment on a national scale to cater for the shortage of medical practitioners particularly in the rural area

Propensity for Diabetes and Correlation of its Predisposing Factors in Ota, Nigeria.

Body Mass Index (BME) and Random Blood Glucose (RBG) are considered important predisposing factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus in adults. This study assessed the propensity to become diabetic based on the relationship between Body Mass Index (BME), Random Blood Glucose (RBG), gender and age in a community in South west Nigeria. The study included a convenient sample size of 140 healthy adult individuals who met the inclusion criteria. Anthropometric indices including height and weight were measured and Blood samples analyzed for random blood glucose. A significant positive correlation was observed (r = +0.32) between BME and RBG in females while there was no correlation in the males (r = -0.05). The males were found to be less likely to be diabetic than the females. The relationship between age and RBG was significantly positive in both males and females. The study confirms the hypothesis that a positive correlation exist between BME and RBG but only in women. This suggests that other causes including sex could predispose to diabetes and reiterates the diabetogenic effect of adiposity