Development Inequalities in Osun State, Southwestern Nigeria

This paper examined the spatial inequality of development among thirty Local Government Areas of Osun State, Southwestern Nigeria. Based on the results of Principal Component Analysis and Logistic Regression applied to 45 indices of development in all the LGAs for year 2001, the paper identified four major components and six predictor variables as determinants of development inequalities among the LGAs in the State. It revealed regional inequalities of development in the state. Many development indicators are concentrated in a few Local Government Areas that are urban based. Majority of the LGAs are lagging behind on the components of development. This portends serious implications for development planning in the state. It can be concluded that the economy of the entire state is largely underdeveloped. African Research Review Vol. 1 (1) 2007: pp. 25-4

Local Aetiology and Pathways to Care in Malaria among the Ibibio of South-coastal Nigeria

There is a parallel between local and bio-medical perceptions of malaria among the Ibibio people of South-coastal Nigeria, as in many other societies of sub-Saharan Africa where malaria is endemic. Despite the fact that this accounts for resilience of the disease, earlier studies on malaria in Africa focused on causes, prevalence and socio-environmental factors. Local meanings of malaria and their influence on therapeutic choices have been largely ignored. This study examines local perceptions of malaria among the Ibibio and explains how attitudes are generated from indigenous meanings. It also examines how such attitudes inform a local aetiology of malaria. Similarly, our study examines how local meanings of, and attitudes towards malaria, set the pathway of care in malaria management among the Ibibio. Through qualitative and descriptive ethnography, Key Informant Interview (KII), Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and the textual analysis of documents, our study seeks to establish that malaria is caused by parasites–protozoa. 83% of the respondents held that malaria is due to witchcraft, exposure to sunlight and eating of yellowish food items such as yellow maize, paw-paw, orange and red oil. These local perceptions are drawn from local conceptions which in turn encourage malaria patients to seek assistance outside modern health care facilities. This also discourages local communities from attending health education workshops that link malaria with germ theory and care. Treatment of malaria is thus mostly home-based where a wide variety of traditional remedies is practiced. Our study concludes that the lack of convergence between local knowledge-contents and bio-medical explanations account for a high prevalence rate and the lack of effective management. For proper management of malaria, there is a need to understand local knowledge and indigenous concepts in order to establish a convergence between bio-medical explanations and indigenous perceptions. Only then can a community acceptable means of changing bio-medical perceptions of the disease be facilitated

Maize genetic improvement for enhanced productivity gains in West and Central Africa

During the past 45 years, the genetic improvement programs of IITA and its partners have made spectacular progress in developing high-yielding crop varieties that offered best-bet solutions to major production constraints, such as, cassava mosaic, maize streak, Striga, soybean rust, insect pests, and even drought. These have led to dramatic increases in the production of cassava, maize, soybean, cowpea, and yam in sub-Saharan Africa that have directly contributed to increases in food availability and indirectly to improvements in national economies. This section presents the status, progress, and achievements, and also outlines future work on crop improvement by genetic enhancement in IITA's six crops

Assessment of community factors influencing the effectiveness of improved cassava production technologies in Osun State, Nigeria.

This study investigated community factors and their influence on the effectiveness of improved cassava production technologies in Osun State. Multistage sampling procedure was employed to select cassava farmers in the study. In the first stage, 40 percent of the LGAs in each of the 3 ADP agricultural zones were selected. In the second stage, two communities were purposively selected from each of the twelve LGAs giving a total of twenty-­‐four communities. The third stage involved the proportionate sampling of 25 percent of the population of registered ADP cassava farmers in each of the selected communities giving a total of three hundred and twelve cassava farmers. Data were summarized with frequency counts, percentages, mean and correlation coefficient. The results show that effectiveness of improved cassava production technologies was significantly and positively related to community participation (r = 0.128; p≤ 0.05) and infrastructural facilities (r = 0.157;p≤ 0.01). The results of the study reveal that leadership participation and infrastructural facilities have influence on the effectiveness of improved cassava production technologies. It is therefore recommended that infrastructural facilities such as access roads, electricity, cassava processing centers should be made available in the rural communities to facilitate the effectiveness and success of agricultural programmes. Also, farmers should be actively involved in the planning and execution of development programmes

Selection of maize genotypes resistant to pink stem borer and sugarcane borer.

Maize is an important economic crop grown in Nigeria. Its production is dramatically affect by the pink stem borer—Sesamia calamistis (Hampson, Noctuidae) and sugarcane borer—Eldana saccharina (Walker, Pyralidae) that are endemic in Southeastern Nigeria. In areas of stress, existing genotypes may marginally do well due to their inherent capabilities. Therefore, it is possible to find useful genes in such areas of stress, since such genes have been responsible for the survival of host crops over the years. Evaluation study was conducted for a range of agronomic characteristics and resistance attributes for 209 local maize collections from Southeastern Nigeria along with three improved check varieties. Field trials were conducted at three locations in a total of four environments in 2001. Highly significant genotypic variances as were noted in all the traits, are indicative of the magnitude of variation that exists among the genotypes, thus providing the opportunity of selection for desirable traits. Furthermore, four traits, namely, leaf feeding, ear damage, stalk lodging and yield were used from across the environments to construct a rank summation index (RSI), which was used to rank the entries for resistance to stem borers. This RSI led to the identification of 11genotypes which represents the best 5% of the 212 genotypes in resistance ability. Genotype AMA TZBR-WC1 (from International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan) had the best overall resistance levels, followed by genotypes SE NG-77 and SE NG-67 (from Umuahia North), SE NG-62 (from Ikwuano), SE NG-148 (from Ukwa West), SE NG-106 (from Bende), SE NG-119 (from Isiala Ngwa), SE NG-33 (from Ikwuano) and SE NG-65 (from Umuahia North)

TALENT MANAGEMENT AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: THE MODERATION ROLE OF WORKPLACE CULTURE

The study aims to analyse the effect of talent management on competitive advantage through workplace culture moderation. The data was collected from 425 full-time employees from the top ten deposit money banks in Lagos State using a questionnaire as a data collection tool. This research uses a quantitative approach with a survey method. Respondents were selected from the top ten deposit money banks in Lagos State through a stratified random sampling technique. The collected data were analysed using hierarchical regression analysis (HRA) to test the hypothesis and evaluate the regression model specified. These findings show that the effect of talent management on competitive advantage was significantly moderated by workplace culture (β = -0.015, R2 ∆ = 0.003, F∆ = 13.865, p<0.05). It was concluded that workplace culture moderated the relationship between talent management and competitive advantage in the selected deposit money banks in Lagos State. A recommendation was anchored on management to create a positive workplace culture that supports talent management practises to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.  Article visualizations

Fortification of dough with moringa, coriander, and amaranth improves the nutritional composition, health-benefiting properties, and sensory attributes of Nigerian wheat bread

Consumption of bread can be associated with some health issues, which can be improved by fortifying it with plants that are good sources of nutrients and bioactive compounds. This study investigated the effects of fortifying bread with 3 leafy vegetables on the quality of Nigerian wheat bread. Leave powders of coriander, moringa, and amaranths were added to wheat dough at 0% (control), 1%, 3%, 5%, or 7%, and the blends obtained were used to bake vegetable breads, which were then analyzed for proximate, minerals, total phenolics, antioxidant activity, reducing sugars, glycemic index, and sensory evaluation. Results showed that vegetable fortification significantly increased bread ash (from 0.84% in control up to 1.93% in fortified bread), crude fiber (from 1.68% to 3.29%), and nutritionally important minerals Ca, Mg, P, Fe, and Zn (up to 5.2-fold, 5.1-fold, 18.1-fold, 4.1-fold, and 14.0-fold, respectively); it reduced carbohydrates (from 65.65% down to 43.16%), crude lipids (from 2.25% down to 0.44%), and caloric value (from 1239.65 down to 1125.19 kJ/100 g), with little or no effect on proteins and moisture content. The fortification also improved the bioactive properties of the bread, as evidenced by a considerably higher phenolic content (from 0.40 up to 13.95 mg/100 g GAE) and increased antioxidant activities. There was a significant 1.1-to 3.4-fold decrease in the reducing sugars of composite breads with 5% and 7% vegetable powder, and the selected bread formulation with Moringa 7% lowered the glycemic index of rats by 3.5-fold. Fortification did not generally affect the appearance and taste of the breads but decreased other sensory parameters and overall acceptability; the bread sample enriched with 1% amaranth received the highest general acceptance. In conclusion, fortifying wheat bread with the 3 vegetables improves its nutritional quality and can be recommended as a new pathway for the development of more nutritious and healthy bread

Application of Computer Graphics Technique to Computer System Assembling

Computer graphics is the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer using various technology to create and manipulate images (Shirley et.al., 2005). The development of computer graphics has made computer easier to interact with, and better for understanding and interpreting different types of data. Three-Dimensional (3D) computer graphics represent geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purpose of performing calculations and rendering 2D images which may be for lateral display or for real-time viewing. In this work, 3D computer graphic software is used to produce a model of a real - life assembling of computer devices into a full-blown desktop computer. The work is presented in a video viewing format tat will facilitate independent coupling of systems through a ‘watch-and-fix’ paradigm. Keywords: 2D, 3D, IDE, Assembling, Photo-realistic, Data-visualization, Rasterization

Experimental Optimization of Lead (II) Bioadsorption from Aqueous Solution onto Banana Stalk using Central Composite Design

This study investigated the effect of operating parameters on the bioadsorption process of Pb(II) from its aqueous solution using three Banana Stalk (BS) bioadsorbents [Raw (RBS), Acid Activated (AABS) and Base Activated (BABS) ]. A five-factor, three-level Central Composite Design (CCD) was applied to determine the effects of independent variables (initial metal concentration, contact time, temperature, adsorbent dosage and solution pH) on percentage Pb(II) removal. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize the parameters in the experiment. AABS had the highest percentage removal (96.13%) from the preliminary experiment and was then used for the optimisation experiment. Data analysis showed that all the variables significantly affected the percentage Pb(II) removal at p < 0.05. The square of the adjusted coefficient of determination for regression model of percentage Pb(II) removal is 0.9355. Optimum percentage removal of 96.41% was obtained using AABS when the Pb(II) concentration, contact time, temperature, dosage and solution pH were 21.83g/mL, 152.21minutes, 50oC, 0.90g and 8.00,  respectively. There absolute error between the experimental and the predicted optimum percentage removal was less than 1%. Keywords: Banana stalk, optimization, bioadsorption, acid, base

Implementation of a Modified Counterpropagation Neural Network Model in Online Handwritten Character Recognition System

Artificial neural networks are one of the widely used automated techniques. Though they yield high accuracy, most of the neural networks are computationally heavy due to their iterative nature. Hence, there is a significant requirement for a neural classifier which is computationally efficient and highly accurate. To this effect, a modified Counter Propagation Neural Network (CPN) is employed in this work which proves to be faster than the conventional CPN. In the modified CPN model, there was no need of training parameters because it is not an iterative method like backpropagation architecture which took a long time for learning. This paper implemented a modified Counterpropagation neural network for recognition of online uppercase (A-Z), lowercase (a-z) English alphabets and digits (0-9). The system is tested for different handwritten character samples and better recognition accuracies of 65% to 96% were obtained compared to related work in literature.   Keywords: Artificial Neural Network, Counterpropagation Neural Network, Character Recognition, Feature Extraction