An evaluation of human resource management practices in wire and cable industry in south-western Nigeria

The study examined the human resource management (HRM) practices in the wire and cable industry; investigated the relationship between human resource management practices and components of organisational citizenship behaviour. The study relied on primary data which was generated through the administration of a structured questionnaire. The study population (1,200) comprised all the employees of the seven wire and cable manufacturing companies in South-western Nigeria. Using the Yamane’s formula, a total sample size of 570 employees were purposively selected on the bases of the location of the companies as follows: Nexim Kabel Metal Plc (142), Nigerchin Plc (119), Coleman Wire and Cable Plc (63), MicCom Nigerian Plc (63), Nigeria Wire and Cable Plc (57), Comester Wire and Cable (76), Denki Wire and Cable Nigeria Plc (38). The respondents included managers (75), supervisors (120) and factory workers (385). Data collected were analyzed using percentage, correlation analysis and multiple regressions. The results showed seven types of HRM practices in the wire and cable industry and they were rated by the employees as follows: Compensation Management (95%), Employee Empowerment (81%), Welfare Programme (80%) and Career Development (70%).Keywords: Compensation, Human Resource, Empowerment, Welfare, Developmen

Development and Validation of an Empathy Questionnaire measuring Cognitive and Affective Traits

The current study seeks to develop and validate a quantitative measure of empathy. Definitions of empathy vary (Stern, 2021, Brett, 2023), but for the purpose of this study, we defined empathy as the ability to perceive and sympathize with the thoughts, emotions, and feelings of another person. Higher levels of empathy are linked with supportive social behavior, and lower levels of stress in college students (Stern, 2021). Previous empathy scales, such as the Perth Empathy Scale (Brett et al., 2023), have divided empathy into cognitive and affective abilities. Our scale will use this structure, while further specifying the cognitive and affective abilities that pertain to empathy. In this study, we are developing 5 subscales that pertain to empathy, which include acceptance, communication, perspective-taking, compassion, and sensitivity. We hypothesize that each subscale of our scale will demonstrate strong psychometric properties, including internal consistency and inter-item correlation. We also hypothesize that our scale will be significantly associated with high levels of perspective-taking and sensitivity, specifically scored using the Perspective Taking Scale (Cohen, 1988) and the Sensitivity Scale (You, et. al. 2021). Lastly, we hypothesize that our empathy scale will significantly predict stress in emerging adults. Results and implications are forthcoming

Organisational Culture and Human Capital Development in First Bank Nigeria Plc

The study investigated the effect of organizational culture on human capital development. The study adopted the survey method and Pearson Correlation Coefficient and Multivariate Regression Model was used to analyse the hypotheses. The instrument used in data collection was a structured questionnaire and statistical techniques of Pearson product correlation coefficient to determine the impact on human capital development in First Bank. The finding of this study shows that organizational culture will positively but insignificantly influence human capital development practice in terms of staffing, career development and compensation. The study recommends that it is important for practicing managers to take cultural factors into account in formulating human capital development policy across the country. There should an alternative management science that is based on Nigerian values. Companies should also share information to safe guard the current best practices in order to keep up to date and deal with human capital development.Key Words: Culture, Human Capital, Organisation, Banking Industr

Exploration of the effect of Zn-MgO-UPP coating on hardness, corrosion resistance and microstructure properties of mild steel

This paper investigated the effect of unripe plantain peel (UPP) nanoparticles reinforced Zn-MgO composite coating on the hardness, anti-corrosion and microstructure properties of mild steel. The anti-corrosion characteristics of the coatings were examined using the potentiodynamic polarization method, employing 3.65 % NaCl solution as the test medium. The hardness of the coatings was studied employing the Brinell hardness technique, while the microstructure characteristics were examined using XRD and SEM/EDS. The results of the study revealed that the as-received mild steel sample exhibited the corrosion rate and hardness value of 8.6272 mm year-1 and 136.8 kgf mm-2, respectively, while the Zn-MgO co­ated mild steel sample exhibited a corrosion rate and hardness value of 3.6362 mm year-1 and 42.5 kgf mm-2, respectively. The optimal performing Zn-MgO-UPP coated mild steel sample (sample coated with 20 g L-1 of MgO and 6 g L-1 of UPP) exhibited a corrosion rate and hardness value of 0.8317 mm year-1 and 245.8 kgf mm-2, respectively. The corrosion rate and hardness value of the Zn-20MgO-6UPP coated mild steel sample indicated that the UPP nanoparticles further improved the passivating and strengthening ability of Zn-MgO coating. Moreover, the XRD profile of the coatings possessed high intensities, which indi­cat­ed that the coatings exhibit microstructural and chemical homogeneity, high stability and good texture. It was observed on the SEM micrographs that the Zn-MgO-UPP coating exhi­bited a more refined microstructure compared to the Zn-MgO coating, indicating the grain refining tendency of the UPP nanoparticles. The EDS further indicated the presence of essential and dispersion strengthening elements in the coatings

Management of Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) Services by Community Pharmacists in Osun State Nigeria

Background: Point-of-care testing (POCT) provides important opportunity for community pharmacists to participate in oriented primary patient care. Effective management of these services is required to deliver their currently- underexploited benefits. Objectives: Assessed attitudes and practice, examined management functions deployed and identified factors affecting provision of POCTs by community pharmacists. Methods: A questionnaire-guided cross-sectional survey of 146 randomly-selected community pharmacists was conducted in Osun State Southwestern Nigeria. Study variables were measured on 5-point Likert scales with weighted averages, median scores and ranks used to present item performances. Interquartile ranges were computed to categorize practice scores. Chi square statistic was used to examine association of variables. ANOVA and 2-sample t-test were used to compare means. Results: A response rate of 94.5% was achieved. Respondents had a positive attitude (MWA 3.75) towards provision of POCTs as core component of their practice (MWA 4.58) with potential to contribute significantly to profitability (MWA 4.31). Respondents’ median practice score was 3.01(moderate practice) with blood pressure screening (4.77), weight measurement (4.45), and blood glucose screening (4.18) as leading POCTs, while cervical cancer screening (1.09) was least practiced. Management of POCTs was fair (MWA 3.33) with organisation of work as pre-eminent domain (MWA 3.66). Management practices were significantly associated with almost all demographic variables (p< .05). Positive public perception of pharmacists’ roles (MWA 4.31) and their improving clinical skills (MWA 4.01) were the leading enablers while the lack of enabling policy framework (MWA 3.80) and poor health information backbone (MWA 3.78) were major challenges to routine adoption of POCTs by respondents. Conclusion: The community pharmacists had positive attitude and moderate practice of POCTs. Management of these services was fair. Improving public perception of pharmacists should be exploited while enabling legal and health information systems should be provided to drive routine adoption of POCTs

FEDGEN Testbed: A Federated Genomics Private Cloud Infrastructure for Precision Medicine and Artificial Intelligence Research

The cloud computing space is enjoying a renaissance. Not long ago, cloud computing was confined to the wall of high-revenue companies, but in recent times a growing number of businesses, public and private institutions are turning to the cloud computing platform to reap the benefits of a self-service, scalable, and flexible infrastructure. Moreover, with the increased implementation, advantages, and popularity of artificial intelligence, the demand for computing environments to solve age-old problems such as malaria and cancer is on the rise. This paper presents the implementation of a cloud computing infrastructure, the FEDerated GENomics (FEDGEN) Testbed, to provide an adequate IT environment for cancer and malaria researchers. The cloud computing environment is built using Openstack middleware. OpenStack is deployed using Metal-As-A-Service (MAAS) and Juju. Virtual Machines (Instances) were deployed, and services (JupiterHub) were installed on the FEDGEN testbed. The built infrastructure would allow the running of models requiring high computing power and would allow for collaboration among teams

Pathways for the Valorization of Animal and Human Waste to Biofuels, Sustainable Materials, and Value-Added Chemicals

Human and animal waste, including waste products originating from human or animal digestive systems, such as urine, feces, and animal manure, have constituted a nuisance to the environment. Inappropriate disposal and poor sanitation of human and animal waste often cause negative impacts on human health through contamination of the terrestrial environment, soil, and water bodies. Therefore, it is necessary to convert these wastes into useful resources to mitigate their adverse environmental effect. The present study provides an overview and research progress of different thermochemical and biological conversion pathways for the transformation of human- and animal-derived waste into valuable resources. The physicochemical properties of human and animal waste are meticulously discussed, as well as nutrient recovery strategies. In addition, a bibliometric analysis is provided to identify the trends in research and knowledge gaps. The results reveal that the USA, China, and England are the dominant countries in the research areas related to resource recovery from human or animal waste. In addition, researchers from the University of Illinois, the University of California Davis, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Zhejiang University are front runners in research related to these areas. Future research could be extended to the development of technologies for on-site recovery of resources, exploring integrated resource recovery pathways, and exploring different safe waste processing methods

Pathways for the Valorization of Animal and Human Waste to Biofuels, Sustainable Materials and Value-Added Chemicals

Human and animal waste, including waste products originating from human or animal digestive systems such as urine, feces, and animal manure, have constituted a nuisance to the environment. Inappropriate disposal and poor sanitation of human and animal waste often cause negative impacts on human health through contamination of the terrestrial environment, soil, and water bodies. Therefore, it is necessary to convert these wastes into useful resources to mitigate their adverse environmental effect. The present study provides an overview and research progress of different thermochemical and biological conversion pathways for the transformation of human- and animal-derived waste into valuable resources. The physicochemical properties of human and animal waste are meticulously discussed as well as nutrient recovery strategies. In addition, a bibliometric analysis is provided to identify the trends in research and knowledge gaps. The results reveal that the U.S.A, China and England are the dominant countries in the research areas related to resource recovery from human or animal waste. In addition, researchers from the University of Illinois, the University of California Davis, the Chinese Academy of Science and Zhejiang University are front runners in research related to these areas. Future research should be centred on developing technologies for the on-site recovery of resources, exploring integrated resource recovery pathways, and exploring different safe waste processing methods

The Helicobacter pylori Genome Project : insights into H. pylori population structure from analysis of a worldwide collection of complete genomes

Helicobacter pylori, a dominant member of the gastric microbiota, shares co-evolutionary history with humans. This has led to the development of genetically distinct H. pylori subpopulations associated with the geographic origin of the host and with differential gastric disease risk. Here, we provide insights into H. pylori population structure as a part of the Helicobacter pylori Genome Project (HpGP), a multi-disciplinary initiative aimed at elucidating H. pylori pathogenesis and identifying new therapeutic targets. We collected 1011 well-characterized clinical strains from 50 countries and generated high-quality genome sequences. We analysed core genome diversity and population structure of the HpGP dataset and 255 worldwide reference genomes to outline the ancestral contribution to Eurasian, African, and American populations. We found evidence of substantial contribution of population hpNorthAsia and subpopulation hspUral in Northern European H. pylori. The genomes of H. pylori isolated from northern and southern Indigenous Americans differed in that bacteria isolated in northern Indigenous communities were more similar to North Asian H. pylori while the southern had higher relatedness to hpEastAsia. Notably, we also found a highly clonal yet geographically dispersed North American subpopulation, which is negative for the cag pathogenicity island, and present in 7% of sequenced US genomes. We expect the HpGP dataset and the corresponding strains to become a major asset for H. pylori genomics