Development Of Biodegradable Polyetheramide-Urethanes From Castor Seed Oil

Castor seed oil (Ricinuscommunis) is a vital renewable base material for industrial production of lubricants, brake fluids, soaps, inks, pharmaceuticals, pla stics, perfumes etc. The presence of reachricinoleic acid (about 87.5%) content in its fatty acids profile confers on its essential use for coating purposes. This paper presents the synthesis, characterization and antibacterial evaluations of polyetheramide-urethanes (PETAU) prepared from Ricinuscommunis seed oil. N,N'-bis (2- hydroxyethyl) Ricinuscommunis fatty amide (HERA) was synthesized via aminolysis. Upon reacting HERA with bisphenoiA, polyetheramide (PETA) resin was form ed. The polyetheramide subsequently undergo urethanation to form PETAU. The synthesized PETAU was characterized by FT-IR, 'H-NMR and 13C-NMR spectroscopic analyses. Selected physico-chemical parameters of seed oil, HERA, PETA, PET AU were measured. Coating performance, thermal stability and antimicrobia l properties ofthe cured resin were also evaluated

Modelling Delay of Road Construction Projects in 'No Funding-Stress' Scenario using Ordinal Logistic Regression Approach

The study examined critical delay causative factors impacting the delivery of road projects in 'no funding stress' scenario and modelled the variables as a procedural step towards capturing and managing their occurrence in such a scenario. The study adopted a quantitative descriptive approach, which was based on a questionnaire survey. A total of thirty-six organisations that were involved in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) road projects in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria constituted the study population. These were distributed as; 8 client organisations, 13 consulting organisations, and 15 contracting organisations. A total enumeration of the 36 organizations enabled 153 professionals distributed as; 33 quantity surveyors and 120 civil/structural engineers to be sampled. Inferential statistics, rating weighted agreement (RWA), and impact weighting (IW) were employed to isolate the critical factors. Ordinal logistic regression (OLR) was used to model the delay, which was validated using a split-quarter cross-validation method. Twenty-nine critical causative factors were derived with the top three as; mobilization delay, interference by political leader, and high rate of inflation. Ordinary Logistic Regression enabled 11 variables, which had Wald's statistic significant at a p-value ≤ 0.25 to be selected among the 29 critical causative factors for developing a model that predicts project delay quantum in 'no funding stress' scenario. The study provided implications both for project management and government policy development. In the first place, empirical evidence provided is suitable for managing road project delivery in a 'no funding stress' scenario through the development of metrics for improvement of time performance. Most importantly, the study modelled the time variables in this scenario to assist in predicting project delay quantum from inception. The findings also provide implications for government policy response, which would guide the delivery of regional intervention projects. Empirical evidence is provided on road project delivery with special funding intervention that results in a 'no funding stress' scenario. Modelling delay occurrence in such a scenario extends the quantitative approach to the body of knowledge on time performance management in road project delivery.Keywords: Critical impact factors, delay, Niger Delta Region, ordinal logistic regression, Pareto principle, road construction projects.DOI: 10.7176/CER/12-9-07Publication date:September 30th 202

Prevalence of minimal hepatic encephalopathy among patients with chronic liver disease in Ilorin, Nigeria

Background: Minimal Hepatic encephalopathy is the mildest form of Hepatic Encephalopathy which presents with significant cognitive impairment and affectation of activities of daily living. The literature is scanty on the prevalence of minimal hepatic encephalopathy in Nigerians with chronic liver disease.Aim: This study aimed at determining the prevalence of minimal hepatic encephalopathy among patients with chronicliver disease using neuro-psychometric tests.Methods: The study was a hospital-based cross-sectional study carried out at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin from February 2015 to February 2016. Chronic liver disease was diagnosed with the presence of peripheral stigmata of liver disease, liver biochemistry, prothrombin time, and sonographic findings in keeping with liver disease. Minimal hepatic encephalopathy was diagnosed using number connection tests-A and B for patients who were educated while Line tracing test and constructional dyspraxia were used for patients without any formal education. Data obtained were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 computer software package.Results: Sixty-four patients with chronic liver disease were recruited. The mean age (SD) of the patients was 47.1±14.6 yrs, and the 30-39 and 40-49 yrs age groups each had the highest frequency of 21(32.8%). There were 54(84.4%) males and 10 (15.6%) females. The prevalence of Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy was 43.8%.Conclusion: The prevalence of Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy in this study was similar to previous studies. Significant number of patients with minimal HE were in Child-Pugh class B and C.Keywords: Minimal, Hepatic Encephalopathy, Liver Disease, Neuro-psychometric testFunding: Non

CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE FADAMA II PROJECT TO AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

The National Fadama Development Project (FADAMA II) was an idea conceived by the World Bank, Africa Development Bank and Federal Government with active involvements of the State and Local governments as quick and sustainable agriculture and rural development strategy targeted at dry sea- son farming activities and related agro–processing and marketing. This study was carried out to as- sess the contributions of Fadama II project to aquaculture development in Ogun State, Nigeria. 120 fish farmers were selected using multi-stage sampling techniques and structured, pre-tested and vali- dated interview guides to elicit information from fish farmers. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed that majority of the respondents were male (60.8%), married (84.2%), cultured Clarias spp. only (62.5%) and also had large household sizes (63.3%), secondary education (44.2%), source of aquaculture messages was mainly from telephone (GSM-66.7%) and extension guides/bulletins (75.8%), and generated large annual fisheries’ income from Fadama aquaculture (65.8%). Fadama II project had contributed positively to acquisition of pro- ductive asset, poverty reduction, increased income, rural infrastructure, provision of input supports, project management, reduced fish culture period, increase in overall fish yield, expansion of fishery business, improvement in livelihood, and demand-responsive advisory services. The results also showed that majority of the fish farmers considered both lack of finance and high cost/lack of construc- 2 tion equipment as serious factors affecting their fish farming. The results of Chi-square analysis (X ) revealed that there was a significant relationship between the Fadama II project and aquaculture de- velopment in provision of Pilot Assets Acquisition Support (X2 = 52.050; P<0.05). Based on the find- ings, it was recommended that more Fadama facilitators should be employed to provide technical knowledge to fish farmers on how to use some equipment and on how to improve their fish farming business and productivity

Work-family conflict: Evaluating the mediating role of personal intervening strategies

Balancing family and work roles places serious demands on working women most especially in African context where women also doubled as home keepers, and this represents a key factor in achieving sustainable productivity (SDG 8.2.3). The study was to expound work-family conflict experiences by married female workers in financial instit utions, and to determine whether personal interventions play a beneficial role to improve productivity. The study adopted social survey with the use of self-administered questionnaire among 730 randomly selected married women bank employees. The study shows that 78.8% of female bankers experience work-family conflict due to strain to keep the jobs and meet up with expected family roles. In the absence of effective workplace relief, several women resort to personal coping strategies this is statistically insignificant and having a negative relationship depicting it is ineffective. The study concludes that the individual or personal intervention-based approach at minimizing work-family conflict could not be adjudged as effective. Therefore, a systematic and robust organization-based approach may be necessary as panacea for work-family conflict within the sector considered and the country as a whole

Estimation of Groundwater Recharges Using Empirical Formulae in Odeda Local Government Area, Ogun State, Nigeria

Estimation and forecast of groundwater recharge and capacities of aquifers are essential issues in water resource investigation. In the current research, groundwater recharge and the recharge coefficient were determined through a case study using empirical methods applicable to the tropical zones. The related climatological data between January 1983 and December 2014 were collected in Ogun-Oshun River Basin Development Authority (OORBDA), Ogun State, Nigeria. The results showed that groundwater recharge was 194.7 mm per year, evapotranspiration was 1296.2 mm per year, and the recharge coefficient was 20.2% for the study area. The result showed that about 11% of rainfall infiltrated the aquifer, 73% was loss to evapotranspiration, and 36% ended up as run-off. Correlation between climatic parameters and groundwater recharge showed the highest correlation between recharge and rainfall. Temperature, humidity, solar radiation and evapotranspiraton were at the 0.01 significance level, and the results of linear regressions proved that precipitation has a significant effect (with R2 = 0.983) on estimated recharge