Process Redesign as an Intangible Benefit: Its Impact on Information Technology (IT) Investment Decisions

Traditional cost/benefit analysis is used extensively by organizations to compare alternatives and to make IT investment decisions. The objective is to select the project that maximizes the net present value of all benefits minus all costs. A major contribution of this study is expected to be the discovery of intangible benefits that IT investment decision-makers fail to include in their decision processes. The impact of the intangible benefit of process redesign is examined in the context of certain benefit factors. Organizations that pay close attention to the identification and measurement of value derived from IT investments (both tangible and intangible) are expected to obtain greater productivity from those IT investments that lead to business success

Preliminary Determination of Subsurface Soil Profiles in Akenfa Community, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

This study aims at establishing the sub-soil types and profile to ascertain the geotechnical characteristics of the underlying soils in Akenfa in Yenagoa, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria and recommend appropriate foundation design and construction of projects in the area. Three (3) geotechnical boreholes were drilled at the site to obtain baseline data on geotechnical properties of the soil and water level monitoring, the boreholes were advanced with the use of a cable percussion boring rig and were terminated to a maximum depth of 30m. The particle size distributions of a number of representative samples of the cohesionless soils were determined by sieve analysis. The results show that the samples are low to medium plasticity silty clay. The lithology revealed intercalations of clay and sand in thin layers to a depth of 2.0m below the existing ground level. Underlying this clay is a stratum of loose to medium dense sand and dense sand. The sand is well sorted grading from fine to medium as the borehole advances. The laboratory analysis showed that the silty clay has undrained shear strength of 48 kPa. The loose sand has a maximum SPT (N) value of 12 while the medium dense sand has maximum SPT (N) value of 28. Considering the nature of the civil structures to be sited in the area, it is anticipated the load and the moderate compressibility of this near surface silty clay and the underlying loose silty sand be supported by means of raft foundation founded within the clay layer. It is recommended that studies on the geotechnical characteristics of the area be carried out as it provides valuable data that can be used for foundation design and other forms of construction for civil engineering structures in order to minimize adverse effects and prevention of post construction problems. Keywords: Subsoils, geotechnical, foundation, engineering structures, Akenf

Breastfeeding and Complementary Feeding Practices of Mothers of Children (0 – 24 Months) Attending Infant Welfare Clinice (IWC) at the Institute of Child Health (ICH) University of Nigerian Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Ituku-Ozalla Enugu

Background: The study investigated the breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices of mothers of children (0-24months) attending the Infant Welfare Clinic (IWC) at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu. The study aimed; to access the infant feeding knowledge of mothers, to ascertain the time of introduction of complementary feeds by mothers, to assess the quality of the complementary feeds used by mothers and to ascertain the period of breastfeeding cessation by the mothers. Methodology: The research involved a cohort study of the breastfeeding and complementary feeding pattern of mothers of children (0-24months) attending the Infant Welfare Clinic (IWC) situated at the Institute of Child Health (ICH), University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu The study was carried out through the evaluation of the knowledge, and practices of the mothers. Structured interview schedule was used to collect information on the mothers' knowledge, and practices of breast feeding and complementary feeding recommendations. Result: Analysis of data revealed that the breastfeeding practices of the mothers varied. Ninety mothers (45%) gave breastmilk alone, only 25 (12.5%) of these children were up to six months. Sixty five (32.5%) of these children who are receiving breastmilk alone were still under six months of age. Majority (26.7%) of the mothers who were no longer breastfeeding stopped between 6 and 8 months of age, while 139(74.4) among the breastfeeding mothers planned to stop breastfeeding between the ages of 12 and 23months. Thirty one mothers (16.7%) planned to breastfeed their children up to 24 months and beyond. Eighty (40%) mothers had introduced their children to complementary feeds and time of introduction of complementary feeds varied among the mothers. Corn gruel (pap) was a common complementary feed used by majority of the mothers 50(62.5%). Very few mothers 18(22.5%) enrich the complementary feeds with sugar and oil and only 14 (17.5%) mothers used feeding bottles to feed their children. Fifty eight mothers (72.5%) had introduced their children to the family foods. A consistent positive relationship existed between mother's education and frequency of breastfeeding; type of birth and exclusive breastfeeding and birth order; mother's educational background and exclusive breastfeeding; frequency of breastfeeding with age of introducing complementary feeding and when to stop breastfeeding with mother's occupation and educational background respectively. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, the researchers concluded that although breastfeeding remains a universal practice by women, the Infant and young child feeding practices observed in this study are far from optimal. The finding showed that although breastfeeding is common amongst the mothers, it is rarely optimal. The mothers use mainly pap made from cereals as complementary feeds instead of using different varieties of our locally available foods, as was the practice prior to the rampant use of the maize gruels. The mothers had insufficient knowledge of use of sugar and oil to enrich the complementary feeds. Keywords: Breastfeeding, Complementary feeding, Practices, Mothers, Childre

Fluoride contamination of groundwater and health implications in Zango, Katsina State, Nigeria

The consumption of drinking water is the principal route of exposure to fluoride for human beings and other living things. Different living organisms are more or less sensitive to fluoride. It can affect their growth, activity, or survival above certain concentrations. This study presents the impact of fluoride in groundwater in Zango Local Government Area of Katsina State, Nigeria. Standard sampling and analytical methods were employed in the study. Results revealed that the alkaline pH and high bicarbonate are responsible for release of release of fluoride-bearing minerals into groundwater. The arid climate of the region, the granitic rocks and the low freshwater exchange due to periodical drought conditions are responsible for the higher incidence of fluorides in the groundwater resource. The people dependent on groundwater resources in the area are prone to dental fluorosis and mild skeletal fluorosis. Fluoride is both beneficial in strong teeth and bone formation (<1.5mg/l) and also damage both the teeth and bone that it helped in their formation if the concentration exceeds 1.5mg/l. Preventive measures, including education programmes to raise awareness on risks/detrimental effects that fluoride in groundwater has on health, multidisciplinary work and joint actions between health and water managers, are necessary to supply safe water to the population affected.Keywords: Fluoride, fluorosis, groundwater, health impacts, Zango, Katsin

A Brief Review: Saccharomyces cerevisiae Biodiversity Potential and Promising Cell Factories for Exploitation in Biotechnology and Industry Processes – West African Natural Yeasts Contribution

Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been widely applied in the production of both industrial and indigenous/or local alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and includes wines, whiskies, gins, and distinct beers. In both small-scale and large-scale industrial production processes, the yeast used is a domesticated version of the organism. The production processes involving domesticated or undomesticated yeast notwithstanding, is one of the most amazing discoveries around the world. Africa, in general, and West Africa in particular have contributed to this amazing discovery involving the application of its local yeast in the food and beverage industry. In the continents of Asia, Europe, and America, the use of yeast strains for both small-scale and large-scale production processes is well documented and most of the yeasts used in major industrial processes originate from the continents of Asia, Europe, and America. Adequate information or documentation on the use of yeast originating and/or traced back to Africa for industrial production application is very scant as such remains an untapped market requiring extensive investigation. This review highlights the potential of yeast strains from West Africa and the diverse properties they possess for consideration of their use to improve the biotechnology industrial applications

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND INFORMATION THEORY OF SCREENED KRATZER-HELLMANN POTENTIAL MODEL

In this research, the radial Schrodinger equation for a newly proposed screened Kratzer-Hellmann potential model was studied via the conventional Nikiforov-Uvarov method. The approximate bound state solution of the Schrodinger equation was obtained using the Greene-Aldrich approximation in addition to the normalized eigenfunction for the new potential model, both analytically and numerically. These results were employed to evaluate the rotational-vibrational partition function and other thermodynamic properties for the screened Kratzer-Hellmann potential. The results obtained have been graphically discussed. Also, the normalized eigenfunction has been used to calculate some information-theoretic measures including Shannon entropy and Fisher information for low lying states in both position and momentum spaces numerically. The Shannon entropy results obtained agreed with the Bialynicki-Birula and Mycielski inequality, while the Fisher information results obtained agreed with the Stam, Crammer-Rao inequality. Also, an alternating increasing and decreasing localization across the screening parameter for both eigenstates were observed.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Environmental Geochemistry and Heavy Metal Assessment in Soils, Surface and Groundwater from Eastern Niger-Delta, Nigeria using Multivariate Pollution Indices

In recent times, there have been increasing interests regarding heavy metal contaminations in the environments, apparently due to their toxicity and perceived persistency within the aquatic systems. Land and water are precious natural resources on which rely the sustainability of agriculture, industrialization and the civilization of mankind. They have been subjected to severe exploitation and contamination due to anthropogenic activities resulting from industrial effluent, refuse dumps, gas flaring, oil spillage and petroleum refining leading to the release of heavy metals into the environment. The results of the analyses indicate a low pH (3.84 – 7.74) and high concentrations of electrical conductivity (28.00 – 752.00), chloride (12.00 – 721.00) and heavy metals in the decreasing order of: Fe > Ni > Cu > Zn > Mn > Cd > V > Co > Pb > Cr > As > Hg. The heavy metal pollution index revealed that the metal pollution in the soil and water ranged from slightly polluted to very highly polluted. The poor sanitary condition coupled with the high degree environmental abuses in terms of oil spillage, gas flaring and industrial effluent in the area are responsible for the low pH, wide range in the concentration of EC, TDS, Chloride, E.coli, total coliform and  heavy metals in the soil and water system in the area. Good sanitation, use of welllined soakaway, treatment of industrial effluent before discharge and putting an end to gas flaring and oil spills are advocated. The use of environmentally friendly techniques such as bioremediation and phytoremediation in remediating the contaminated soil and water in the area is recommended

Safety of honey consumed in Enugu State, Nigeria: a public health risk assessment of lead and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Background: Information about lead (Pb) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) concentrations in honey and their dietary intake is very important in human health risk assessment. Currently, there are paucity of data on the risk assessment and concentrations of lead and PAHs in honey in Nigeria. Objective: This study has determined the potential human health risk of lead and PAHs associated with the consumption of honey in Enugu state, Nigeria. Materials and methods: Lead and US EPA 16 priority PAHs in honey harvested from rural and urban communities in March 2016 were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrometer and Gas Chromatograph respectively. Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk assessments were carried. Results: The mean concentration of Pb in honey ranged from 0.005 mg/kg – 0.08 mg/kg. The mean concentrations of 16 PAHs in honey ranged from 4.71E-03 – 2.72 mg/kg. The dietary intake of the PAHs for adults and children ranged from 0.0021 – 0.0259 mg/kg/day and 0.0011 – 0.0129 mg/kg/day respectively. The levels of BaPeq and their margin of exposure MOE suggest non-significant health risk. The incremental life cancer risk ILCR of Pb were within safe range of <1E-04. Conclusion: Consumption of honey from Enugu State, Nigeria may not pose a significant health risk

Comparative Assessment of Groundwater Suitability for Irrigation and Drinking Purposes in Agbara and Ota area of Southwestern Nigeria

The quality of water is measured in terms of its physical, chemical and bacteriological characteristics. Agbara and Ota area of southwestern Nigeria hosts many industries. These industries generate effluents which are discharged into the environment without any form of treatment, hence the need to ascertain the quality of water in the area for domestic and irrigation purposes. Water samples were collected and analyzed using standard laboratory techniques for physico-chemical and bacteriological parameters and the results were subjected to geostatistical analysis. The result revealed that the pH in the area is slightly acidic (5.70-6.90). The concentration of the major cations and anions falls within the permissible limit postulated by WHO. The high concentration of BOD. COD, total coliform and E.coli in water are testimonies the water in the area is poor bacteriologically and an indication of the presence of human faeces in the water. Prolong drinking of such kind of water can result to water borne diseases in the area. The high concentration of manganese in the water may be attributed to the industrial effluent from the in the area. The water index for irrigational suitability (SAR, SSP, PI, RSC, MAR and KR) suggest that the water in the area to be fairly good. The overall water quality index calculated also confirmed the poor quality status of water in the area. Good sanitary habit and proper treatment of industrial effluent before discharge into the environment is advocated. Boiling of water before use is recommended to ameliorate the effect of bacteriological contamination of the water

Superstatistics of Schrödinger equation with pseudo-harmonic potential in external magnetic and Aharanov-Bohm fields

In this work, the thermodynamic properties of pseudo-harmonic potential in the presence of external magnetic and Aharanov-Bohm fields are investigated. The effective Boltzmann factor in the superstatistics formalism was used to obtain the thermodynamic properties such as Helmholtz free energy, Internal energy, entropy and specific heat capacity of the system. In addition, the thermal properties of some selected diatomic molecules of N-2, Cl-2, I-2 and CH using their experimental spectroscopic parameters and the effect of varying the deformation parameter of q = 0, 0.3, 0.7 were duly examined.Publisher's Versio