Assessment of wood waste generation and utilization in Makurdi metropolis: Implication for sustainable management of forest resources

This study assessed forest waste generation and utilization in Makurdi metropolis. The increasing quantities of wood wastes from timber sheds, furniture industries and chainsaw millers possess a threat to the sustainable management of forest resources and environmental sustainability. Descriptive statistics such as frequency, mean, percentages and tables, were used  to analyze the result. A five-point Likert scale was used to determine the level of utilization ofwood wastes. The findings of the study revealed three major sources of wood waste which were: timber sheds (37.8%), furniture factories (33%) and chainsaw millers (29.2%) while the types of wood wastes include: sawdust (14.9%), wood chippings (12.8%), wood shavings (21.1%), offcuts (20.2%) and trims (21%). Generated wood wastes were utilized as: animal beddings (39.4%) mulching (28%), generation of household energy (22.7%) briquettes production (6.0%) and engineered wood production (3.9%). The result on the level of utilization of wood waste indicated that it was low with Weighted Mean Score (WMS) of 1.9042. Lack of awareness (55.9%) was the most limiting factor of wood waste utilization followed by lack of technical know-how (18.6%), lack of start-up capital (25%) while the least limiting factor was inadequate raw material (0.5%). This study therefore concludes that the level of utilization of wood waste in Makurdi metropolis was very low. It is therefore, recommended that policy measures or incentives should be provided to wood merchants to encourage investments into utilization of wood wastes in Makurdi metropolis. Keywords: Wood waste, Wood generation, Wood utilization, Sustainable managemen

Civic Engagement Assessment: Linking Activities to Attitudes

In the March-April 2005 issue of Assessment Update, Trudy Banta issued a call to readers to provide information on individual campuses’ efforts to assess civic engagement. This call has prompted us to share the multifaceted approach that Tuffs University has taken to describe and assess this area of student endeavor. Specifically, we will describe an in-depth study designed to investigate undergraduates’ participation in and attitudes toward civic engagement

Civic Engagement: a Study of Changes in College

Using a mixed method longitudinal cohort design, the Tufts University study is examining student involvement in and attitudes towards civic engagement during the undergraduate years and beyond. It does this by using baseline data from students’ levels of community service in high school and then analyzes a variety of curricular and co-curricular experiences in college. This article focuses solely on the research design and some preliminary findings of students’ civic attitudes during their first two years of college

Incorporating Rain Water Harvesting into the Green house Farming

A greenhouse is a structure where crops could be grown under controlled conditions. A greenhouse is needed in experimental determination of optimum conditions under which a crop(s) will perform the best. Rainwater may be used to water the crops inside a greenhouse. A 9m x 6m green house of roof slope 20 degree was constructed according to standard recommended by FAO/SIDA. The roof plan area was determined and quantity of harvestable water was calculated using standard formula. Gutter brackets were fabricated in the Department of Agricultural Engineering, LAUECH. Roof gutter size was determined using standard equation. The roof gutter was attached to the fascia board of the roof, using the gutter bracket at a slope of 1.5% and projection of 0.12m Water from the storage tank was diverted to inside the green house with the aid of pipe network and a tap. The results of rainfall analysis indicated that Ogbomoso has a mean annual rainfall of about 1.2m with a standard deviation of 0.27m and a coefficient of variation of 0.002m, which indicated that the rainfall is fairly well distributed. The rainfall pattern was found to be bimodal in nature, peaking in the month of June and October. The roof plan area was found to be 40m square. The theoretical harvestable water was found 36m square per annum. The required gutter diameter was determined to be 0.086m but a commercially available gutter diameter 0.1m was used. Rainwater from greenhouse roof, if well harvested and stored, may be used to water the plants inside the greenhouse. Adequate storage facility needs to be provided for harvested rainwater. Experimental crops of known crop water requirement should be grown in greenhouse with the harvested rainwater.

Beyond Covid-19: The Future of Festivals in Calabarzon, Philippines

Purpose: This study aims to determine or forecast the willingness of regular participants of festivals to attend or join events festivals in the post-COVID-19 scenario. Specifically, it aimed to 1.) identify the perceived future of festivals in the post-pandemic scenario and if people are still willing to participate in or join in any of the festival's events, and 2.) discuss the role of festivals in the post-pandemic scenario.   Theoretical framework: The researchers employed the stakeholder theory technique to predict the future of the festival's events. A stakeholder is "any group or person who may impact or is affected by the attainment of the institution's objective," Freeman (1984). Freeman contends that a person or group is a stakeholder if it has a sincere interest in a particular component of the institution's operations and, as a result, either can influence the company's performance or has a stake in that performance. Particularly, in this study, the stakeholders are the participants, the businessmen, and the organizers of the festivals. Ultimately, the perception of the stakeholders may be used by festival organizers as a basis for holding festivals in the post-pandemic scenario.   Design/methodology/approach: This study used a qualitative design using phenomenological approach based on the lived experiences of the participants with the festivals they have attended. Snowball sampling was used to choose 32 participants, commencing with the tourist local government official that had control over the festival events. The researchers utilized key informant interviews and focus group discussions on obtaining data, guided by a semi-structured questionnaire to allow the researchers to adjust questions according to the participant's willingness and manner of answering. For data clustering and theme identification, the researchers utilized a qualitative research tool (NVIVO) with license key: (N-L-Z-7-7) and used the analytical framework by Moustakas (1994), as covered by Creswell (2007). The researchers began by outlining the subject's or participant’s encounters concerning the festivals being examined. Next, they created collection of noteworthy remarks and organized these into more substantial units of information (i.e., units or themes).   Findings: As a result, every participant is eager to engage, be present, or take part in their respective festivals again, once the COVID-19 restrictions are removed, but some have a few reservations.   Implications for research, everyday life, and society: In the Philippines, the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in 2023. This is also a time for the local economy to recover. The series of lockdowns heavily hampered the local economy due to the pandemic. The local governments may use festivals to help small, medium, and microenterprises recover from the losses they took during the pandemic, and festivals. can kick start the local economy. Festival organizers may utilize the findings of this research as a foundation.   Originality/value: All the data gathered in this research was at the peak of lockdowns and cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines. This made it very difficult for the researchers to collect data, thus resulting in an integration of in-person interactions, key informant interviews and online focus group discussions. It was a time when mass gatherings were hard to imagine, let alone the celebration of festivals uncertain. Nevertheless, the result was surprising since all the participants were still willing to join or attend festivals

Interaction between O-GlcNAc Modification and Tyrosine Phosphorylation of Prohibitin: Implication for a Novel Binary Switch

Prohibitin (PHB or PHB1) is an evolutionarily conserved, multifunctional protein which is present in various cellular compartments including the plasma membrane. However, mechanisms involved in various functions of PHB are not fully explored yet. Here we report for the first time that PHB interacts with O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine transferase (O-GlcNAc transferase, OGT) and is O-GlcNAc modified; and also undergoes tyrosine phosphorylation in response to insulin. Tyrosine 114 (Tyr114) and tyrosine 259 (Tyr259) in PHB are in the close proximity of potential O-GlcNAc sites serine 121 (Ser121) and threonine 258 (Thr258) respectively. Substitution of Tyr114 and Tyr259 residues in PHB with phenylalanine by site-directed mutagenesis results in reduced tyrosine phosphorylation as well as reduced O-GlcNAc modification of PHB. Surprisingly, this also resulted in enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation and activity of OGT. This is attributed to the presence of similar tyrosine motifs in PHB and OGT. Substitution of Ser121 and Thr258 with alanine and isoleucine respectively resulted in attenuation of O-GlcNAc modification and increased tyrosine phosphorylation of PHB suggesting an association between these two dynamic modifications. Sequence analysis of O-GlcNAc modified proteins having known O-GlcNAc modification site(s) or known tyrosine phosphorylation site(s) revealed a strong potential association between these two posttranslational modifications in various proteins. We speculate that O-GlcNAc modification and tyrosine phosphorylation of PHB play an important role in tyrosine kinase signaling pathways including insulin, growth factors and immune receptors signaling. In addition, we propose that O-GlcNAc modification and tyrosine phosphorylation is a novel previously unidentified binary switch which may provide new mechanistic insights into cell signaling pathways and is open for direct experimental examination

Games of Incomplete Information and Myopic Equilibria

A new concept of an equilibrium in games is introduced that solves an open question posed by A. Neyman