Performance evaluation of sprinkler irrigation system at Mambilla beverage limited, Kakara-Gembu, Taraba state-Nigeria

Irrigation systems are designed to achieve a desired efficiency which in turns improve food productivity. This paper evaluated the Kakara Tea Irrigation System (KTIS) based on its coefficient of uniformity CU, delivery performance ratio (DPR), irrigation p roductivity (IP), labour requirements and water quality. Standard procedure was used for the evaluation. Christiansen’s equation was used to compute CU. EDTA and flame photometer methods were used to analyse water quality. The result indicated that KTIS h as a CU of 90.9%, DPR of 0.79 which indicated an efficiency of 79%. Sprinkler discharge rate was 1.2l/s and application rate was 7.5mm/hr. It is capable of irrigating 41.1ha/day with an average irrigation cycle of 9days and irrigation productivity of 2613. 7kg/ha. Total irrigation production contributes 68.6% to the annual production; case study of 2016 production record. The exchangeable cations analysis of Kakara irrigation System water indicates thus; Na (0.75mgL-1), Ca (1.01mgL-1) and Mg (0.20mgL-1) and Sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) value of (9.64mmoleL1 ), while the pH was 5.6. The result also indicated variation in discharge. Comparing the irrigation productivity (IP) with previous production records from 2011 - 2016 showed good irrigation performance tre nd of Mambilla Beverage Company irrigation scheme. However, the system is labour intensive since the laterals have to be moved after some period of time. The implementation or adoption of permanent laterals and risers will reduce manual labour demand. Variation in discharge can also be adjusted via use of uniform laterals, risers, and nozzles. This study further recommends an incorporation of a soil and water laboratory for the company to aid in monitoring the soil and water quality of the irrigation area. Keywords: Tea, irrigation System, Performance Evaluatio

Antimicrobial properties, safety, and probiotic attributes of lactic acid bacteria isolated from Sauerkraut

Background: According to the World Health Organization, probiotics have been defined as live microorganisms that when administered in the right amount provide health benefits to the host. This study aims to isolate lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from Sauerkraut and determine their anti-pathogenic potential and suitability as probiotics. Methodology: Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from fermented cabbage obtained from an open market in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria by inoculating the prepared cabbage suspension on triplet plates of Rogosa agar (Lactobacillus selecting agar) and incubating in an anaerobic jar with gaspaks at 37°C for 72 hours. The LAB isolates were presumptively identified phenotypically by colony morphology, Gram stain reaction, and catalase test. The antibacterial activity of the LAB isolates was then carried out using agar overlay and agar-well diffusion methods. The most efficient LAB isolate was selected based on its strong antibacterial activity, confirmed by 16S rRNA sequencing and further evaluated for probiotic activities including bile salt resistance, survival in low pH, hydrophobicity of the cell surface, auto-aggregation, and co-aggregation. The putative probiotic LAB isolate was also evaluated for its safety using in vitro tests (antibiotic susceptibility testing, haemolysis, and DNase tests) and in vivo assays (sub-acute oral toxicity tests in male albino rats). Results: A total of 5 LAB isolates were preliminarily identified from the cabbage. The LAB isolate that showed strong antibacterial activity was confirmed as Levilactobacillus brevis. The isolate showed 83.3% survival rate in low pH of 3 and 85.9% in 0.3% bile concentration indicating potential tolerance to gastrointestinal conditions. The cell surface hydrophobicity assay showed 51% and auto-aggregation of 60% which represents the adhesion properties of the isolate. The sub-acute oral toxicity evaluation of the putative probiotic strain in Wister albino rats showed no altered health condition. Conclusion: The findings in this study suggest that Levilactobacillus brevis isolated from Sauerkraut is suitable as probiotics and could be applied in the pharmaceutical and food industry

Firm dynamics and job creation in the United Kingdom:1998–2013

This article is motivated by a very simple question – ‘what types of firms create the most jobs in the UK economy?’ One popular answer to this question has been High-Growth Firms (HGFs). These firms represent only a small minority – the ‘Vital 6%’ – of the UK business population yet, but have a disproportionate impact on job creation and innovation. We re-visit the discussion launched by the 2009 National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) reports, which identified the 6% figure and, using more recent data, confirm the headline conclusion for job creation: a small number of job-creating firms (mostly small firms) are responsible for a significant amount of net job creation in the United Kingdom. Adopting our alternative preferred analytical approach, which involves tracking the growth performance of cohorts of start-ups confirms this conclusion; however, we find an even smaller number of job-creating firms are responsible for a very significant proportion of job creation. We conclude by considering the question – ‘what are the implications for policy choices?’

Development of an Alumni Feedback System for Curriculum Improvement in Building Technology Courses

In this fast-paced world, the needs of the world of work and the global market is changing at an unprecedented speed. Therefore, institutions of higher learning need to constantly adjust their programs to fit into these needs. The study aimed to develop an alumni feedback system for curriculum improvement in Building Technology courses. The study highlighted the benefits of an alumni feedback system compared to a manual questionnaire method or other methods of curriculum improvement. The web-based system was designed through use case and system block diagrams. Thereafter, the webbased system was programmed using HTML, CSS, MySQL and PHP. Screenshots of the web-based system was presented. The alumni feedback system comprises of background information of the alumni, perception test on the impact of the course content and a review of the course content for curriculum improvement. Since this is a preliminary study, future studies would be based on analyzing data obtained in the database in terms of the numerical and text data. This study can be adapted for other programmes for the purpose of curriculum improvement

A study of patent thickets

Report analysing whether entry of UK enterprises into patenting in a technology area is affected by patent thickets in the technology area

All grown up? The fate after 15 years of a quarter of a million UK firms born in 1998

The theory of firm growth is in a rather unsatisfactory state. However, the analysis of large firm-level datasets which have become available in recent years allows us to begin building an evidence base which can, in turn, be used to underpin the development of more satisfactory theory. Here we study the 239 thousand UK private sector firms born in 1998 over their first 15 years of life. A first, and quite striking, finding is the extraordinary force of mortality. By age 15, 90% of the UK firms born in 1998 are dead, and, for those surviving to age 15, the hazard of death is still about 10% a year. The chance of death is related to the size and growth of firms in an interesting way. Whilst the hazard rate after 15 years is largely independent of size at birth, it is strongly affected by the current (age 14) size. In particular, firms with more than five employees are half as likely to die in the next year as firms with less than five employees. A second important finding is that most firms, even those which survive to age 15, do not grow very much. By age 15 more than half the 26,000 survivors still have less than five jobs. In other words, the growth paths – what we call the ‘growth trajectories’ – of most of the 26,000 survivors are pretty flat. However, of the firms that do grow, firms born smaller grow faster than those born larger. Another striking finding is that growth is heavily concentrated in the first five years. Whilst growth does continue, even up to age 15, each year after age five it involves only a relatively small proportion of firms. Finally, there are two groups of survivors which contribute importantly to job creation. Some are those born relatively large (with more than 20 jobs) although their growth rate is quite modest. More striking though, is a very small group of firms born very small with less than five jobs (about 5% of all survivors) which contribute a substantial proportion (more than one third) of the jobs added to the cohort total by age 15

High-growth firms and productivity:evidence from the United Kingdom

Abstract There is considerable evidence that high-growth firms (HGFs) contribute significantly to employment and economic growth. However, the literature so far does not adequately explore the link between HGFs and productivity. This paper investigates the empirical link between total factor productivity (TFP) growth and HGFs, defined in terms of sales growth, in the United Kingdom over the period 2001-2010, by examining two related research questions. Firstly, does higher TFP growth lead to HGF status and secondly, does HGF experience help firms achieve faster TFP growth? Our findings reveal that firms in both the manufacturing and services sectors are more likely to become HGFs when they exhibit higher TFP growth. In addition, firms that have had HGF experience tend to enjoy faster TFP growth following the high-growth episodes. Policy implications are drawn based on the self-reinforcing process of the high-growth phenomenon that is revealed by our results

Is the Public willing to help the Nigerian Police during the Boko Haram crisis? A look at moderating factors.

This paper sought the opinion of 200 Nigerians on their willingness to cooperate with the Police during the Boko Haram crisis. Public perceptions of Police effectiveness during the crisis, residence location, gender and religious affiliation were used as moderators. Data was analysed using an explanatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Results indicated a strong association between perceived effectiveness and willingness to report to the Police with respondents who question the effectiveness of the Police being less likely to be willing to report criminal activity about Boko Haram. Further to this, the impact of religion on willingness to report was at least partially mediated by perceived effectiveness of the Police with the results showing that Christian respondents perceived the Police as less effective. Females and those living in the North were significantly less willing to report criminal activity to the Police The findings are then discussed in relation to the BH crises and directions for future research are given

Predicting new venture survival and growth: does the fog lift?

This paper investigates whether new venture performance becomes easier to predict as the venture ages: does the fog lift? To address this question we primarily draw upon a theoretical framework, initially formulated in a managerial context by Levinthal (Adm Sci Q 36(3):397–420, 1991) that sees new venture sales as a random walk but survival being determined by the stock of available resources (proxied by size). We derive theoretical predictions that are tested with a 10-year cohort of 6579 UK new ventures in the UK. We observe that our ability to predict firm growth deteriorates in the years after entry—in terms of the selection environment, the ‘fog’ seems to thicken. However, our survival predictions improve with time—implying that the ‘fog’ does lift