Why states comply with decisions of international human rights tribunals: A review of the principal theories and perspectives

As the legalisation of international politics gain momentum through growing adoption of multilateral treaties and proliferation of intergovernmental  institutions especially administrative and judicial mechanisms for the  protection of human rights, one area of focus for scholars ought to be the incentives for states to comply with the norms and standards set by these many bodies. This paper takes the reader down memory lane by reviewing the various theories and perspectives of leading scholars on why states  comply with international law with particular focus in the concluding part on why states comply with decisions of international human rights bodies. The paper concludes that while most scholars generally agree that state  compliance is driven by instrumental or normative considerations or both, it remains largely contested which of these broad theories account for most acts of compliance by state actors. The paper argues the need for further research specific to each international and regional human rights system as the factors that drive states towards compliance differ from state to state and region to region.Keywords: Theories, State Compliance, International Law, Human Rights Tribunal

Short-Term Lime Pretreatment and Enzymatic Conversion of Sawdust into Ethanol

The utilization of lignocellulosic biomass as feedstock for the production of fuel ethanol has attracted considerable interests in the last few decades. The emergence of new technologies has provided hope for fuel ethanol potential uses. Lignocellulose is a valuable alternative energy source. The enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass is constrained due to its complex structural features, so pretreatment is important to enhance its enzymatic digestibility. In this study, the influence of process parameters – temperature, air addition, hydrogen peroxide addition, and time – on the pretreatment of sawdust (a wood residue) was investigated. The optimization of the pretreatment step was performed by using the full factorial and central composite designs of experiments. The study assessed the compositional changes by applying short-term oxidative pretreatments such as alkaline wet air oxidation, alkaline peroxide oxidation, and alkaline peroxide assisted wet air oxidation methodologies, and their effects on the yields of reducing sugar. The best pretreatment condition based on the yield of the reducing sugar was the alkaline peroxide-assisted wet air oxidation at 150 oC, 1%H2O2, 10 bar air pressure, 45 min. The optimal 4-day reducing sugar yield was 335.35 mg equivalent glucose/g dry biomass at 40 g/L substrate concentration, 25 FPU/g dry substrate of cellulase enzyme, and 5 IU/g dry substrate of β-glucosidase. Furthermore, when considering the fermentability of the treated solids, at 2% effective cellulose loading, 9.71 g/L ethanol (23.43% theoretical ethanol yield) was obtained for pretreatment at 150 oC, 1%H2O2, 10 bar air pressure, and 45 min. At the optimum pretreatment condition, 0.1 g Ca(OH)2/g dry biomass was enough to cause appreciable lignin removal. Lignin removal was largely dependent on temperature, and the prevailing oxidative conditions. Cellulose was highly preserved in the solid fraction, while more of the hemicellulose was solubilized/degraded. The high-lignin content of the raw material was a great obstacle to the digestibility of the treated material. The lignin remained largely undissolved in the solid fractio

Intentional Grounding: How The NCAA And NFL Have Engaged In Practices That Unreasonably Restrain The Football Player Labor Market

Young athletes often dream of becoming the next star in their respective sports.1 A select few go on to realize that dream and become professional athletes.2 Within this group of superb athletes, there are a rare few who almost seem as though they were meant for the game, showing flashes of greatness at a young ag

Educational Expenditure and Economic Growth Nexus in Nigeria (1987-2016)

This study empirically investigated educational expenditure and economic growth nexus in Nigeria using secondary and times series data from 1987 to 2016, sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and other agencies and sources. Relevant statistical tools were employed in exploring the relationships between these variables. The random characteristics of the variables were tested using the Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) technique. The links among educational expenditure, education sectoral output and economic growth were tested via the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and bound test approach developed by Pesaran and Shin. Four research hypotheses were tested. The literature reviewed guided the interpretation of the results. The population for the study was Nigeria. The findings show that educational expenditure was inconsistent with education sectoral output. On the other hand, while recurrent educational expenditure exhibited significant relationship with real gross domestic product (economic growth), in contrast, capital expenditure on education was insignificant. Generally, the study concluded that the impact of educational expenditure on real GDP is mainly a function of the expenditure type in Nigeria. This is premised on the fact that only recurrent educational expenditure had both positive and significant long-run impact on economic growth within the period of study. The study attributed these findings to the fact that educational expenditure within the period of study was distorted by extraneous factors such as policy mismatch, inadequate funding, less priority placed on capital expenditure, fund misappropriation, etc. The study recommends that in line with international standards, the educational system of Nigeria requires an institutional transformation in terms of policy formulation, implementation and monitoring as well as funding. Also, priority must be given to capital expenditures to translate to economic growth

Spatio-temporal variation of the physico-chemical properties of rainwater in Benin City, Nigeria

Urbanized landscapes are known to have relatively high atmospheric pollutants due to high concentration of anthropogenic activities. This paper therefore examines the spatial and temporal variations of the physico-chemical properties of rainwater at the core, intermediate and urban fringe of Benin City. Rainwater samples were collected at 2 locations each at the core (Ring Road and Forestry), intermediate (Airport Road and Upper Mission) and urban fringe (Ikpoba Hill and Ogba) in the months of March and July, 2016. The physico-chemical properties of the rainwater differed significantly at the core, intermediate and urban fringe between the months of March and July with t-statistics of 3.029, 3.737 and 2.764 (p < 0.05) respectively. The difference in rainwater properties among the core,  intermediate and urban fringe zones were insignificant in the months of March and July. With the exceptions of colour, turbidity, P and Fe in the month of March and P and Fe in the month of July, rainwater properties from the three locations, where WHO guidelines for drinking water is applicable, were within permissible limits. Water quality was excellent at the core, intermediate and urban in the month of July while it was excellent at the intermediate and urban fringe and good at the core in the month of March. Findings suggest that besides the role of rainfall amount in atmospheric cleansing, other factors such as wind profile and direction and atmospheric stagnation also play critical influence on rainwater quality.Keywords: Rainwater, water quality index, physico-chemical properties, Benin City, Nigeria On sait que les paysages urbanisés présentent des polluants  atmosphériques relativement élevés en raison de la concentration élevée d’activités anthropiques. Cet article examine donc les variations spatio-temporelles des propriétés physico-chimiques de l’eau de pluie à la périphérie centrale, intermédiaire et urbaine de Benin City. Des échantillons d’eau de pluie ont été collectés à deux endroits situés respectivement aux quartiers centraux (Route Périphérique et Forêt), intermédiaires (Route Aéroportuaire et Upper Mission) et urbains (Ikpoba Hill et Ogba) en mars et juillet 2016. Les propriétés physico-chimiques des eaux pluviales différaient significativement aux franges centrales, intermédiaires et urbaines entre les mois de mars et juillet avec des statistiques t de 3,029, 3,737 et 2,764 (p <0,05) respectivement. La différence de propriétés des eaux de pluie entre les zones centrales, intermédiaires et urbaines était insignifiante aux mois de mars et juillet. À l’exception de la couleur, de la turbidité, du P et du Fe au mois de mars et du P et du Fe au mois de juillet, les propriétés des eaux de pluie des trois sites, où les directives de l’OMS pour l’eau potable sont applicables, étaient dans les limites  permises. La qualité de l’eau était excellente au centre, intermédiaire et urbaine au mois de juillet, tandis qu’elle était excellente à la périphérie intermédiaire et urbaine et bonne au centre au mois de mars. Les résultats suggèrent qu’outre le rôle de la quantité de pluie dans le nettoyage atmosphérique, d’autres facteurs tels que le profil et la direction du vent et la stagnation atmosphérique ont également une influence déterminante sur la qualité de l’eau de pluie.Mots-clés: Eaux de pluie, indice de qualité de l’eau, propriétés physico-chimiques, Benin City, Nigéria

Performance and egg qualities of old-laying hens fed with diets containing selected phytogenic feed additives

Performance and egg qualities of old-laying hens fed with diets containing ginger, turmeric and garlic were evaluated in a twelve (12) week feeding trial. A total of 135 laying birds of Isa-Brown strain which were sixty-four (64) weeks old were used for the trial and arranged in a completely randomized design. Five diets were formulated for the trial:  Diet 1 (control), Diet 2 (3% inclusion level of turmeric), Diet 3 (3% inclusion level of ginger), Diet 4 (turmeric and garlic at 2.25% and 0.75%, respectively) and Diet 5 (ginger and garlic at 2.25% and 0.75%, respectively). Proximate compositions of the Phytogenic Feed Additives (PFAs) were determined with the moisture content ranging between 5.03-7.50%; ash (3.26-6.11%); ether extract (7.39-14.58%); fibre (10.28-13.79%); protein (3.07-7.23%) and Nitrogen Free Extract (58.88-61.54%). The performance indices, though not significantly (P˃0.05) influenced by the test diets except for Hen Day Production (HDP) had the highest weight gained (0.16kg) recorded for birds fed on a diet containing ginger. The highest (62.92 and 62.04 %) HDP were observed in birds fed diets containing ginger and ginger + garlic; respectively. However, the lowest weight gained (0.04kg) was recorded in birds fed a diet containing turmeric + garlic; this diet also recorded the lowest % HDP and FCR with values of 57.50% and 2.37 respectively. The overall values for the qualities of eggs from laying hens fed the PFAs showed that only the Haugh Unit, yolk colour and albumen height were significantly (P˂0.05) affected; with those on Turmeric + Garlic diets having the highest for these parameters. However, the fatty acid variables were not significantly (P˃0.05) affected by the dietary treatments. It could be concluded that the inclusion of PFAs in the diets of laying hens especially at an older age would help to sustain performance with improved quality

Metropolitan Infrastructure and Property Values: An African Experience

This paper evaluated impact of infrastructure in residential property on its property values in Ibadan, Nigeria. A total number of 450 questionnaires were administered out of which 423 questionnaires were retrieved. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data collected for the study). The study revealed that burglary proof was seen as the strongest index of satisfaction in the study area, this was followed by security guard. Kitchen and fenced round ranked third and fourth respectively, while bathroom/toilet and access road ranked fifth and sixth respectively. Water supply ranked seventh, while drainage channel ranked lowest in the study area. The paper concluded that property developers that want to invest in residential buildings development should endeavor to provide infrastructure that will attractive rental values on their residential property in Ibadan in particular and towns and cities in developing nations

The production of Wara cheese from locally sourced coagulants and its nutritional evaluation

The use of vegetable extracts as milk coagulants has evolved recently in soft cheese processing. In this study, two types of cheeses were produced from locally sourced raw cow milk using two different coagulants, Calotropis procera leaf and CaCl2. Protein, fat, Zn, Mg, and Fe were the nutrients and minerals that were assayed. The protein (18.4%), Fat (7.93%), Mg (4.13%), Zn (4.01%), Fe (2.59%) of Calotropis procera coagulated cheese was significantly higher than CaCl2 coagulant produced cheese with protein content of (9.13%), Fat (5.53%), Mg (2.34%), Zn (2.59%), Fe (1.13%). The higher ash content in the cheese produced with CaCl2 coagulant makes it susceptible to microbial growth, as a result, reducing its shelf-life. The study suggests that cow milk and Calotropis procera produced cheese appears promising in nutritional contents with further quality improvemen

Self-Efficacy and Use of Electronic Information as Predictors of Academic Performance

Abstract Students’ ability to find and retrieve information effectively is a transferable skill useful for their future life as well as enabling the positive and successful use of the electronic resources while at school. It is a known fact in this digital era that any student at the higher level who intends to better achieve and go further in academics should have the ability to explore the digital environment. Students are increasingly expected to use electronic information resources while at the university. Research was undertaken to determine the level of influence of self-efficacy and the use of electronic information resources on students’ academic performance. This study examined self-efficacy and the use of electronic information as predictors of academic performance. Its participants were comprised of 700 students (undergraduate and postgraduate) randomly drawn from seven departments in the faculty of education, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Data on the study was collected through the Morgan-Jinks (1999) academic self-efficacy scale and the use of the electronic information scale (UEIS) with r = 0.75. Three research questions were raised to guide the study. The results indicate that self-efficacy and the use of electronic information jointly predict and contribute to academic performance; that respondents with high self-efficacy make better use of electronic information and have better academic performance; that a correlation exists among self-efficacy, use of electronic information and academic performance; and that the use of electronic information influenced respondents\u27 performance in General Education subjects more than other subjects. Finally, the results reveal that the Internet is the electronic information source students access for information most often. Implications of these results and recommendations are discussed