A Systematic Review of Franchising as an Alternative Business Model

In today’s business world, franchising has become a viable alternative business model for expansion to many entrepreneurs. As a result, this paper aims to systematically review underlying issues of franchising systems and make suggestions for further research based on identified gaps. The study adopted the Systematic Quantitative Assessment Technique (SQAT) in analysing 91 English peer-reviewed journal articles from 2009-2018 on franchising from six high quality academic databases: Emerald, Elsevier, Springer, Sage, Taylor and Francis, and Wiley. The study reveals a significant work in franchising articles with 17 and 15 papers out of 91 reviewed articles drawing attention to conflict management and market selection processes respectively. 61 out of 91of the articles were empirical in nature and the theoretical background upon which majority of the papers rested on was Agency theory and Resource Scarcity theory. A large number of the studies were conducted in the USA and Europe, whilst the least were from Africa and none from South America, with survey and Panel data being the most prominent research methods. The study also presented evidence of a growing trend in the number of franchising articles within the ten years. The findings of this research provide an x-ray of discourses on the Franchising research topic, showing intricacies that will serve as guides for existing and prospective researchers in the field. The significant contribution of this study is that it is a new addition to the franchising field, offering insights to act as guides for future researchers

Stakeholder views on publication bias in health services research

Objectives: While the presence of publication bias in clinical research is well documented, little is known about its role in the reporting of health services research. This paper explores stakeholder perceptions and experiences with regard to the role of publication and related biases in quantitative research relating to the quality, accessibility and organization of health services. Methods: We present findings from semi-structured interviews with those responsible for the funding, publishing and/or conduct of quantitative health services research, primarily in the UK. Additional data collection includes interviews with health care decision makers as ‘end users’ of health services research, and a focus group with patient and service user representatives. The final sample comprised 24 interviews and eight focus group participants. Results: Many study participants felt unable to say with any degree of certainty whether publication bias represents a significant problem in quantitative health services research. Participants drew broad contrasts between externally funded and peer reviewed research on the one hand, and end user funded quality improvement projects on the other, with the latter perceived as more vulnerable to selective publication and author over-claiming. Multiple study objectives, and a general acceptance of ‘mess and noise’ in the data and its interpretation was seen to reduce the importance attached to replicable estimates of effect sizes in health services research. The relative absence of external scrutiny, either from manufacturers of interventions or health system decision makers, added to this general sense of ‘low stakes’ of health services research. As a result, while many participants advocated study pre-registration and using protocols to pre-identify outcomes, others saw this as an unwarranted imposition. Conclusions: This study finds that incentives towards publication and related bias are likely to be present, but not to the same degree as in clinical research. In health services research, these were seen as being offset by other forms of ‘novelty’ bias in the reporting and publishing of research findings

Evaluation of Four ETo Models for IITA Stations in Ibadan, Onne and Kano, Nigeria.

Records of climatic variables (Solar radiation, Maximum and Minimum Temperature, Maximum and Minimum Relative Humidity and Wind speed) were collected from three International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Stations namely Ibadan, Kano and Onne in Nigeria. For Ibadan, a 36-year (1973 – 2008) record was obtained, for Kano, a 29-year (1980 - 2008) record was obtained and for Onne, a 31-year (1977 - 2006) record was obtained. Evapotranspiration rates for each of the stations were estimated using the FAO-56 approach. The performance of four ET models (Blaney-Morin-Nigeria (BMN), Hargreaves-Samani, Priestly-Taylor and Jensen-Haise models) were evaluated with reference to FAO 56 Model making use of ET estimated from these models. The BMN model was found out to be the best model that can be applied to estimate ET in each of these stations because it has a high correlation value with the values obtained from FAO56-PM model along with favourable statistic values and it requires a considerably less number of variables for its estimation with correlation (r) values of 0.7, 0.77 and 0.75 respectively for Ibadan, Onne and Kano. Key words: Evapotranspiration, FAO-56 Penman-Monteith, Blaney-Morin Nigeri

Assessment of publication bias and outcome reporting bias in systematic reviews of health services and delivery research:A meta-epidemiological study

Strategies to identify and mitigate publication bias and outcome reporting bias are frequently adopted in systematic reviews of clinical interventions but it is not clear how often these are applied in systematic reviews relating to quantitative health services and delivery research (HSDR). We examined whether these biases are mentioned and/or otherwise assessed in HSDR systematic reviews, and evaluated associating factors to inform future practice. We randomly selected 200 quantitative HSDR systematic reviews published in the English language from 2007-2017 from the Health Systems Evidence database (www.healthsystemsevidence.org). We extracted data on factors that may influence whether or not authors mention and/or assess publication bias or outcome reporting bias. We found that 43% (n = 85) of the reviews mentioned publication bias and 10% (n = 19) formally assessed it. Outcome reporting bias was mentioned and assessed in 17% (n = 34) of all the systematic reviews. Insufficient number of studies, heterogeneity and lack of pre-registered protocols were the most commonly reported impediments to assessing the biases. In multivariable logistic regression models, both mentioning and formal assessment of publication bias were associated with: inclusion of a meta-analysis; being a review of intervention rather than association studies; higher journal impact factor, and; reporting the use of systematic review guidelines. Assessment of outcome reporting bias was associated with: being an intervention review; authors reporting the use of Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE), and; inclusion of only controlled trials. Publication bias and outcome reporting bias are infrequently assessed in HSDR systematic reviews. This may reflect the inherent heterogeneity of HSDR evidence and different methodological approaches to synthesising the evidence, lack of awareness of such biases, limits of current tools and lack of pre-registered study protocols for assessing such biases. Strategies to help raise awareness of the biases, and methods to minimise their occurrence and mitigate their impacts on HSDR systematic reviews, are needed

Beneficial Microbes: Roles in the Era of Antimicrobial Resistance

The upsurge of resistance in classes of antibiotics in varied bacterial species has increased the search for alternatives to antibiotics in bacterial infections. However, one alternative is the beneficial bacteria in foods, environment and gut. Probiotics is now being embraced as an alternative strategy to combat antibiotic resistant pathogens. A newer application is gut microbiota in its healthy state combating pathogenic and antibiotic resistant microbes. There have been numerous applications of beneficial bacteria against different infectious agents. This article describes the concept of beneficial microbes as antimicrobial agents with current applications as antimicrobial agents, various applications in the human gut with future directions

Time-Dependent Ginzburg–Landau equation modelling of electron beam additive manufactured Titanium alloy

In this study, the micro-structure evolution in Electron beam additive manufacturing (EBAM) process of Ti–6Al–4V is studied using phase-field modelling. EBAM involves a rapid solidification process and the properties of a build partly depend on the solidification behaviour as well as the micro-structure of the build material. Phasefield modelling was applied to study the evolution of micro-structural scale of dendrites during the Ti-6Al-4V alloy solidification in the EBAM process. The mechanical properties of the final build parts are dependent on the solidification rate which affects the micro-structure of the material. Thus, the evolving of micro-structure plays a critical and effective role towards process parameters optimization. Recent increase in computational power allows for direct simulations of micro-structures during materials processing for specific manufacturing conditions. A MATLAB code was developed to solve the set of Time-Dependent Ginzburg–Landau equation phase field equations. The effect of under-cooling was investigated through the simulations; the greater the under-cooling, the faster the dendrite grows. The micro-structure simulations shows the growth of primary β phase, which has a body-centred cubic crystal structure phase with four fold symmetry comparable with experimental results for the tested range

Effect of Blanching Period and Drying Temperature on Selected Physicochemical Properties of Cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) Flour

This study investigated the influence of Blanching Time (BT) and Drying Temperature (DT) on some selected physico-chemical properties of cocoyam flour including water absorption capacity, bulk density, swelling index, wettability and gelatinization point. The quality parameters of the flour were analysed using AOAC standard methods and procedures. Twofactors, 3-levels Historical Data Design of Response Surface Methodology was adopted for the analysis to determine the effects of BT and DT on the investigated parameters. Second order polynomial model was obtained at 5% level of significance. The flour samples had 1.60 to 4.00% water absorption capacity, 0.71 to 0.81 g/cm3 bulk density, 5.2 to 6.8 g/g swelling index, 7 to 16s wettability and 68 to 90oC gelatinization point. Samples dried at 60oC and blanched for 9.05 mins had better quality with optimum response values of 3.37% water absorption capacity, 0.76 g/cm3 bulk density, 6.22 g/g swelling index, 12.71 s wettability, and 85.73oC gelatinization temperature. BT and DT had significant effects on water absorption and wettability while no significant influence was observed on the bulk density, swelling index and gelatinization temperature of the flour at p ≤ 0.05. These findings will serve as a guide in ensuring proper choice of blanching time and drying temperature based on end-use and desired physico-chemical properties of cocoyam flour

In vitro study of interaction between quinine and Garcinia kola

Purpose: To investigate the interaction between quinine and Garcinia kola using an in vitro adsorption study.Methods: In vitro interaction between quinine and G. kola was conducted at 37 ± 0.1 °C. Adsorption of quinine (2.5 - 40 μg/ml) to 2.5 % w/v G. kola suspension was studied. Thereafter, quinine desorption process was investigated. The amount of quinine adsorbed and desorbed was quantified using HPLC. A Freundlich isotherm was constructed to describe the resulting data and percentage of quinine desorbedwas determined from the desorption data.Results: An adsorption isotherm of the data gave a Freundlich constant (K) of 52.66 μg/g, with a slope of 0.69 indicating a high capacity and affinity of G. kola to adsorb quinine at a concentration smaller than 2.41 μg/g of G. kola. However the adsorptive capacity of G. kola for quinine at 37 ± 0.1 °C appears to be a saturable process as observed from the isotherm. Quinine desorption from G. kola peaked at 1 hour (37.51 %) and decreased to a constant amount (about 35 %) over the remaining sampling time.Conclusion: Quinine is adsorbed on G. kola in vitro. This suggests that concurrent administration of quinine and G. kola should be avoided, to prevent potential drug interaction and decreased drug bioavailability.Keywords: Quinine, Garcinia kola, Adsorption, Desorption, Drug interactio

Numerical Computation of the Protection Performance Data of Moringa and Green Tea Extracts on 1070 Alluminum Alloy

Gravimetric and statistical analysis was utilized to assess the inhibition performance of extracts of green tea and moringa on 1070 aluminum in 0.5M H2SO4 solution. Data output showed green tea extract performed more effectively than moringa extract, and at all concentrations studied with optimal inhibition efficiency value of 95.08% compared to moringa which performed effectively at only one concentration with optimal value of 72.38%. Inhibition efficiency values for both extracts varied significantly with reference to exposure time and extract concentration. The optimal mean inhibition value for green tea and moringa extracts are 88.71% and 66.65%. However, the least standard deviation value of 6.22 was obtained for green tea extract with highest inhibition value indication stable inhibition and thermodynamic stability with reference to exposure time. Statistical data showed 90.5% of inhibition output for green tea extract and 9.52% of inhibition output for moringa extract were above 70% inhibition efficiency at margin of error of +12.6. Analysis of variance showed exposure time is the only statistically relevant variable influencing the inhibition output of green tea with statistical value of 78% while exposure time and moringa extract concentration are the both statistically relevant variables influencing the inhibition output of moringa with values of 61.02% and 24.02%