One-dimentional magnonic crystal as a medium with magnetically tunable disorder on a periodical lattice

We show that periodic magnetic nanostructures (magnonic crystals) represent an ideal system for studying excitations on disordered periodical lattices because of the possibility of controlled variation of the degree of disorder by varying the applied magnetic field. Ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) data collected inside minor hysteresis loops for a periodic array of Permalloy nanowires of alternating width and magnetic force microscopy images of the array taken after running each of these loops were used to establish convincing evidence that there is a strong correlation between the type of FMR response and the degree of disorder of the magnetic ground state. We found two types of dynamic responses: anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) and ferromagnetic (FM), which represent collective spin wave modes or collective magnonic states. Depending on the history of sample magnetization either AFM or FM state is either the fundamental FMR mode or represents a state of a magnetic defect on the artificial crystal. A fundamental state can be transformed into a defect one and vice versa by controlled magnetization of the sample.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Letter paper, already submitted to PR

Consumer Preference for Rice Consumption in Nigeria

Rice consumption is of interest to the Nigerian economy because of the huge amount of foreign exchange being spent on its importation and the consequent depletion of scarce resources on which the level of economic activities and productivity are based. This study was aimed at identifying the quality of rice preferred by Nigerians for rice food recipes and consequently efforts made to improve the quality of locally produced rice to the taste of Nigerians. A total of 23 rice varieties were acquired from experimental fields of National Cereal Research Institute (NCRI), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan and Badegi Rice Breeding Centre in Bida. Consumer preference survey of boiled rice and ‘Tuwo’ foods were carried out in 6 major commercial and traditional cities of Nigeria to determine the quality of rice preferred for boiled rice and ‘Tuwo’ rice foods. The survey was in questionnaire format and was carried out in Bida (Niger State), Zaria (Kaduna State), Maiduguri (Borno State), Benin (Edo State), Port-Harcourt (Rivers state) and Ibadan (Oyo State). Consumers preferred parboiled over unparboiled rice and moderate to flaky rice quality over to soft and sticky rice foods. The rating by taste panelists in Bida, Zaria and Maiduguri metropolis indicated IRAT 112, FARO 15, ITA 117 and ITA 123 were most preferred for ‘Tuwo’ foods, while the least-preferred varieties were ITA 132 and TOX 1768. Consumers also preferred high amylose rice for ‘Tuwo’ to low amylose, sticky rice quality. Also the rating of 6 rice varieties with respect to boiled rice indicated that ITA 117, IART 112 and FARO 15 were most preferred for boiled rice, while TOX 1768 and ITA 132 were the least-preferred in Rivers, Edo, and Oyo States perhaps as a result of people’s preference for flaky rice quality for most of their rice recipes. The results indicated that most Nigerians prefer rice with moderate to high flaky rice quality suggesting that in any rice improvement programme in Nigeria these characteristics should be given a premium. &nbsp

Collective spin waves in arrays of Permalloy nanowires with single-side periodically modulated width

We have experimentally and numerically investigated the dispersion of collective spin waves prop-agating through arrays of longitudinally magnetized nanowires with periodically modulated width. Two nanowire arrays with single-side modulation and different periodicity of modulation were studied and compared to the nanowires with homogeneous width. The spin-wave dispersion, meas-ured up to the third Brillouin zone of the reciprocal space, revealed the presence of two dispersive modes for the width-modulated NWs, whose amplitude of magnonic band depends on the modula-tion periodicity, and a set of nondispersive modes at higher frequency. These findings are different from those observed in homogeneous width NWs where only the lowest mode exhibits sizeable dis-persion. The measured spin-wave dispersion has been satisfactorily reproduced by means of dynam-ical matrix method. Results presented in this work are important in view of the possible realization of frequency tunable magnonic device

Organisational Culture and Employees Commitment in Public Tertiary Institutions in Lagos State, Nigeria

DU study investigated the relationship between organizational culture and employees' C0111111ltment in public tertiary institutions in Lagos State, Nigeria. Four hypotheses were tated In this study. The descriptive research design type was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprises all the non-teaching and teaching employees in public tertiary institutions in Lagos State. The simple random sampling technique was first adopted to select four out of the seven public tertiary institutions in Lagos State for the study. The simple random sampling was fUrther used to select 50 employees from each of the four public tertiary institutions comprising a total of 200 samples for the study. An instrument tagged "Organizational Culture and Employees Commitment Questionnaire" was used to collect data for the study. The instrument was validated and a reliability coefficient of 0. 78 was obtained for the instrument. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results from the data analysis indicated that significant relationship exist between organizational culture and employees' commitment in public tertiary institutions in Lagos State. It was fUrther found that significant difference exist in the commitment of employees of different sex, ages and length of service to their institutions in Lagos State should Management improve on the cu"ent rewards system in their institutions to enhance employees' commitment levels as well as output among other

An Analysis of Factors Influencing Hiring/ Placement of University Graduates in Nigeria

1bia study notes the alarming rate of graduate unemployment and analyses the factors iaftuencing labour market demand for University graduates in Nigeria. A total of II 0 Labour Orpnizations was randomly sampled within Lagos metropolis. The study adopts a descriptive survey design. With the aid of a structured questionnaire and unstructured interview questions, relevant information was collected. Four hypotheses were postulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance using the chi-square. Finding shows that there are significant relationships between the experience, Government's economic policies, Quality of degree, Area of specialization and hiring I placement of Labour by Employer. The study concludes by suggesting the way out for the endemic state of unemployment in general and graduates from Nigeria Universities in particular

Urbalization and the transitional Economy: Impacts and Effects On Africa Regional Growth

• lltctwDhtg trend of international trade and investment are primary economic activities """M'Ye as the engine of the world economic growth. We discover that the volume of goods IIWIIedln Nigeria since 1950 has tremendously improved as a reflection of lower tariffs. An lllctwDe In tariff by one country usually triggered retaliatory changes by trading partners ~«~ding to tariff wars with the attendant effect of less trade and employment inhibition. But with Intense trade openness to the world, economic activities have witnessed a significant transition. The geographical spread of the growth has generated controversial debate. The paper Is a discourse of globalization, and the transitional economy. It also reviews the definition of Globalization and examines the impact and effect of the transitional economy on the regional growth with particular reference to Africa, using Niger Delta in Nigeria as a case study. African countries, therefore, should rise to the challenges of globalization as the new Asian Tige

An empirical study of the factors influencing Industrial Conflicts in Nigeria (1980-2010)§

The study examined empirically the factors that influence industrial conflicts in Nigeria during the period 1980-2010. Earlier studies have isolated the economic and non-economic determinants of conflict in developing countries but the impacts of the identified factors have not been estimated The work attempted to bridge the gaps that exist between the theoretical and empirical analyses. The study employed simultaneous equation model techniques (SEMT) in which strikes and wage rates were made endogenous .As a descriptive study which made use of three research questions and three hypotheses, 400 staff across six selected companies in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria, after stratification, were chosen randomly through simple random techniques. Secondary data were obtained from the Federal Ministry of Labour, Employment and Productivity, Lagos and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Lagos. Results show that changes in wage rate, price expectation and union membership concentration influence industrial conflicts in Nigeria. Also the simultaneous equation model revealed that wages were significantly affected by strikes activity. Strike activities were not affected by wages only during the period under stud

EFFECT OF PARBOILING AND COOKING PROCESSES ON THE QUALITY OF NIGERIAN MILLED RICE

This study aimed at identifying factors affecting the cooking quality of rice preferred by Nigerians and consequently to improve the locally produced rice to the taste of Nigerians. A total of 23 rice varieties were acquired from experimental fields of National Cereal Research Institute (NCRI), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan and Badegi Rice Breeding Centre in Bida. Three (3kg) of each sample was parboiled, dried and milled. Cooking tests were done on both parboiled and unparboiled samples to determine water up-take, volume of expansion, gell consistency and solid residue ratio. Parboiled samples took a longer time to cook, had lower water absorption and decreased percentage solid residue. Texture of parboiled cooked rice was fluffy and less moist, cooked separate when compared to unparboiled rice samples

The impacts of Policy and Strategic Management on Macroeconomic Indicators in Corporate Governance

Although pockets of cases of resistance, hesitance, and foot-dragging are still recorded with respect to the exposure of top public and private sector personalities to continuous policy/strategic management executive development programmes, it is most worrisome that ,, corporate governance void and missing links have continued to deflate concerted efforts ·• towards improving key macroeconomic profiles in the Nigerian nation. The paper examines the policy and strategic development in political and economic governance and its implications for macroeconomic performance. The paper seeks to awaken the sensibilities of government as policy makers I managers and productive corporate institutions as movers I drivers to blend and collectively ~ptimize various monetary and fiscal intervention mechanisms for sustainable redefinition of strategic macroeconomic indicators in the millennium