A Study of Job Satisfaction of Secondary School Administrators in Kano State, Nigeria

This paper was concerned with studying the job satisfaction of secondary school administrators in Kano state, Nigeria. Survey design was used and a random sampling was used to select the study sample of 421 subjects used for the study. The Job Descriptive Index was used to collect data. Five hypotheses were raised in the study and the data collected was analysed using t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Findings of the study showed that there was no significant difference in male and female; public and private; rural and urban administrators' level of job satisfaction. Also, the study found that there was a significant difference in the level of satisfaction with years of experience as well as with age, marital status, school size and educational qualification.African Research Review Vol. 2 (2) 2008 pp. 94-10

Influence of Varietal Difference on Qualities of Osmosized Tomato in the South Western Nigeria

Mechanism of mass transfer phenomena of three major varieties available in the South-western Nigeria market are Roma-VF Koledowo and Ibadan-Local variety. Tomato varieties pre-treated in a binary (sugar and salt) osmotic solution of three solution concentration; three temperature; five osmotic time and fruit to solution ratio 1:10 was studied by developing a conceptual model to describe the Water Loss and Solid Gains. Initial moisture content was determined using the AOAC standards. Statistical analyses of the data within and across varieties were carried out. This study therefore investigated the effect of varietal difference on the qualities of osmosized tomato i.e. the highest water loss and least solid gain. Effect of pretreatment varies with variety with a mean water loss range value of 0.2615-0.3031. Water-loss and Solid gain were significant (p?0.05) for all variables considered. Koledowo with the thickest skin had the least owing to its ability to allow moisture migration Keywords: Water loss, Solid gain, Osmotic time, Varietal difference, Pretreatmen

Effects of Drying Temperature on The Effective Coefficient of Moisture Diffusivity and Activation Energy in Ibadan-Local Tomato Variety (lycopersicum esculentum)

A study of the mechanism of mass transfer phenomena of Ibadan-local variety was carried out. Ibadan-Local tomato varieties pre-treated in a binary (sugar and salt) osmotic solution of concentration (45/15oBrix), solution temperature (30, 40, 50oC), was studied by developing a mathematical model to describe the Water Loss (WL) and Solid Gains (SG). Drying was monitored at three temperatures (40, 45 and 50oC) until   equilibrium weight was achieved using the oven-dry method. Five thin layer drying models (Exponential, Henderson & Pabis, Page, Modified Page and Logarithmic) were compared and fitted into the experimental values of the non-linear moisture ratio; MR. The diffusion coefficient and activation energy were determined using the Arrhenius equation. Drying occurred in the falling rate phase and different models fit at different temperatures. Calculated values of effective moisture diffusivity varied from 1.17-3.51x10-8 to 1.25-3.13x10-8 and activation energy varied from a maximum of 52.61KJ/mol in treated to 46.81 KJ/mol in untreated tomato. At all temperatures, effective coefficient of moisture diffusivity and activation energy values was higher in osmosized tomato Keywords: Osmotic dehydration, Water loss, Solid gain, Effective moisture diffusivity and Activation energy

Trends in Aridity of the Arid and Semi-Arid Regions of Northern Nigeria

Aridity index (AI) is a numerical indicator of the degree of dryness of the climate at a given location. These indicators serve to identify and delimit regions that suffer from a deficit of available water, a condition that can severely affect the effective use of agricultural land and water resources development. The focus of this paper is to determine the trend and map out the aridity of the drought prone areas of northern Nigeria. Three decade’s (1981–2010) annual rainfall and, minimum and maximum temperature records for 11 synoptic meteorological stations were collected from NIMET Office, Lagos and used. De Martonne’s aridity index formula was applied to the data and aridity indices were derived for the region. The derived aridity indices were subjected to time series analysis and classification of the region into aridity zones was carried out based on the derived aridity indices from which an aridity map of the region was produced. Results of the time series analysis show that only Kaduna indicated a decreasing aridity while the other stations exhibit a significantly positive tendency towards increasing dryness. The region is classified into four aridity zones based on the aridity indices as: slightly humid zone (Kaduna and Zaria areas), moderately arid areas (Yelwa, Gusau, Kano and Bauchi), semi arid regions (Sokoto, Potiskum, Maiduguri) and the arid zone (areas around Nguru, Hadejia and Kano). It is concluded that the drought prone areas of northern Nigeria are witnessing increasing aridity which accounts for the shrinking of most dams and other surface reservouirs in the region. This has necessitated accessing of underground water from even the third aquifer at some locations. It is recommended therefore, that the dredging of all the existing dams in northern Nigeria be undertaken in order to improve the storage of more water, just as proper water policy for its sustainable use be formulated by Nigeria. Keywords: aquifer, aridity, drought, dryness, Indices, time serie

EXPLORING SOURSOP KERNEL AS A SUSTAINABLE BIOFUEL: ANALYZING PHYSICAL AND SOLID FLOW PROPERTIES FOR FEASIBILITY ASSESSMENT

  Soursop kernel is an oil-bearing seed containing about 25% non-edible oil per 100 g sample making it a potential feedstock for biofuel production. However, exploring the full potential of the oil requires data to design and fabricate appropriate machines for its processing. So, this necessitates a thorough examination of its physical and solid flow behaviour in relation to moisture contents. The experiments conducted on rewetted samples revealed that as moisture content (mc) increased from 8% to 32.5% dry basis (db), the length, width, thickness, arithmetic and geometric mean diameter, volume, surface area, sphericity, and thousand kernels weight increased from 11.40-12.06 mm, 7.04-7.92 mm, 4.58-5.34 mm, 7.69-8.44 mm, 7.12-7.49 mm, 6.5–8.13 cm3, 160.19-199.05 mm2, 0.62- 0.66 and 186.4–291 g, respectively. The true density decreased from 720 to 670 kg/m³, whereas the bulk density increased from 470 to 570 kg/m³. The angle of repose linearly increased from 25.8° to 39.2° as moisture content increased. The highest mean values for coefficients of friction were observed on mild steel surfaces (0.44 for static and 0.53 for dynamic) at 8.0% mc (db) while the lowest values were recorded on stainless steel surfaces (0.20 for static and 0.37 for dynamic) at both 32.5% and 8.0%, (mc, db). The data obtained will prove beneficial to engineers in the design and development of appropriate machines, as well as other handling and processing equipment such as oil expellers, so as to explore the full industrial application of the oil for biodiesel production and other chemical productio

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF WHEAT PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING SYSTEM

Wheat being the leading source of vegetable protein in the human diets has higher protein content than other major staple grains or cereals like rice or maize; therefore it was necessary to study the environmental impacts associated with its field production and industrial processing using the life cycle assessment tool. The functional unit selected for the study was 1kg of wheat, and emission from various inputs into the system was aggregated into a large inventory table. Four environmental impacts were considered namely; global warming, acidification, eutrophication and ozone layer depletion. It was discovered that global warming has the highest impact score which is closely followed by eutrophication; 4.7153E – 02 kg CO2 equivalent and 3.5907E– 04kg NO3- equivalent respectively, while ozone layer depletion has the lowest environmental impact score of 1.1889E – 07 kg R11 equivalent. High emission of CO2 gas from fossil fuel during field operations and processing of wheat was observed as the reason for the high impact score of global warming

Paralympic athletes’ perspective of doping self-regulatory efficacy in Nigeria

Background Problems: With the high demands of sports and the crave for success despite diminishing strength with ageing in the presence of disability, athletes are tempted to contravene the ADRV. Research Objectives: The study aimed to study paralympic athletes’ perspective of doping self-regulatory efficacy in Nigeria. Methods: Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. A 13-item validated questionnaire (α= .74) was employed to collect data for the study. One-hundred and twenty-four male (81) and female (43) elite para-athletes (mean= 23.15 years, ±3.65) voluntarily participated in the study. ANOVA, PPMC, and Cramer’s V Chi-Square Coefficient Contingency were used to determine the relationship and difference across age, gender and sport type and the extent of the para-athletes’ likelihood to dope and confidence to avoid banned substances, respectively. Findings and Results: It indicated a significant effect of age on likelihood to dope at the p 0.05), sport (0.280, p > 0.05), and age (0.263, p > 0.05) on the likelihood to dope. Although, significant among older (0.022), female (0.024) para-athletes. Cramer’s V indicated a strong association when drugs would give immediate fitness (ɸ = 0.217), (ɸ = 0.243), and (ɸ = 0.263) across age, gender, and sport type respectively. Conclusion:  It is concluded among others that the para-athletes showed high self-efficacy and low likelihood to dope even in the presence of stressors. However, the ever-pressing need for the athlete’s body longing need for nutrition, oxygen, rest and staying in shape and top form for competing increased the possibility to use a banned drugs for your injury recovery among some older athletes. Psychological interventions are suggested combat the likelihood to dope given the experience levels or psychological dispositions of athletes

Social Health Insurance in Nigeria: Policy Implications in A Rural Community

Social health insurance was introduced in Nigeria in 1999 and had since been restricted to workers in the formal public sector. There are plans for scaling up to include rural populations in a foreseeable future. Information on willingness to participate and pay a premium in the programme by rural populations is dearth. This study sought to document willingness to participate and pay a premium in a social health insurance among indigenous members of a rural community in Nigeria. Adescriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among heads of households in two randomly selected clusters in Igbo-Ora community. Interviews were conducted using a pre-tested semistructured questionnaire by trained interviewers. The questionnaire sought information on socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents, their awareness about social health insurance and willingness to participate and pay in the scheme. Monthly income was estimated by bidding game approach.Atotal of 410 heads of households were interviewed; their mean age was 45.2 ± 2.2 years. Of the 410 respondents, 66 (16.1%) were aware of an existing social health insurance; 344 (83.9%) were willing to participate, whereas 314 (76.6%) were willing to pay a premium. Respondents who were less than 40 years of age were 1.8 times more likely to be aware of the social health insurance (p = 0.04, OR = 1.83, 95% CI = 1.04 - 3.22) and 2.4 times more likely to participate in it (p = 0.01, OR = 2.42, 95% CI = 1.29 - 4.53) than those aged 40 years and above. Those who had at least secondary education were 2.1 times more likely to be aware than those who had either no formal or at most primary education (p = 0.01,OR= 2.1,95%CI = 1.17 - 3.79). However, those who had either no formal or at most primary education were 3.7 times more likely to be willing to participate than those with at least secondary education (

IMPACT OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARY IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF ENGINEERING: A CASE STUDY OF ADELEKE UNIVERSITY

The library is a resource center for providing a wide range of educational resources to supply information needs of staff and students. However, the use of academic library resources depends on the information literacy skills of staff members and students. The study investigated the university library's impact on the teaching and learning of engineering courses in Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State. Parameters measured include library usage, satisfaction, and implications for teaching and learning of engineering. The study used random sampling and survey research design with a population of 170 comprising members of staff and students of the engineering faculty. Descriptive statistics was used for data analysis and ANOVA was used to test the hypothesis at the 95% level of confidence. Findings revealed that 93% of Faculty of Engineering staff members and students utilize and consult the library regularly for teaching and learning purposes. The study concluded that the university library is instrumental, and it does have a positive impact on teaching and learning of engineering in Adeleke University. The study recommended that the university library should ensure a continuous provision and availability of library resources for effective teaching and learning of Engineering