Public Libraries and the Librarians : Making A Difference In Information And Communication Technology (ICT) Era

The paper examined the concept of public libraries and public libraries in Nigeria, roles of public libraries in Nigeria, collection development of public libraries and categories of resources in public libraries. The paper also defined the concept of public librarian and his roles. It further discussed the concept of information and communication technology (ICT) and ICT era, the knowledge, skills, facilities and services expected by public libraries and librarians in the deployment of ICT. The paper identified the factors militating against the use of ICT facilities in public libraries; recommendations on the way forward was given and paper concludes that public libraries must reflect the changes  brought by ICT in all it operations and public librarian must be skilled on the use of ICT to be able to serve members of the community efficiently

Managing Stress At Work

Stress is a reality and an inevitable part of our lives, especially at work, and to be free from stress or to have a stress free life is not a possibility. However, people need to be aware of its existence and its side effect as well as learn to live with it without suffering its effects. This paper examines the concept of stress, its nature, its consequences in the organisation, and how it could be managed both at the organisational and individual levels. African Research Review Vol. 1 (1) 2007: pp. 111-12

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

Proximate and Elemental Analysis of Cowpea, Kidney and Sweet Cowpea Beans Sold in Kawo Market, Kaduna State, Nigeria

Beans are one of the most popular and essential foods in Africa, especially in Nigeria they are highly recommended for its numerous health benefits and nutritional values. The objective of this paper is to assess the proximate and elemental compositions of three (3) varieties of beans (cowpea, kidney and sweet cowpea beans) marketed in Kawo, Kaduna State, Nigeria using standard procedures and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The results from this study indicated that the highest results obtained for proximate and elemental analysis in the four (4) samples with the exception of fibre in sweet cowpea beans (2.082%), were found to be: moisture (13.250%), protein (21.420%), Lipids (1.025%), ash (4.814%) in kidney beans while in the case of elemental analysis, the highest concentrations (88.0mg/kg) of Zn was found in (Cowpea bean), (52.5mg/kg) of Mg in sweet cowpea, (75.0mg/kg) of Cu in cowpea beans while Fe (99.5mg/kg) and Ca (99.5mg/kg) were found in kidney beans. All the beans samples analyzed for proximate and elemental analysis from Kawo market are highly nutritious, hence good for human and livestock consumption

Application of Kozeny-Carman Equation to Estimate Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity of an Alfisol at Samaru and a Cambisol at Kadawa, Nigeria

Kozeny-Carman equation was used to estimate field and laboratory determined saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) based on Pe values obtained from soils of two Northern Savanna ecological zones of Nigeria (Samaru and Kadawa). Total porosity was determined from measured dry bulk density (Db), particle density (Dp) and moisture content at –33kPa pressure potential. Effective porosity was calculated as the difference between total porosity and volumetric moisture at -33kpa. The Ks and Pe values were fitted into the Kozeny-Carman equation using the linear least square fitting. In Samaru, 91.7 and 61% variation of Ks were explained respectively from field (Kfs) and laboratory measurements (Kls) while 61% variation of Ks was explained from the average values of laboratory measurement for Kadawa. The proportionality constant (β) varied widely between 7.1 × 10-3 to 6918.30 while the fitting parameters (n) varied from values < 1 to 2.37. The Relative Effective Porosity (REP) was adapted to substitute Pe in the Kozeny-Carman equation. Only field measured data (r2 = 0.881) and laboratory measured data (r2 = 0.573) from Samaru fit into the model and the regression coefficients were not improved. The REP- Model did not perform well with the data presented in this study

Groundwater Sodium Levels Estimation of Proposed Irrigation Groundwater Source for the Kumahumato Settlement of the Dadaab Subcounty, North Eastern Kenya

The Project Area of Kumahumato is a locality located on the fringes of the Merti aquifer within a radii ranging from 5 to 10 kilometer metric units. The area is primarily inhabited Nomadic pastoralists who have limited experience with matters farming and allied agricultural techniques. Owing to the rapid change in climate patterns and with massive death toll of livestock resulting from prolonged droughts and unpredictable rains, the community leadership have deemed it fit to focus on irrigation-aided agriculture. One problem noted is that the sodium levels in the soils may be exacerbated by irrigation farming, if the groundwater sodic levels area already way above the thresholds deemed safe by the WHO, both for human usage and for soil chemistry. The sodium levels may increase with progressive usage of borehole water in the farming projects, up to a point deemed way beyond salvage-meaning the destroyed fertility may not be reclaimed or restored once the damage is done. To mitigate against the potential disastrous and irreversible consequence, the study team undertook a geophysical surveys as well as hydrochemical surveys and data analysis to understand the likely consequence of a prolonged usage of irrigation –based agriculture in the Kumahumato centre. To achieve this, eight algorithms were employed, namely, Neural Networks, Naïve Bayes, Support Vector Machines, Logistic Regression, Decision Trees, K-Nearest Neighbor and Random forests  algorithm amongst others. The final three algorithms mentioned here emerged out as the best performers, registering between 95 to hundred percent precisions levels during detailed data analysis. A point picked at random in the Kumahumato area which showed promise of good groundwater potential was analysed and found to be at suitable aquifer sodium levels, which will not be a threat to small scale agriculture envisaged in the program. Machine Learning was thus employed and proved a useful decision making tool in the Project Planning and Design Phase for the proposed food security meant to be a practical resilience response to climate change hazards

Influence of Guidance and Counseling on Choice of Business Subjects Among Secondary School Students in Gombe State

This study investigated the influence of guidance and counseling  on choice of business subjects among secondary school students in Gombe state. Two specific objectives, two research questions and two null hypotheses were raised. Survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study was 21,465 secondary school students and 377 of them were randomly used for the study. Four rating scale structured questionnaire titled Choice of Business Subjects among Students (CVSS) constructed by the researcher were used for data collection. Data collected were analyzed using benchmark score of 2.5 and above for agree while simple logistic regression was employed in the test of the two null hypotheses at  0.05 alpha level of significance. The study revealed among others that guidance and counseling  has influence on choice of business subjects among secondary school students in Gombe state. In addition in contributed on gender disparity of students choice in business subjects. The resultant effect is that most secondary school students perceived that business subjects are either meant for academic misfits or female students. Based on the outcome of the study, the researcher recommended among others that teachers, especially those counseling  students should help to instill in students the positive attitude towards business subjects, this will develop in them interest and choice of business subjects at secondary school level. Keywords: - Guidance, Counseling , Choice, Business, Subjects, Students. DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/9-12-20 Publication date:June 30th 201

Effect of graded levels and sources of protein on scrotal circumference and semen profile of Yankasa rams

The effect of graded levels and sources of protein on scrotal circumference and semen profile in Yankasa rams were investigated in a 96 day study. Twenty Yankasa rams aged 18-24months and weighing 21-30 kg with clinically normal genitalia were divided into 4 groups (A, B, C and D) of 5 rams each. All animals were fed Digitaria hay as a basal diet ad libitum and supplemented with the formulated ration at 2% of their respective live-weights. Iso caloric rations (10.50 MJ/kg DM ME) were formulated using non-conventional protein source (maize offal and dry layer litter) to contain 12.11% CP, 14.96% CP, and 17.94% CP and fed to groups A, B and C respectively. Another ration was formulated using conventional protein source (maize, wheat bran, groundnut cake, bone meal, vitamin premix and salt) to contain 12.26% CP and fed to group D (control group). Semen was collected every two weeks with the aid of a battery powered electroejaculator and then evaluated. Rams on 12.11% CP had significantly higher scrotal circumference than those on 17.11% C. and control. Significantly higher (P<0.05) semen volume was recorded for group B when compared with control group, but other groups showed no significant difference in volume of semen (P>0.05). Rams fed 14.96% CP diet had significantly higher semen concentration when compared with rams on 17.94% CP and control (P<0.01). Percentage gross motility, sperm morphology, sperm output and sperm viability were not influenced by level and source of protein (P>0.05). Thus, it is evident from this study that dry layer litter and maize offal compete favorably with conventional protein sources in improving scrotal circumference and semen concentration of Yankasa rams.Keywords: Dry layer litter, protein, rams, semen, scrotal circumference

Insight from the study of acidity and reactivity of Cr2O3 catalyst in propane dehydrogenation: a computational approach

By converting low-value commodity fuels into high-value products, like polymer precursors, chemical and other intermediates, the dehydrogenation of light paraffin (such as ethane and propane) into olefins, can add significant value to the refining processes that generate propane. In this study, the parameterised method 3 (PM3) approximation of semi empirical theory was employed to study the acidity and reactivity of chromium (III) oxide catalyst in the dehydrogenation of propane into propylene. Ammonia and pyridine were used computationally as molecular probes for the evaluation of the Lewis acidity of the catalyst sites. The propane adsorption and dissociation activation energies were also evaluated. The study showed that the chromium sites are highly acidic and reactive compared to the oxygen sites. In particular, the study showed that the chromium site is the main active site in the promotion of propane dehydrogenation into propylene, over chromium (III) oxide catalyst. Keywords: Acidity, Reactivity, Dehydrogenation, Propane, Chromium