Analysis of Poultry Feed Marketing in Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area in Imo State

This Paper investigated the Analysis of Poultry Feed Marketing in Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area in Imo State.  This study was aimed at determining the socio-economic profile of traders distributing poultry feed, the channels of poultry feed distribution from producers to farmers, the socio-economic factors influencing the income of traders dealing on poultry feed in the study area and also the factors militating against effective marketing of poultry feed in Ahiazu Mbaise L.G.A. of Imo State.  The study area is located in Ahiazu Mabise were they have enough poultry feed marketers.  Seven villages were selected from the thirteen villages that make up the Local Government Area and 3 markets were selected.  For the study which includes Afor-ukwu, Afor-ogbe and Nwoaha market and a total of (70) questionnaires were administered to the wholesalers and retailers of poultry feed marketers who were randomly selected from the three (3) poultry feed markets. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the socio-economic profile of the respondents; it was also used to analyze the problems faced by the respondents in the study area.  The factors affecting income of the poultry feed marketers in the study area were determined using multiple regressions.  The lead equation which was the semi-log regression model was chosen based on apriori expectation which gave an R2 value of 0.866 meaning that 86.6% of the variance in income when explained by the independent variables of Age, Educational level, Purchase cost and cost of transportation which were significant in the equation. The marketing margin and efficiency was archived using the marketing margin analysis.  For both wholesalers and retailers, given a margin of 14.2% and 19% respectively. The research revealed three (3) marketing channels: the producers sell their poultry feeds to wholesalers, who resell their products to retailers and the retailers sell to consumers. The marketing efficiency was also determined to be 13%.  The major constraints faced by the traders include: trades: Higher cost of transportation, bad roads, lack of funds and credit facilities.  Appropriate and useful recommendation was stated and if implemented will improved the poultry feed marketing in Ahiazu Mbaise L.G.A in Imo State

Time-Scale Domain Characterization of Time-Varying Ultrawideband Infostation Channel

The time-scale domain geometrical-based method for the characterization of the time varying ultrawideband (UWB) channel typical of an infostation channel is presented. Compared to methods that use Doppler shift as a measure of time-variation in the channel this model provides a more reliable measure of frequency dispersion caused by terminal mobility in the UWB infostation channel. Particularly, it offers carrier frequency independent method of computing wideband channel responses and parameters which are important for ultrawideband systems. Results show that the frequency dispersion of the channel depends on the frequency and not on the choice of bandwidth. And time dispersion depends on bandwidth and not on the frequency. It is also shown that for time-varying UWB, frame length defined over the coherence time obtained with reference to the carrier frequency results in an error margin which can be reduced by using the coherence time defined with respect to the maximum frequency in a given frequency band. And the estimation of the frequency offset using the time-scale domain (wideband) model presented here (especially in the case of multiband UWB frequency synchronization) is more accurate than using frequency offset estimate obtained from narrowband models

A Critical Review of the Effect of the Global Financial Melt-Down on the Nigerian Banking Sector

This study seeks to examine the effects of the global financial crisis on the Nigerian banking sector in retrospect.  The shock waves that emanated from the global financial melt-down that started in 2007 are yet to fully dissipate. Beginning from the mortgage to stock market in the United States of America it quickly spread to other sectors and other European economies and then a global phenomenon. The effect of the financial crisis left the collapse of many industries in its trail, while the banking sector was the worst hit. To mitigate further collapse of the Nigerian banking sector, the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) took several steps during and after the global financial crisis. These measures have repositioned the Nigerian banking sector and restored greater degree of public confidence. It was recommended among others that Nigerian banks should depend less on public sector deposits and diversify their products to become more robust in their operations. Key words: Bank Consolidation, Financial melt-down, recapitalization

INFLUENCE OF HEAD-TEACHERS CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STYLE ON TEACHERS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS

The study focused on influence of head-teachers conflict management style on teachers’ job satisfaction in public secondary schools in Awka education zone of Anambra State, Nigeria. Two research questions guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested. A descriptive survey research design was adopted. The population of the study consisted 122 head-teachers in 61 public secondary schools in Awka education zone. No sample was taken, as the population size was manageable. A 16-items structured questionnaire validated by three experts was used for the study. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient to determine its degree of reliability which obtained overall reliability coefficient values of 0.95. Data related to the research questions were analyzed using mean and standard deviation while Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that respondents disagreed that head teachers use integrating conflict management style while they agreed in using obliging conflict management style for their job satisfaction. The study revealed that head teachers’ years of teaching experience does not affect the uses of integrating and obliging conflict management style in their job satisfaction. It was concluded that integrating conflict management style are rarely used by the head teacher. It was recommended, among others, that Head teachers should strive at minimizing conflicts and use appropriate methods to manage them such integrating either than obliging conflict management style.  Article visualizations

Effect of boiling on biochemical composition of raw Cassia Tora seeds and its potential as feed ingredient in poultry feeds

Effect of the duration of boiling on the proximate, mineral and anti-nutritional factors of Cassia tora seeds was investigated. Boiling lasted for 30, 60 and 90 minutes, after which the seeds were dried in an oven at 60oC for 24 hours, ground and analyzed. Results showed that raw seeds of C. tora contained 9.63% crude protein (CP) compared to 13.13%, 14.01% and 13.57% for 30, 60 and 90 minutes of boiling respectively. The dry matter was increased above 30 minutes of boiling. Fibre, ash, ether extract, nitrogen free extract and gross energy were reduced (P<0.05) by boiling. Boiling did not influence the mineral composition of the seeds. Generally boiling reduced the anti-nutritional factors. Boiling for 90 minutes compared to other durations led to 64.36%, 68.62%, 44.86% and 19.56% reductions in tannins, HCN, saponins and phytate respectively. In conclusion, raw Cassia tora seeds has potential for inclusion in poultry feeds and should be boiled at least for 30 minutes to reduce the anti-nutritional factors and improve its nutritive value especially the crude protein. Keywords: anti-nutritional factors, boiling, cassia tora, mineral, proximat

An automatic image analysis methodology for the measurement of droplet size distributions in liquid–liquid dispersion: round object detection

This article presents an efficient and economical automatic image analysis technique for the droplet characterization in a liquid–liquid dispersion. The methodology employs a combination of the Satoshi Suzuki's [Topological structural analysis of digitized binary images by border following. Comput Vis Graph Image Process. 1985;30:32–46] find contours algorithm and the method of minimal enclosing circle identification, proposed by Emo Welzl [Smallest enclosing disks (balls and ellipsoids). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 1991. p. 359–370. chapter 24], to achieve the objectives. The round object detection algorithm has been designed for the identification and verification of correct droplets in the mixture which helped to increase the accuracy of automatic detection. Tests have been performed on various sets of images obtained during several emulsification processes and contain examples of droplets which differ in size, density, volume and appearance etc. An effective communication between the two methodologies and newly introduced algorithms demonstrated an accuracy of 90% or above in the measurement of droplet size distribution and Sauter mean diameters through an automatic vision-based system

Stability Analysis of Model Regenerative Chatter of Milling Process Using First Order Least Square Full Discretization Method

Regenerative chatter is an instability phenomenon in machining operation that must be avoided if high accuracy and greater surface finish is to be achieved. It comes with its own consequences such as poor surface finish, low accuracy, excessive noise, tool wear and low material removal rate (MRR). In this paper, an analytical method base on first order least square approximation full-discretization method is use for the stability analysis on the plane of axial depth and radial depths of cut. A detail computational algorithm has been developed for the purpose of delineating stability lobe diagram into stable and unstable regions using mathematical models. These algorithms enabled the performance of sensitivity analysis. From the results axial depth of cut enhances the unstable region and suppresses the stable region. This means that inverse relationship exists between the axial and limiting radial depths of cut thus highlighting the need to determine the maximum value of their product for achieving maximized MRR thereby reducing the chatter in the milling process. It is also seen that the peak radial depths of cut occasioned by the lobbing effects occur at fixed spindle speeds irrespective of the axial depth of cut. Similarly, the rise in spindle speed enhances the stable region and suppresses the unstable region. This means that for us to have chatter-free milling process, parameters like axial and radial depths of cut should be carefully selected together at high machining speed. With these behaviour, one can locate the productive spindle speed at which the lobbing effects occur and depths of cut combination for the operator

White Gaussian Noise Based Capacity Estimate and Characterization of Fiber-Optic Links

We use white Gaussian noise as a test signal for single-mode and multimode transmission links and estimate the link capacity based on a calculation of mutual information. We also extract the complex amplitude channel estimations and mode-dependent loss with high accuracy.Comment: submitted to The Optical Networking and Communication Conference (OFC) 201

Is There a Patient Profile That Characterizes a Patient With Adult Spinal Deformity as a Candidate for Minimally Invasive Surgery?

Study designRetrospective review.ObjectivesThe goal of this study was to evaluate the baseline characteristics of patients chosen to undergo traditional open versus minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for adult spinal deformity (ASD).MethodsA multicenter review of 2 databases including ASD patients treated with surgery. Inclusion criteria were age >45 years, Cobb angle minimum of 20°, and minimum 2-year follow-up. Preoperative radiographic parameters and disability outcome measures were reviewed.ResultsA total of 350 patients were identified: 173 OPEN patients and 177 MIS. OPEN patients were significantly younger than MIS patients (61.5 years vs 63.74 years, P = .013). The OPEN group had significantly more females (87% vs 76%, P = .006), but both groups had similar body mass index. Preoperative lumbar Cobb was significantly higher for the OPEN group (34.2°) than for the MIS group (26.0°, P < .001). The mean preoperative Oswestry Disability Index was significantly higher in the MIS group (44.8 in OPEN patients and 49.8 in MIS patients, P < .011). The preoperative Numerical Rating Scale value for back pain was 7.2 in the OPEN group and 6.8 in the MIS group preoperatively, P = .100.ConclusionsPatients chosen for MIS for ASD are slightly older and have smaller coronal deformities than those chosen for open techniques, but they did not have a substantially lesser degree of sagittal malalignment. MIS surgery was most frequently utilized for patients with an sagittal vertical axis under 6 cm and a baseline pelvic incidence and lumbar lordosis mismatch under 30°