The Impact of Gombe Micro Finance Bank on Profitability and Income of Agricultural Businesses in Gombe Metropolis, Gombe State, Nigeria

The study examined the impact of Gombe micro finance bank on profitability and income of agricultural businesses in Gombe metropolis, Gombe  State , Nigeria. Multi stage sampling technique was used in selecting 105 beneficiaries of the bank comprising of  fifty (50) microprocessors, thirty (30) vegetables sellers and  twenty five (25) fruits sellers. The data were collected using structured questionnaire. Secondary data were also collected from the bank. The data were e analyzed using descriptive statistics, T-test, Gross margin analysis and multiple regression models. The results of the analysis revealed that Women constituted 49% of the beneficiaries of the bank loans since its inception in 2008. There was significant difference in income of the respondents before and after benefiting from the loan. The gross margin analysis revealed that the respondents had an average gross margin of 2096.70 NGN.The major problems encountered by the respondents while accessing the loan were; compulsory saving with the bank, high interest rate, loan maturity period and frequency of visits for the loan recovery. Keywords: Impact, Gombe Micro finance bank, Profitability, Income, Agricultural businesse

A Comparison Study on the Performances Of X , EWMA and CUSUM Control Charts for Skewed Distributions Using Weighted Standard Deviations Methods

In many statistical process control (SPC) applications, the ease of use of control charts leads to ignoring the fact that the process population of the quality characteristic being measured may be highly skewed. However, in many situations, the normality assumption is usually violated. Among the recent heuristic charts for skewed distributions proposed in the literature are those based on the weighted standard deviation (WSD) method. Thus, this paper compares the performances of certain WSD charts, such as WSD X , WSD Exponential weighted moving Average (WSDEWMA) and WSD Cumulative Sum (WSD-CUSUM) charts for skewed distributions. The skewed distributions being considered are weibull, gamma and lognormal. The false alarm and mean shift detection rates were computed so as to evaluate the performances of the WSD charts. The WSD X chart was found to have the lowest false alarm rate in cases of known and unknown parameters. Moreover, when parameters are known and unknown, the WSD-CUSUM provided the highest mean shift detection rates. The chart with the lowest false alarm and the highest mean shift detection rates for most level of skewness and sample size, n is assumed to be have a better performance

An EWMA Control Chart for Monitoring the Mean of Skewed Populations Using Weighted Variance.

This paper discusses the use of weighted variance (wv) in setting up the limits of the exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) chart for the monitoring of the mean of a process from a skewed population. This chart, called the WV-EWMA chart hereafter, reduces to the standard EWMA chart when the underlying distribution is symmetric

Computations of the band structure and linear optical properties of methylammonium bismuth bromide and methylammonium galluim bromide using FHI-aims Code

Ab initio calculations for the Linear Macroscopic Dielectric analyses of CH3NH3BiBr3 and CH3NH3GaBr3 (having 8.33% dopant replacement percentage each) as possible replacements for the Lead based perovskite CH3NH3PbBr3 were done in this work using Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof functional of Density Functional Theory as implemented by FHI-aims Code. Optimized lattice constants were calculated for CH3NH3BiBr3 and CH3NH3GaBr3 to be 9.10 Å and 8.27 Å respectively. The Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital (LUMO), Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital (HOMO) and calculated band gap, Band Structure and Density of States (DOS) plots were made to analyse the band structures of these crystals and they were found to be metallic with a band gap of 0.00018636 eV and 0.00022286 eV for CH3NH3BiBr3 and CH3NH3GaBr3 respectively. The imaginary and real parts of the inter-band and intra-band contribution to the linear dielectric tensor within the e imagi Random Phase Approximation (RPA) of the optical properties of these perovskites were calculated and an average dielectric tensor of 3.1209467 and 2.789173 was found for CH3NH3BiBr3 and CH3NH3GaBr3 respectively. From the absorption data and dielectric tensor components calculated, both materials have an average absorption peak at frequency of 16.5373nm at 1.006567 MeV, 16.2040nm at 1.227600 MeV respectively, across all cubic planes

Audit of lower urinary tract endoscopic procedures in Borno, North-Eastern Nigeria

Background: Endourology which includes lower urinary tract (LUT) endoscopy, is an important component of standard urological practice worldwide. The objective of our study was to audit the LUT endoscopic procedures performed in Borno, a state in north-eastern Nigeria and share our experience.Methods: We, retrospectively reviewed the Lower urinary Tract endoscopies performed in Borno state over 9 years, from January 2012 to December 2020. Data related to LUT endoscopies were extracted from the patients’ clinical notes and operation theatre registers of the 2 focused hospitals in Borno where endourology procedures were performed (University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and Royal specialist hospital maiduguri) and then analyzed. Urology patients who did not undergone LUT endoscopy were excluded.Results: We analyzed the data of total sum of 201 patients for the 2 hospitals, which represented the sample size for the study. Mean age of patients was 47.2years, with male to female ratio of 3.5:1. Bladder tumor with or without haematuria (31.3%) was the commonest indication for LUT endoscopy, seconded by removal of ureteric double J stents (23.4%). Urethrocystoscopy (74.0%) was the commonest procedure performed predominantly under local anaesthesia, for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.Conclusions: We reported LUT endoscopies in Borno which was commonly indicated in bladder tumors presenting with or without haematuria. Urethrocystoscopy is the commonest procedure. As we get more endourology equipment in the public hospital many of our patients will benefit from these minimally invasive procedures in both lower and upper urinary tract diseases

Quantification and localisation of individual leaf disease lesion for grading severity of late blight

Detecting incidence and grading the severity of plant diseases caused by pathogens is among the essential activities in precision agriculture. This research proposes novel noetic integration between pathology and advanced yet straightforward image processing technique for grading the severity of vegetable late blight. Until recently, most of the presented image processing techniques had been, and some still are, grading severity based on the visual understanding of disease symptom as a single lesion colony. One of the most significant advantages of the proposed method is quantifying and localising disease symptom colonies into symptomatic and necrotic in accordance with pathological disease analogy for actual severity grading. In the 1st phase of the study, individual symptomatic (RS), necrotic (RN), and blurred (RB, in- between healthy and symptomatic) regions were identified and segmented. The isolated diseased lesions are then quantified and localised for correlationwith a standard area diagram which gives the accurate grading of disease severity. Results obtained indicated great potential for accurate grading by which pathological knowledge and advance computer network operate in proper synergy. It is also envisaged that this research method would provide meaningful insight into the critical current and future role pathological integration in machine learning for food security

Plasma Blobs Observed by Ground-based Optical and Radio Techniques in the Brazilian Tropical Sector

Ground-based optical and radio observations were carried out in the tropical region in Brazil, during the period from October 1998 to September 2000, and on several occasions we detected F-region plasma blob (localized discrete plasma density enhancement) events. These are the first observations of blobs in the tropical F-region using combined ground-based optical and radio techniques. Allsky images were used to map the spatial extension and temporal location of plasma blobs and ionosonde and photometer measurements were used to measure the plasma densities. Interesting cases of plasma blob events were observed on October 07, 1999 and March 04, 2000 over Cachoeira Paulista (22.7S, 45.0W; magnetic latitude 13.25S, declination 20W), showing discrete plasma density enhancements near regions of plasma density depletion structures in the OI 630.0 nm emission images. In these two cases, the electron densities were enhanced by a factor of, approximately, 2 above the background level. In this paper we report the first ground-based observations of the plasma density enhancements, or blobs, and their association with equatorial spread-F plasma depletions, and suggest a possible mechanism for their generation

Geophysical Imaging of Watershed Subsurface Patterns and Prediction of Soil Texture and Water Holding Capacity

The spatial distribution of subsurface soil textural properties across the landscape is an important control on the hydrological and ecological function of a watershed. Traditional methods of mapping soils involving subjective assignment of soil boundaries are inadequate for studies requiring a quantitative assessment of the landscape and its subsurface connectivity and storage capacity. Geophysical methods such as electromagnetic induction (EMI) provide the possibility of obtaining high-resolution images across a landscape to identify subtle changes in subsurface soil patterns. In this work we show how EMI can be used to image the subsurface of a ∼38 ha watershed. We present an imaging approach using kriging to interpolate and sequential Gaussian simulation to estimate the uncertainty in the maps. We also explore the idea of difference ECa mapping to try to exploit changes in soil moisture to identify more hydrologically active locations. In addition, we use a digital elevation model to identify flow paths and compare these with the ECa measurement as a function of distance. Finally, we perform a more traditional calibration of ECa with clay percentage across the watershed and determine soil water holding capacity (SWHC). The values of SWHC range from 0.07 to 0.22 m3 m−3 across the watershed, which contrast with the uniform value of 0.13 derived from the traditional soil survey maps. Additional work is needed to appropriately interpret and incorporate EMI data into hydrological studies; however, we argue that there is considerable merit in identifying subsurface soil patterns from these geophysical images

VHF radar observations of the dip equatorial E-region during sunset in the Brazilian sector

Using the RESCO 50 MHz backscatter radar (2.33° S, 44.2° W, DIP: –0.5), at São Luís, Brazil, we obtained Range Time Intensity (RTI) maps covering the equatorial electrojet heights during daytime and evening. These maps revealed a scattering region at an altitude of about 108 km during the sunset period. The type of 3-m irregularity region we present here has not been reported before in the literature, to our knowledge. It was mainly observed around the Southern Hemisphere summer-solstice period, under quiet magnetic activity condition. The occurrence of this echo region coincides in local time with the maximum intensity of an evening pre-reversal eastward electric field of the ionospheric <i>F</i>-region. A tentative explanation is proposed here in terms of the theory of the divergence of the equatorial electrojet (EEJ) current in the evening ionosphere presented by Haerendel and Eccles (1992), to explain the partial contribution of the divergence to the development of the pre-reversal electric field. The theory predicts an enhanced zonal electric field and hence a vertical electric field below 300 km as a consequence of the EEJ divergence in the evening. The experimental results of the enhanced echoes from the higher heights of the EEJ region seem to provide evidence that the divergence of the EEJ current can indeed be the driver of the observed scattering region

ABH secretor status of students in the college of medical sciences, University of Maiduguri by inhibition method

Background: ABH blood group and secretor status of individuals are inherited independently although both may be associated with diabetes, autoimmune diseases and heart diseases. Aim: A cross-sectional study was employed to determine the ABH blood group and secretor status of students in the University of Maiduguri. Methodology: Two ml blood and 3ml saliva were collected from each study participants and were assayed independently. The ABO blood group and secretor status were determined by tube method and haemagglutination inhibition technique respectively. Results: A total of 235 apparently healthy students of the College of Medical Sciences participated in this study. Of the 235 participants, 97.4% are ABH secretors whereas 2.6% are ABH non-secretors. One hundred and nineteen 119(50.6%) of the subjects are males, of which 115 are secretors while 4 are non-secretors. Among the 116(49.4%) females who participated, 114 are secretors while 2 are non-secretors. The distribution of ABO blood group among the subjects shows that 21.3% were group A, 20.8% group B, 8.5% group AB and 49.4% group O. Conclusion: In this study, Blood group O is the commonest while AB was the least among the subjects. Overall, there are more secretors than non-secretors among the subjects. However, the study suggests that the ability to secrete ABH substances is independent of ABO blood group genes. The analysis also helps in revealing the prevalence of secretor status among the students. With the associations of disease and secretors, the secretor status of individuals may play a role in the diagnosis and management of diseases. Keywords: ABO blood group; secretor status; ABH antigen