Critical purviews where Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can promote sustaineble development in Nigeria

Information and communication technology (ICT) has become the buzz word in academia, government, business, economy and many other social purviews of human society, especially in the areas of sustainable development. From a mere acronym, ICT has over the last decade metamorphosed into the driving force behind many monumental changes and innovative development in the world. The author reviewed e-journal articles, chapters from e-books and other relevant literature that critically examined ICT and its wider applications in the realms of making life better for the majority of the people, particularly the indigent and information have-nots. The paper critically discusses and analyses some of the key areas where a successful application of ICT can effectively engender the much needed sustainable development in society, focusing on Nigeria. Moreover, the paper outlines, inter-alia, agriculture, culture, economy, education, governance and tourism as paramount realms in which the proper application of ICT can help in the management of natural, human and capital resources for effective utilisation by the present generation without jeopardising the ability of future generations to benefit from them. The paper concludes that for ICT to serve as a catalyst for sustainable development, the following facts should be taken into consideration and adjustments made to accommodate them: ICT is a long-range investment (outcomes may be delayed); and, for natural resources to be sustainably harnessed, human resources ought to be adequately mobilised to appropriately manipulate the capital resources for better results

Understanding Employee Brand Trust and Internal Brand Communications & Training (BCT) Effects on Employee Brand Performance: A study of the banking industry

Purpose: The present study aims to examine the impact of key internal branding practices on affective brand commitment (AC) and employee brand performance (EBP) in the financial services industry. Also assessed was the mediating role of AC in the relationship of brand trust, brand communication and training (BCT), and EBP. Research Methodology: A quantitative survey tool was employed to gather data from 426 respondents from public-sector banks in Pakistan. The sampling methods used were a combination of proportionate random and convenience sampling techniques. The partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze and interpret the data. Results: Findings indicate that the relationship of brand trust, BCT and EBP was mediated by AC. Brand trust and BCT results in higher levels of bank staff’s AC; this employee affective attachment to the bank brand drive them to engage in brand supporting behaviors, which in turn, foster employee brand performance. Limitations: This study is limited by scope as only public sector banks were studied, which may not be sufficient to make an inference. Contribution: BCT and trust are critical drivers fostering EBP and brand success; however, AC in the relation ensures EBP remains either the same or higher in the long run. Hence, banking, and other service firms should focus on improving EBP to develop a strong and successful corporate brand.  Keywords: Brand commitment, Internal brand communications, Brand training, Internal branding, Perceived organizational support (POS),Brand performance, Public Banks, IPMA analysis

Influence of ICT Adoption on Tertiary Education: Investigating ICT Usage in E-learning Context among Nigerian Students

Abstract Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been employed in various fields of human endeavours, especially to engender socio-economic development. One key sub-sector in which the adoption of ICTs is increasingly becoming critical is the farm-based (agri-based) enterprises. This study was prompted by the urge to determine the critical factors that affect ICT usage in e-learning by students of post-secondary schools.  The concept of e-learning, through the application of information and communication technology (ICT) has been increasingly attracting the attention of researchers. Recent studies found that there is quite a number of factors that affect students’ adoption (usage) of ICT for learning purposes. However, students’ expectation toward effort-free (easy-to-use) ICT hardware and software has been singled out as one of the major factors that becloud their perceptions of adopting ICT in their academic activity. In addition, the literature has highlighted that students’ ICT adoption expectancies in e-learning context is influenced by their prior experience and inexperience (e.g., anxiety). This study therefore, was prompted by the urge to determine the effect of ICT usage expectancies and prior usage experience (via-a-vis inexperience) on tertiary institutions students’ ICT adoption in e-learning context. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model was adopted and a pre-tested and validated questionnaire was administered to 400 students that were randomly selected in Yobe State University Damaturu, in Nigeria.  The study found effort expectancy explains about 80% of the variance in ICT usage, and only prior experience moderated the relationship significantly and positively. Keywords: Effort Expectancy, Experience, e-Learning, Tertiary Institutions, ICT Usage, the UTAU

Development of Competency Framework for Nigerian TVET Teachers in Tertiary TVET Institutions

Competency framework is a tool that determines the needed competencies for individuals in order to curtail the challenges that are existing currently and to uphold sustainable development. From the educational perspective, the competencies of TVET teachers are important as they might affect the teachers’ implementation of tasks, career development and graduates’ quality. Therefore, this research attempted to develop a competency framework for TVET teachers in Nigerian TVET tertiary institutions based on the Malaysian Human Resource Practitioners Development (MHRDP) Competency Model. The study adopted a survey design and 427 TVET teachers were identified as targeted sample. A set of questionnaire was developed based on the MHRDP Competency Model (α=0.61). A total of 218 questionnaires were distributed to five TVET tertiary institutions using stratified sampling technique and 205 questionnaires were successfully returned. Exploratory Factor Analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that 19 elements of competency were significantly relevant to Nigerian TVET teachers who work at tertiary institutions. The proposed competency framework is beneficial to be used as a guideline for the Nigerian TVET institutions and policy makers to plan the competency training and retraining courses for TVET teachers and staff development

Factors Influencing ICT Usage Among Malaysian Small and Medium Agribusinesses: Conceptual Framework and Structural Model

Information and communication technology (ICT) adoption studies have identified ICT as a tool capable of spurring innovative business development in small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) if used wisely. Adopting the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model approach with adjustments by integrating two externally derived constructs (SME Managerial Creativity and SME Organisational Size as predictors), this study investigated factors that influence ICT usage among Malaysian agro-based SMEs. A pre-tested survey instrument consisting of 132 items was administered to 400 purposively selected workers from 43 agro-based SMEs that were randomly selected at Selangor. The study was aimed to identify the predominantly used ICTs by the agro-based SMEs in their businesses, to determine factors that influence ICT usage among the agro-based SMEs and to determine the relationship between the six predictors: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, SME organisational size and SME creativity and innovativeness and the dependent variable: ICT usage. Objective 4 was to determine the moderating effect of gender, age and experience on the relationship. Factor analysis was run to reduce the voluminous data; a new, robust model was designed using Structural Equation Modelling. The study concludes that integrating firm and management characteristic constructs into UTAUT model provides a scale capable explaining ICT usage behaviour of Malaysian agro-based SMEs better. Keywords: Agribusinesses, Agro-based SMEs, ICT Usage, SME Management Characteristics, SME Organisational Size, UTAU

Effect of gas flow rate during Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welding on tensile strength / Ahmad Safri Mohammed Salleh

This final project is a study about the effect of different gas flow rate used in Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welding on mechanical properties. Other variables such as stand off, current and speed of the welding were fixed. The parent metal consisted of mild steel with 5 mm thickness. MIG welding were chosen because it is widely used in many welding application nowadays. The advantages of MIG welding include capability to weld in all position, has higher deposition rates than Shielded Metal Arc Welding, less operator skill required, and long welds can be made without starts and stops. 5 different gas flow rates were used in the study; 5 liter/min, 10 liter/min, 15 liter/min, 20 liter/min and 25 liter/min. The study emphasizes on optimizing the best flow rate that could produce good quality welding, in which evaluation was made from non-destructive and destructive evaluations. The study consists of 2 phases, the welding phase and the post-welding phase. In welding phase, for each gas flow rate, 2 mild steel plates were joined. In post-welding phase, the welded specimen then undergoes non-destructive testing. For non-destructive testing, ultrasonic test was conducted to determine welding quality and to check any existence of internal defects such as porosity, discontinuities, and void. Later, the shaped welded specimens were prepared for destructive evaluation. As destructive evaluation is considered, tensile test was performed, in order to determine the tensile strength values for each welded specimen. Finally, the fractured surface of each specimen was observed in order to strengthen and justify the findings from both non destructive and destructive evaluations. The results shows that gas flow rate of 10 l/min give the highest tensile strength which relates to the lowest amount of discontinuities presence and the highest welding penetration in that particular specimen

The Significant Role of Communication, Price, and Quality in Creating a Brand Trust to Achieve Purchase Behavior Antecedents and Consequence of Consumer Brand Trust

According to the relationship marketing factors, brand trust is one of the key element in brand building and in securing customer loyalty. Hence, the objective of this study is to examine the influence of product price, perceived product quality, and communication on brand trust and the effect of brand trust on consumer purchase behavior based on Relationship Theory perspective. The research instrument was developed based on items taken from previous studies. Questionnaires were distributed to 1000 consumers in 10 primary and secondary School in 3 city Sanaa, Ibb and Aden districts in Yemen. of the total distributed questionnaires, only 711 questionnaires were used for statistical analysis. Analysis was performed using Partial Least Squares (PLS SEM). Results indicate that communication, perceived price, perceived product quality significant impact on trust brand, It also the finding shows that trust has a positive significant impact purchase behavior, the constructed model has a good goodness-of-fit index. This study also discusses practical implications and applications for developing and less developed countries

An overview of semisolid processing of aluminium alloys

Semisolid metal processing (SSM) or thixoforming is a new technology that offers several advantages over liquid processing and solid processing. This process utilizes semisolid behavior as well as reduces macrosegregation, porosity, and forming forces during shaping process. A lot of research work has been carried out by various researchers in order to exploit the potential of this process to produce different products especially for automotive industry. This paper will summarise the rheological behavior of aluminium alloys in semisolid slurries, thixoformability of modified aluminium alloys, the effect of feedstock production method on mechanical properties, and the importance of developing low-cost raw materials for semisolid processing

Optimization of spray drying process conditions for recombinant stem bromelain

Bromelain is a plant protease with numerous therapeutic, industrial and analytical applications. Spray drying of enzyme often leads to loss of enzymatic activity arising from thermal denaturation. Hence, the design of a suitable drying process should provide a great level of active enzyme. The present study examined the effect of operating parameters of a laboratory spray dryer on powder characteristics, so as to optimize the production of recombinant bromelain expressed in E. coli BL 21-AI. The recombinant enzyme was spray dried from maltodextrin (10 %w/v), CaCl2 (0.2 % w/v) and sodium metabisulphite (2.5 % w/v) solutions using a laboratory-scale Büchi Mini Spray dryer B-290. The process parameters investigated were: drying air inlet temperature (100-120 ºC), drying air volumetric flow rate – given as % of the maximum aspiration rate (80-100 %), feed volumetric flow rate– expressed as % of the maximum pump rate (10-15 %). On the other hand, the activity of bromelain (U/ml) served as the response of the design. Outlet temperature was maintained at 50 oC. All the studied process parameters had significantly affected the characteristics of the powdered bromelain, at a 95% confidence interval. The higher values of coefficient of determination (R2 = 99.95% and adjusted R2 = 99.84%) attained, showed that there is good compliance between the experimental and the theoretical values predicted by the model. Moreover, the graphical representations of the regression equation generated suggested that the examined independent variables interacted significantly. Thus, the corroboration of reality of the optimal conditions and the validity of the model had been ascertained. Consequently, under optimized process conditions, the study had produced powdered bromelain with greater quality in terms of moisture contents, residual activity and product recovery

Recombinant bromelain production in Escherichia coli: process optimization in shake flask culture by response surface methodology

Bromelain, a cysteine protease with various therapeutic and industrial applications, was expressed in Escherichia coli, BL21-AI clone, under different cultivation conditions (post-induction temperature, L-arabinose concentration and post-induction period). The optimized conditions by response surface methodology using face centered central composite design were 0.2% (w/v) L-arabinose, 8 hr and 25°C. The analysis of variance coupled with larger value of R2 (0.989) showed that the quadratic model used for the prediction was highly significant (p < 0.05). Under the optimized conditions, the model produced bromelain activity of 9.2 U/mg while validation experiments gave bromelain activity of 9.6 ± 0.02 U/mg at 0.15% (w/v) L-arabinose, 8 hr and 27°C. This study had innovatively developed cultivation conditions for better production of recombinant bromelain in shake flask culture