The Pricing of Audit Services in Nigeria Commercial Banks

This  study investigates the determinants of audit fees in commercial banks in Nigeria.  Data were collected from a sample of banks mostly quoted on Nigerian Stock Exchange.  Consistent with previous studies, the result of our data analysis showed that bank size,  degree of bank complexity and transaction and saving accounts to total deposit ratio are positively related and statistically significant to audit fees charged by the auditors.  Even though , non performing loan  is positively related to audit fees , it is statistically insignificant.  While, the risk weighted capital adequacy ratio is negatively related and statistically insignificant to audit fees. Keywords: Audit fees, commercial banks, firm size, subsidiaries, auditor

Antimicrobial Activity Of Ocimum gratissimum Extract On Suya (An Intermediate Moisture Meat) In Nigeria

Matured leaves of Ocimum gratissimum were harvested and the extracts used to cure Suya (an intermediate moisture meat). O. gratissimum leaves were collected from Oyo state south west region of Nigeria, rinsed in distilled water and squeezed to extract the fluid. The meat used was Semi membranosus muscle from beef carcass, which was trimmed of all visible fat and connective tissues. The meat cut was sliced into sheets of 0.18cm-0.35cm thick and lengths of between 5.0cm-7.1cm. The study comprised five treatments with 10 replicates each in a completely randomized design. Treatment A (TA) served as the control (Suya without O. gratissimum extract(OGE), while treatment B (TB),treatment C (TC), treatment D (TD) and treatment E (TE) were Suya soaked in OGE for ½ hr, 1hr, l½ hrs and 2 hrs, respectively, before coating with Suya ingredients. A total of 50 sticks of Suya weighing from 38.10 - 59.30 grams of sliced meat per stick were prepared for each treatment. The meat on sticks was properly coated with Suya ingredients and arranged around glowing embers of charcoal. The morphological and biochemical characterization of aerobic bacteria, coliform and lactic acid isolates from the five treatments was carried out. At Day 0, isolates from samples of the five treatments include: Aerobic species of Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Micrococcus, and Flavobacterium species. Three Coliform species isolated were: Proteus, Aeromonas and Enterobacter species. The four Lactic acid bacteria isolated were Pediococcus, Streptococcus, Lactobacillus species and Enterococcus feacalis. The bacterial count on Suya meat soaked in OGE at different curing times of ½ hr, 1hr, 1½ hrs and 2hrs differed. The aerobic counts (0.001x105- 2.2x105) were relatively low at the third and fifth days for TC, TD, and TE while for Lactic acid bacteria, the count reduced from 3.0x105 in TA to 0.2x105 in TE. Coliform counts of 6.0x105 and 7.0x105 recorded at day 7 for TA and TB were exceptionally high. O. gratissimum extract, used as a curing agent in suya production significantly reduced the aerobic count of treated meat, thus enhancing the keeping quality of the products.Keywords: Suya, Ocimum gratissimum Extract (OGE), Bacterial, antimicrobia

PHYSICOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF MANGANESE (II) AND COPPER (II) COMPLEXES AND THEIR ADDUCT

 Bis(salicylaldehydato) manganese (II) and Bis(4,4,4-trifluoro-1-(2-Naphthyl)-1,3-butanedionato) copper(II),  their 2,2'-bipyridine, ethylenediamine, 1,10-phenanthroline and tetramethylethylenediamine adducts have been synthesized and characterized by metal analysis, FT-IR, UV–Visible, magnetic susceptibility and antimicrobial activity. The complexes and adducts were obtained as brown, yellow or light green colour. The metal analyses were in close agreement with the theoretical values expected. The infrared spectra of the manganese(II) complex revealed the coordination of salicylaldehyde through the carbonyl group and the hydroxyl group, while 2,2'-bipyridine, ethylenediamine, 1,10-phenanthroline and tetramethylethylenediamine coordinated to the metal through the nitrogen atoms. The magnetic moment data suggests low-spin octahedral geometry for [Mn(sal)2(H2O)2] (μeff = 2.14 B.M), high-spin octahedral geometries for [Mn(sal)2(en)].5H2O (μeff = 5.50 B.M), [Mn(sal)2(phen)] (μeff = 6.2 B.M),[Mn(sal)2bipy](μeff =5.95 B.M)  and [Mn(sal)2(tmen)](μeff =5.98 B.M.). The electronic measurements are indicative of a probable four-coordinate square planar geometry for [Cu(tfnb)2] while five-coordinate square pyramidal geometry are proposed for the copper(II) adducts. The complexes and adducts were screened against various bacteria and fungi. The copper complex and adducts were moderately active against fungal strain except [Cu(tfnb)2] and [Cu(tfnb)2en] in Aspergillus niger which showed pronounced activity and resistance respectivel

Evaluation of physical characteristics of chevon as affected by post-mortem carcass dressing and freezing preservation

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of post-mortem dressing methods and freezing preservation on the physical characteristics of chevon. Twenty-seven Red-Sokoto male goats between 10 and 12 months of age weighing 18–20 kg were purchased, stabilized and slaughtered. The carcasses were randomly allotted to three post-mortem dressing procedures (scalding, skinning and singeing) and meat from thigh cuts was frozen for 0, 7, 14 and 21 days. Meat samples were excised each day after thawing for physical analysis and data collected were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) in a completely randomized design experiment with 3x4 factorial arrangement. The significant means were separated with the Duncan multiple range test at p<0.05. The results showed that the post-mortem dressing methods and freezing affected Red-Sokoto chevon significantly with the singeing method exerting the highest detrimental effects on physical attributes of meat with the exception of color, yield and pH, while the skinning method exerted the least detrimental effects. Also, cold, cooking and drip losses as well as thermal shortening, cold shortening and pH values increased between the 14th and 21st day, while color, yield, water holding capacity, texture and shear force values decreased across the three treatments during freezing periods. The effects were more significant in singed and scalded meat than in skinned chevon. It was recommended, therefore, that skinning method be encouraged if meat from Red-sokoto male goats is to be frozen and the period of freezing be limited to 14 days for wholesome meat

HEALTH COMMUNICATION AND AWARENESS OF ALUMINIUM-WASTE DISPOSAL EFFECTS AMONG OGUN STATE HOUSING CORPORATION RESIDENTS

This paper surveyed residents of the Ogun State Housing Corporation who have resorted to collecting aluminium waste as a cheap alternative to assuage the deplorable state of road networks in the estate. 200 copies of the questionnaire were randomly distributed to residents of the Housing Estate. The resolve of the survey was to determine the level of awareness (about the health and environmental implications) of aluminium waste, as well as decipher their level of involvement in the collection, use and contact with these waste materials. In cases of awareness about these health implications; the medium through which they gained such awareness was further queried. It was recommended upon findings that harnessing the participation of all stakeholders (the Residents association, the Industrial wing and the Ogun State government) would bring stability to the growing demand for these materials within the Estate. Similarly, coordinating educative and informative campaigns through the existing meeting platforms in the Estate would expedite enhanced consciousness and eventual cessation of the possibilities of contact and inhalation of aluminium waste in the Housing Estate

The effect of Si/Al ratio on local and nanoscale water diffusion in H-ZSM-5: A quasielastic neutron scattering and molecular dynamics simulation study

The dynamics of water confined in H-ZSM-5 (protonated form of the Zeolite Socony Mobil – 5) has been studied using quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS) and classical molecular dynamics simulations (MD). QENS measurements probed water confined in ZSM-5 samples with Si/Al ratios of 15, 40 and 140 at 2.8 wt% loadings. In the lower silica samples, fitting of the elastic incoherent structure factor (EISF) showed that water diffusion was confined to a sphere (with radii ranging from 3.4 to 4.3 \uc5), suggesting the mobile water was located within the MFI (framework type of H-ZSM-5) channel intersections, giving localised diffusion coefficients in the range of ∼0.9–1.8 7 10−9 m2s−1. In the high silica zeolite, the diffusion was observed to be far less confined and more long range in nature, with diffusion coefficients significantly higher than in the lower silica systems (∼1.8–4.8 7 10−9 m2s−1). MD simulations further investigated the effect of the Si/Al ratio on water diffusivity at 2.8 wt% loading (9 molecules/unit cell (UC)) in H-ZSM-5 with Si/Al ratio = 15, 47, 95 and fully siliceous. The Si/Al ratio had a significant effect on the MD calculated nanoscale diffusivity of water, reducing the self-diffusion coefficient by a factor of 2 from a fully siliceous system to that with Si/Al = 15, due to the strong coordination and increased residence time of water molecules at the Br\uf8nsted acid sites which range from ∼5 ps to ∼2 ps in the Si/Al = 15 and Si/Al = 95 systems respectively. QENS observables, both the EISF and quasielastic line broadenings, were reproduced from the MD trajectories upon sampling the experimental timescale giving both qualitative and quantitative agreement with the QENS experiments. Fitting of the MD calculated EISF showed that the experimentally observed diffusion confined to a sphere of radii ranging from 3.5 to 6.8 \uc5 was also present in our simulations, with diffusion coefficients calculated to within a factor of 0.5 of experiment

The perception of maternal health messages in two urban television stations in Nigeria

Countless numbers of women across the globe lose their lives virtually every day for reasons associated with childbirth. Maternal mortality is a national dilemma that does not only affect females in rural areas but those in urban areas as well. A recognized and unarguable fact about the social responsibility of the media whether in a rural or urban setting, as Folarin (2005) avers, is that of informing the public to engender its self-determined action; it, therefore, means that the public engages in health actions based on the health message at its disposal from the media. This study, using survey as the research design and with the aid of a questionnaire, was an attempt at answering research questions on: the major source of maternal health information among urban school children; how often the broadcast media are used by urban school children; the degree of exposure to broadcast media health programmes among urban school children; and the extent to which broadcast media health programmes address the issue of maternal health. The population of the study constituted the entire SS3 students of three urban secondary schools. It was discovered, among other things that, interpersonal sources rather than the mass media, served as the major sources of maternal health information; the television was indicated as the broadcast medium used by majority of the urban school children on a daily basis. The conclusion of the study was that breaking the cycle of death among females resulting from childbirth is achievable when maternal health dissemination becomes a central focus of media business and it was recommended that a paradigm shift was required from a media routine of merely creating awareness on maternal mortality to promoting the prevention of maternal mortalit