Business Ethics, Corporate Philosophy and Regulatory Challenges in the Confectionary Industry: An Evaluation of the Bread Market in Nigeria

This study sets out to identify why - in the process of “doing business”- most organizations in Nigeria resort to offering sub standard products to the public, particularly as regards food products. This approach allows businesses to make excess profit without recourse to best ethical practices, the supposed corporate philosophy of their organizations, and to the detriment of the customers. Indiscriminate profit maximization” mentality is now on the increase within the confectionary industry in Nigeria; thus the paper considered the theory of public interest and gives an insight to Kant’s ethical philosophy with a view to critically evaluate the role of The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC); the agency charged with the responsibility of upholding best ethical practices among confectionary and related industries in Nigeria. The study also identified some lapses in the discharge of NAFDAC’s regulatory functions which have contributed to the incidence of unethical practices among Nigerian business organisations. The paper therefore recommends that NAFDAC operations be re-evaluated for better operational performanc

Impact Modified Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Fiber/Poly(Lactic) Acid Composite

In this study, composites were fabricated from oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber and poly(lactic) acid by extrusionn followed by injection moulding. Surface of the fiber was pre-treated by ultrasound in an alkali medium and treatment efficiency was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis and Fourier transforms infrared spectrometer (FTIR). Effect of fiber treatment on composite was characterized by tensile strength (TS), tensile modulus (TM) and impact strength (IS). Furthermore, biostrong impact modifier was incorporated into the treated fiber composite to improve its impact properties. Mechanical testing showed an improvement of up to 23.5% and 33.6% respectively for TS and TM of treated fiber composite above untreated fiber composite. On the other hand incorporation of impact modifier led to enhancement of about 20% above the initial IS of the treated fiber composite

Mechanism of Microwave Assisted Hydrodistillation Studied Through Heat Analysis

In this study, the efficiency of heating mechanism of microwave assisted hydrodistillation (MAHD) in the extraction of cinnamon bark oil was investigated. The optimum conditions used to analyse the heating performance were 8:1 ratio of water to cinnamon bark powder and fixed 250 W of irradiation power. The increasing temperature in the cinnamon bark matrix was dependent on the solvent, physical, dielectric and heating properties of the cinnamon matrix. Due to the high dielectric properties of water it accelerated the process of extraction. However, after the cinnamon matrix reached the boiling point, the density of solvent decreased which led to decrease in the dielectric properties. Volume rate of heat generation and penetration depth of microwave was also evaluated. The rate of volume heat generation reduced when the exposure time increase which is related to the reducing dielectric properties of cinnamon matrix. The penetration depth was calculated to support the data of dielectric properties. This study therefore produced an in depth justification necessary to understand the heating mechanism of MAHD in extraction of cinnamon bark essential oil

Analysis of Physical and Chemical Composition of Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis) Peels

Sweet orange is one of the most common fruits in the World. The waste generated from the fruits needs to be put into a beneficial use. In this study some physical and chemical properties of the primary waste of sweet orange was investigated. The result showed sweet orange rinds (peels) as the major waste and contains 45-50% of the total mass of sweet orange fruits. The chemical analysis showed sweet orange rinds to be rich in protein of 7.15% and crude fibre of 12.79% which can be used as ingredients in processed food. These uses will promote sustainable disposal of orange rinds

An MSBE–Driven Advanced Air Mobility Post–Disaster Response System

In this work, an overarching conceptual design model towards the realization of a proposed Advanced Air Mobility Post–Disaster Response System (AAMPDR system) was explored through the focal lenses of systems thinking (ST), socio–technical systems (STS) and model–based systems engineering (MBSE) paradigms. Initially aimed at providing intervention for casualties and aerial support to emergency rescue workers on the ground in the event of a hurricane disaster around the Gulf shore of the Mobile bay area, Mobile city, AL., the scope of this research subsequently expanded to include a global outlook. Thereafter, culminating in the development of a generalized AAMPDR system model and architecture that is adoptable, implementable and adaptable by humanitarian providers around the world regardless of the type of disaster event or location where the said event may occur. In the opening Chapter I, the general knowledge, key concepts, distinctions, and definitions with regard to Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) were introduced. Likewise, preliminary systems engineering efforts were enumerated, including the needs identification and requirement elicitation. Moreover, in Chapter I and later in Chapter II, the STS viewpoints were briefly considered as well as the different physical and digital interfaces that relate to the AAMPDR system. Suffice to mention that Chapter II also documents a comprehensive account of the existing body of literature and knowledge gaps that this research work sought to fill as it pertained to the AAMPDR system. Chapter III represents an exhaustive review of the state of play regarding the history, classification, and general application of AAM platforms from a systems engineering context. The following Chapter IV covered the ST aspects as they relate to the system of interest, AAMPDR system. These discussions also examined the applications of two ST tools namely mind map and TRIZ to problems associated with the emergence of AAMs including the Title 14 CFR Part 107 ‘Above Ground Rule’ (AGL) rule and the effects of 5G C–band infrastructure roll–out on future operations of the AAM concept vehicles. Chapter V focused on the application of the MBSE methodology in developing work products associated with the left–hand side of the ubiquitous ‘V’ systems engineering lifecycle. Thus, resulting in at least one (1) artifact from each of the nine (9) types of systems modeling language (SysML) and five (5) types of unified architecture framework modeling language (UAFML) artifacts. These included more than one hundred (100) systems requirements organized into requirement diagrams and tables, stakeholder requirements, use case, activity, state machine, and parametric diagrams, as well as operational and resource views, respectively, to mention but a few. Chapter VI treated the subject of measures of effectiveness (MOE) with regard to the AAMPDR system. This was accomplished by considering several candidate systems or alternatives and analyzing their suitability through a scale preference using firstly, a Pugh matrix and weighted–sum approach and secondly, a hybrid combination of the Monte Carlo Method (MCM) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The penultimate Chapter VII is an overarching summary of this present work followed by Chapter VIII highlighting the future works and finally the Appendices documenting supplementary work products accomplished in this research

Tuning the optical properties of silicon quantum dots via surface functionalization with conjugated aromatic fluorophores

The authors acknowledge Karen Nygard at UWO Biotron for assistance with confocal microscopy. This work was financially supported by NSERC Canada Discovery (Charpentier).Silicon Quantum Dots (SQDs) have recently attracted great interest due to their excellent optical properties, low cytotoxicity, and ease of surface modification. The size of SQDs and type of ligand on their surface has a great influence on their optical properties which is still poorly understood. Here we report the synthesis and spectroscopic studies of three families of unreported SQDs functionalized by covalently linking to the aromatic fluorophores, 9-vinylphenanthrene, 1-vinylpyrene, and 3-vinylperylene. The results showed that the prepared functionalized SQDs had a highly-controlled diameter by HR-TEM, ranging from 1.7–2.1 nm. The photophysical measurements of the assemblies provided clear evidence for efficient energy transfer from the fluorophore to the SQD core. Fӧrster energy transfer is the likely mechanism in these assemblies. As a result of the photogenerated energy transfer process, the emission color of the SQD core could be efficiently tuned and its emission quantum efficiency enhanced. To demonstrate the potential application of the synthesized SQDs for bioimaging of cancer cells, the water-soluble perylene- and pyrene-capped SQDs were examined for fluorescent imaging of HeLa cells. The SQDs were shown to be of low cytotoxicity.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Impact of economic globalization on human capital: Evidence from Nigerian economy

Investment in human capital in relation to global world is to achieve an optimum return in terms of a gainful employment, productivity and high standard of living. This paper uses autoregressive distributed lag model to determine the cointegration, long run and short run elasticities among human capital, economic growth, economic globalization and foreign direct investment (FDI), for the period 1980-2011. The empirical results reveal that there is a long run relationship among the variables tested in this study. Also, economic growth and FDI show a positive impact on human capital and economic globalization indicates a negative impact on human capital in Nigeria

DEMOGRAPHIC VARAIBLES AS THE DETERMINANT OF HOME CHORES AMONG MARRIED COUPLES IN SELECTED TOWNS IN EKITI STATE

This research focuses on the demographic variables as the determinant of home chores among married couples in selected towns in Ekiti state. The main objective of the study is to primarily investigate if demographic characteristics of couples are strong enough to determine carrying out home chores among the people of Ekiti. This study is exploratory in nature and was carried out purposively in selected urban areas like Ado-Ekiti, Ikere, Aramoko and Igede. A total number of 400 respondents were drawn. However, only 394 (98.5%) of the questionnaires were dully filled and it was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 20. The quantitative data was presented in tables, frequency and percentages. The results showed that most of the respondents (29.9%) were between the age of 37-47 years, (50.3%) were female, (45.2%) had B.Sc/HND, (32.0%) were civil servants, (55.8%) earn between N20,000-N60,000 monthly, (44.2%) of the respondents had family size of 4-6 members, (74.1%) of the couples were monogamy while (49.2%) had between 3-4 children. On home chores respondents were familiar with, laundry work which was mostly known (69.5%) while (39.6%) respondents had little familiarity with babysitting. In respect to home chores statistics shows that (71.6%) respondents basically arrange and organize home while (48.2%) rarely babysit. In respect to whether demographic variables of the respondents determine a set of home chores which married couples engage in, there was a thin line between the responses provided by the respondents. About 45.7% of the respondents said yes while 45.2% said no to the above assertion. This research recommends that married couples should help themselves in doing or carrying out any form of home chores irrespective of their religion or cultural differences. This would invariably foster and sustain peace among the couples. The study concluded that socio-demographic variables do not determine the type, set and volume of home chores couples in Ekiti state engage in at any point in time

Influence of Weed Control Methods on Viability and Vigour of Maize (Zea mays L.) Seeds

Weed control method of choice should achieve the objective of controlling weeds without sacrificing seed quality. The influence of Combination of mechanical method (slashing at 2, and 4 week intervals), and herbicide (pre-emergence and post emergence) for weed control in maize on seed quality (viability and vigour) of maize seeds were evaluated.. Field and laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of pre-emergence (Diuron 50% SC {N (3, 4-dichlorophenyl) N, N-dimethyl urea} and post-emergence (Atrazine 50FW-{6 chloro-N-methyl-N-(1-methylethyl) 1, 3, 5-triazine, 2, 4 diamine}) herbicides either alone, or in combination with slashing at two and four-week, on seed quality. Combination of pre-emergence herbicide and slashing 2-weeks after planting  slashing gave the highest viability (91.37%) and lowest conductivity value (2.79 µS/cm/g), whereas combination of post emergence herbicide and 4 week slashing gave the lowest viability (77.67%) and the highest conductivity value (15.71 µS/cm/g). In accelerated ageing test, combination of pre-emergence herbicide with either 2 week slashing, or 4 week slashing  WAP gave the highest viability (84%), whereas combination of post emergence herbicide with 2 week slashing gave the lowest viability (51.33%) and lowest germination rate index (10.37). Combination of pre-emergence herbicide and 2-week slashing is the best complementary option for weed control in maize seed crop. Keywords; pre-emergence, post-emergence herbicides,  seed physiology,  maize seed viabilit