Comparative Assessment of Rural Development Programs of Selected NGOs in Plateau State, North-Central, Nigeria

The study examined the extent to which the rural development programs of Evangelical Church of West Africa-People Oriented Development (ECWA-POD) and Country Women Association of Nigeria (COWAN) contribute to the development of rural communities in Plateau State. A comparison of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) was done to examine the factors that explain variation in the organizations. A total of 150 respondents made up of community members and staff of the organizations randomly selected from four Local Government Areas responded to the structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed that the major rural development programs of the NGOs were agricultural programs, health programs, human resource development, community development, and industrial and trade promotion programs. Analysis carried out showed a significant relationship (P 2=0.023; p#0.05) in the program orientation of the two organizations. Majority (57.8 percent for ECWA-POD and 75.6 percent for COWAN) of the respondents considered the programs of the organizations as beneficial and benefitted more concerning potable water and community sanitation facilities. Participation of the community members at various stages of the program and type of participation was also identified. The perceived level of goal attainment of the organization was higher (t=2.72; p#0.05) in COWAN than ECWA-POD. It was recommended that government should collaborate with NGOs through the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) concerning project identification, design, and implementation of rural development programs

Adsorption and corrosion inhibition properties of thiocarbanilide on the electrochemical behavior of high carbon steel in dilute acid solutions

The inhibition performance of thiocarbanilide on the electrochemical corrosion behavior of high carbon steel in 1 M H2SO4 and HCl acid solutions was studied through weight loss method and potentiodynamic polarization test. Data obtained showed that the organic compound performed effectively in acid solutions at all concentrations with an average thiocarbanilide inhibition efficiency above 70% in H2SO4 acid and 80% in HCl acid from weight loss and potentiodynamic polarization test respectively. Results from corrosion thermodynamic calculations showed that the adsorption of thiocarbanilide onto the steel was through chemisorption mechanism whereby the redox electrochemical process responsible for corrosion and the electrolytic transport of corrosive anions were simultaneously suppressed. Statistical derivations through ANOVA analysis confirm that the influences of both the inhibitor concentration and exposure time on inhibition efficiency values are negligible. Adsorption of the compound was determined to obey the Langmuir and Frumkin isotherm mode

Free radical mediated oxidative degradation of carotenes and xanthophylls

This article reviews the excited-state quenching, pro-vitamin A activity and anticarcinogenicity of carotenes and xanthophylls in relation to their chemical structures. Excited-state quenching improved with the length of the conjugated chain structure. Pro-vitamin A activity was dependent on the presence of at least one beta-ionyl ring structure. The effectiveness of carotenoids as antioxidants depended on their ability to trap peroxyl radicals with production of resonance-stabilized carotenyl radicals. The products identified from oxidations of carotenes and xanthophylls with molecular oxygen and other oxidizing agents are presented. The free radical-mediated mechanisms that have been proposed to account for the different classes of products are reviewed.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe