Nigeria Paper Currency Serial Number Pattern Recognition System for Crimes Control

Only secured and conducive environment void of robbery, kidnapping, fake currency and all forms of insurgencies will foster production and distribution of goods, investment and saving that enhance national economic growth and development. This is a mirage in a country generally believed and tagged the giant of African; Nigeria. Crime, in whatever name or nomenclature, has a significant negative impact on the welfare and economy prosperities of our society. The urge to get rich promotes Crime like armed robbery, kidnapping for ransom and production of counterfeit banknotes to mention but a few. Innocent people have suffered psychological distress, fear, anger, depression, physical harm, financial loss and in most cases untimely death during the operations by these hoodlums. Banks, Cash-In-Transit Vehicle, and ATM points are often robbed by gangs in search for paper currency. Kidnappers as well demand for paper currency as ransom while some other gangs are involved in the production of counterfeit banknotes so as to enrich themselves no minding the negative effect on the nation’s economy.  The banknotes collected during the operations by the hoodlums are taken to banks. Yet, the banks will not detect or recognize any of these notes which attest to the fact that our system lacks check and balance. The system is very porous without a recourse to this era of technology when machine is trained to do virtually everything for our convenience. Currency as an entity has a unique identification number. The identification number is an alphanumeric currency issuance of about 10 digits comprises two (2) capital letters and eight (8) numbers usually positioned at a strategic location on either front or back of the 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 naira notes. It is a reliable and intelligent system developed to track banknotes unique identifiers numbers- serial numbers, in order to control financial related crimes. Keywords: Nigeria Paper Currency Serial Number, Pattern Recognition DOI: 10.7176/IKM/11-3-04 Publication date: April 30th 202

Performance Effects of Strategic Marketing Management in the Nigerian Telecoms Industry: Empirical Insight from Globacoms Ltd.

The rate of competition in the Nigerian telecommunication industry is moving at a leapfrog basis. Competitors are reacting like tigers, some are reacting stochastically and different classes of competitors are coming out with their different attacks whether offensive or defensive. This rate of competition has made strategic marketing managers to put all hands on deck in implanting and crafting sustainable marketing strategies that would give their organization competitive edge in the ever turbulent business eco system. The paper therefore examined the effects of strategic marketing management on the performance of Globacom Limited with the view of evaluating the extent to which the organization strategically market its product and the methods it employs. The research design adopted for the study was a descriptive survey method in which a simple random technique was used for selecting respondents using administered questionnaires on strategic marketing. However, both primary and secondary methods were adopted and the hypotheses were tested using the SPSS (regression) method. The findings of the study revealed that strategic marketing management has positive impact on the performance of Globacom Limited. The findings also revealed that market orientation does influence the sales performance & profitability of telecoms industry and that market segmentation is a useful tool to enhance customer’s satisfaction. It was therefore recommended that organizations should continue to apply Strategic marketing management to improve their performance level. They should maintain an ethical atmosphere since it is good for efficiency. The organization should also put more effort in managing marketing complexity, customer and stakeholder expectations and to reconcile the influences of a changing environment in the context of a set of resource capabilities. Keywords: Performance, Strategic Marketing, Management, Nigerian Telecoms Industry & Customers’ satisfaction

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF A RETROFITTED REFRIGERATOR USING ECO-FRIENDLY REFRIGERANT

The use of refrigerants with a global warming potential (GWP) greater than 150 is banned in small and medium-sized refrigerators in accordance with the European F-Gas policy. Therefore, the suitability of retrofitting an existing refrigerator using a low GWP working fluid (R152a), as a replacement for the usual refrigerant (R134a) that is harmful to the environment, was investigated experimentally in this paper. In this study, close trend and similarities have been observed between the retrofit refrigerant (R152a) and the traditional refrigerant (R134a) in terms of their thermophysical properties. This has shown the compatibility of R152a with the components of the existing refrigerator. The two refrigerants met the pull-down time standard for the refrigerator, but the values of R152a were consistently lower than those of R134a. In addition, R152a consumed less energy with higher coefficient of performance and cooling capacity (12.2 and 14.6 %, respectively) than R134a. Due to the superior performance and the eco-friendly properties of R152a, it is recommended as a retrofit refrigerant for the existing small and medium-sized refrigerators

Economic Evaluations of Adult Male Circumcision for Prevention of Heterosexual Acquisition of HIV in Men in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Effects of Storage on Sachet Water Quality in Ogun State, Nigeria

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of storage on the physicochemical status and bacteriological quality of sachet water produced and sold in  Abeokuta metropolis, Nigeria. Ten brands of sachet water were collected within 24 hours of production and stored at ambient temperature. Sub-samples were drawn from the stock samples immediately for physico-chemical and microbiological analyses and after two months. Physical parameters were determined by instrumental methods. Cationic and anionic constituents were determined by standard titrimetric and spectrophotometric methods, trace and heavy water were determined by Atomic Adsorption Spectrophotometer. The study revealed that all the brands of water analyzed were physically and chemically wholesome and met the WHO standards. Five brands (50%) of the water had total viable and coliform count above the recommended count of 100cfu/m and zero cfu/ml, respectively. pH values increased in all brands to acceptable WHO limits within 2 months of storage except for sample 3 and 4 which decreases below the acceptable limit.  Majorly dissolved oxygen and nitrate values decreased through the investigation period. Total and faecal coliform appeared in 50% of sachet water samples  analyzed immediately after production and were no longer detected after storing for two months except for sample 4. Results of the experiment indicate that 60% of the brands analyzed met the WHO guideline limit for drinking especially for the physico-chemical parameters while the majority failed in the microbiological essay when stored at ambient temperature for the two-month investigation period.KEYWORDS: Coliforms, Conductivity, Microbiological Assay, Physical and Chemical Parameters,Turbidity, Sachet Wate

Performance analysis of a retrofitted refrigerator using eco-friendly refrigerant

The use of refrigerants with a global warming potential (GWP) greater than 150 is banned in small and medium-sized refrigerators in accordance with the European F-Gas policy. Therefore, the suitability of retrofitting an existing refrigerator using a low GWP working fluid (R152a), as a replacement for the usual refrigerant (R134a) that is harmful to the environment, was investigated experimentally in this paper. In this study, close trend and similarities have been observed between the retrofit refrigerant (R152a) and the traditional refrigerant (R134a) in terms of their thermophysical properties. This has shown the compatibility of R152a with the components of the existing refrigerator. The two refrigerants met the pull-down time standard for the refrigerator, but the values of R152a were consistently lower than those of R134a. In addition, R152a consumed less energy with higher coefficient of performance and cooling capacity (12.2 and 14.6 %, respectively) than R134a. Due to the superior performance and the eco-friendly properties of R152a, it is recommended as a retrofit refrigerant for the existing small and medium-sized refrigerators

Health insurance status affects hypertension control in a hospital based internal medicine clinic

Hypertension is a worldwide disorder that contributes significantly to morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs in both developed and developing communities. A retrospective cohort study of hypertensive patients attending the Internal Medicine continuity clinic at Nashville General Hospital (NGH) between January and December 2007 was conducted. Given the easy access to health care at NGH and affordable Blood pressure (BP) medications, we explored the ability to achieve optimal BP control <140/90 ​mmHg and evaluated which factors are associated. Of the 199 subjects, 59% achieved BP goal <140/90 ​mmHg. The mean BP was 139/80 ​mmHg. Health insurance status was associated with SBP and DBP (All P ​< ​0.046). Patients with health insurance had a 2.2 fold increased odds of achieving BP control compared to patients without health insurance (P ​= ​0.025). Furthermore, the number of BP medications used was significantly associated with SBP and DBP (All P ​< ​0.003). Patients taking more than three BP medications had a 58% reduced odds of achieving optimal BP control compared to patients taking one medication (P ​= ​0.039). Ethnicity was not associated with achieving BP control. Our study revealed the number of BP medications used and health insurance status, are factors associated with achieving BP control

COVID-19 knowledge, beliefs, prevention behaviours and misinformation in the context of an adapted seasonal malaria chemoprevention campaign in six northern Nigerian States.

BACKGROUND: Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) using sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and amodiaquine is an efficacious intervention for protection of children against Plasmodium falciparum malaria during the rainy season. In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Malaria Consortium adapted its SMC delivery model to ensure safety of distributors, data collectors and beneficiaries. We conducted a SMC monitoring survey in July 2020 in the states of Bauchi, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto and Yobe, with questions on COVID-19 prevention behaviours and symptoms, and belief in misinformation. We investigated the associations between receipt of information on COVID-19 by different sources, including from SMC distributors, and these three outcomes using logistic generalised estimating equations. We also considered moderation of effectiveness of message delivery by SMC distributors and adherence to use of face coverings. RESULTS: We obtained a representative sample of 40,157 caregivers of eligible children aged 3-59 months, of which 36,914 (91.92%) reported knowledge of COVID-19. The weighted proportions of respondents who correctly identified COVID-19 prevention behaviours and symptoms, and who reported belief in COVID-19 misinformation, were 80.52% (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 80.02-81.00), 81.72% (95% CI 81.23-82.20) and 22.90% (95% CI 22.24-23.57). Receipt of information on COVID-19 from SMC distributors during the campaign was significantly associated with higher odds of caregiver knowledge of COVID-19 prevention behaviours (odds ratio [OR] 1.78, 95% CI 1.64-1.94, p < 0.001) and symptoms (OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.59-1.90, p < 0.001) and lower odds of belief in COVID-19 misinformation (OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.85-1.00, p = 0.038). The associations between message delivery by SMC distributors and the three outcomes were moderated by their adherence to face covering use. Receipt of information by other sources used to deliver government public health messages, including radio and health facility workers, was also associated with knowledge of COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: Malaria Consortium's SMC programme was successfully adapted in the context of COVID-19 and was a conduit for high-quality public health messages. Standard SMC monitoring and evaluation activities can be adapted to gather evidence on emerging public health issues such as the global COVID-19 pandemic

The Effects of Storage on Sachet Water Quality in Ogun State, Nigeria

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of storage on the physicochemical status and bacteriological quality of sachet water produced and sold in Abeokuta metropolis, Nigeria. Ten brands of sachet water were collected within 24 hours of production and stored at ambient temperature. Sub-samples were drawn from the stock samples immediately for physico-chemical and microbiological analyses and after two months. Physical parameters were determined by instrumental methods. Cationic and anionic constituents were determined by standard titrimetric and spectrophotometric methods, trace and heavy water were determined by Atomic Adsorption Spectrophotometer. The study revealed that all the brands of water analyzed were physically and chemically wholesome and met the WHO standards. Five brands (50%) of the water had total viable and coliform count above the recommended count of 100cfu/m and zero cfu/ml, respectively. pH values increased in all brands to acceptable WHO limits within 2 months of storage except for sample 3 and 4 which decreases below the acceptable limit. Majorly dissolved oxygen and nitrate values decreased through the investigation period. Total and faecal coliform appeared in 50% of sachet water samples analyzed immediately after production and were no longer detected after storing for two months except for sample 4. Results of the experiment indicate that 60% of the brands analyzed met the WHO guideline limit for drinking especially for the physico-chemical parameters while the majority failed in the microbiological essay when stored at ambient temperature for the two-month investigation period