Cashless Policy and Customers' Satisfaction: A Study of Commercial Banks in Ogun State, Nigeria

The advent of cashless policy into the Nigerian banking sector has brought mixed feelings to all stakeholders in the sector.  The development has brought relief to a segment dominated by the operators (bankers), while the other segment dominated by the customers has complained about the challenges associated with the operation of the policy.  Therefore, this study seeks to investigate the customers’ satisfaction of the recently introduced cashless policy in Ogun State, Nigeria with a survey of bank customers in Abeokuta.  Data was collected with a well structural questionnaire and analyzed with descriptive statistics, while hypotheses formulated for the study were tested with correlation co-efficient.The findings of the study reveal that cashless policy contributed significantly to customers’ satisfaction in Ogun State. Also, the study revealed that cashless policy contributed significantly to customers’ satisfaction through electronic channels.Finally, the study concluded that the cashless policy is customer friendly and progressive. Hence, it was therefore recommended, among others, that infrastructures should be improved upon to ensure easy operation of the policy in Ogun state. Keywords: Cashless policy, Customers’ satisfaction, Nigerian banking sector, Customers’ orientation and Banking performanc

Novel <i>IRF6 </i>mutations in families with Van Der Woude syndrome and popliteal pterygium syndrome from sub-Saharan Africa

Orofacial clefts (OFC) are complex genetic traits that are often classified as syndromic or nonsyndromic clefts. Currently, there are over 500 types of syndromic clefts in the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database, of which Van der Woude syndrome (VWS) is one of the most common (accounting for 2% of all OFC). Popliteal pterygium syndrome (PPS) is considered to be a more severe form of VWS. Mutations in the IRF6 gene have been reported worldwide to cause VWS and PPS. Here, we report studies of families with VWS and PPS in sub-Saharan Africa. We screened the DNA of eight families with VWS and one family with PPS from Nigeria and Ethiopia by Sanger sequencing of the most commonly affected exons in IRF6 (exons 3, 4, 7, and 9). For the VWS families, we found a novel nonsense variant in exon 4 (p.Lys66X), a novel splice-site variant in exon 4 (p.Pro126Pro), a novel missense variant in exon 4 (p.Phe230Leu), a previously reported splice-site variant in exon 7 that changes the acceptor splice site, and a known missense variant in exon 7 (p.Leu251Pro). A previously known missense variant was found in exon 4 (p.Arg84His) in the PPS family. All the mutations segregate in the families. Our data confirm the presence of IRF6-related VWS and PPS in sub-Saharan Africa and highlights the importance of screening for novel mutations in known genes when studying diverse global populations. This is important for counseling and prenatal diagnosis for high-risk families

Non-random distribution of deleterious mutations in the DNA and protein-binding domains of IRF6 are associated with Van Der Woude syndrome

Background: The development of the face occurs during the early days of intrauterine life by the formation of facial processes from the first Pharyngeal arch. Derangement in these well-organized fusion events results in Orofacial clefts (OFC). Van der Woude syndrome (VWS) is one of the most common causes of syndromic cleft lip and/or palate accounting for 2% of all cases. Mutations in the IRF6 gene account for 70% of cases with the majority of these mutations located in the DNA-binding (exon 3, 4) or protein-binding domains (exon 7-9). The current study was designed to update the list of IRF6 variants reported for VWS by compiling all the published mutations from 2013 to date as well as including the previously unreported VWS cases from Africa and Puerto Rico.Methods: We used PubMed with the search terms; "Van der Woude syndrome," "Popliteal pterygium syndrome," "IRF6," and "Orofacial cleft" to identify eligible studies. We compiled the CADD score for all the mutations to determine the percentage of deleterious variants.Results: Twenty-one new mutations were identified from nine papers. The majority of these mutations were in exon 4. Mutations in exon 3 and 4 had CADD scores between 20 and 30 and mutations in exon 7-9 had CADD scores between 30 and 40. The presence of higher CADD scores in the protein-binding domain (exon 7-9) further confirms the crucial role played by this domain in the function of IRF6. In the new cases, we identified five IRF6 mutations, three novel missense mutations (p.Phe36Tyr, p.Lys109Thr, and p.Gln438Leu), and two previously reported nonsense mutations (p.Ser424*and p.Arg250*).Conclusion: Mutations in the protein and DNA-binding domains of IRF6 ranked among the top 0.1% and 1% most deleterious genetic mutations, respectively. Overall, these findings expand the range of VWS mutations and are important for diagnostic and counseling purposes.</p

Clofibrate, a peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor-alpha (PPARα) agonist, and Its molecular mechanisms of action against sodium fluoride–induced toxicity

AVAILABILITY OF DATA AND MATERIALS : Data will be made available based on request from the corresponding author.Sodium fluoride (NaF) is one of the neglected environmental pollutants. It is ubiquitously found in the soil, water, and environment. Interestingly, fluoride has been extensively utilized for prevention of dental caries and tartar formation, and may be added to mouthwash, mouth rinse, and toothpastes. This study is aimed at mitigating fluoride-induced hypertension and nephrotoxicity with clofibrate, a peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor-alpha (PPARα) agonist. For this study, forty male Wistar rats were used and randomly grouped into ten rats per group, control, sodium fluoride (NaF; 300 ppm) only, NaF plus clofibrate (250 mg/kg) and NaF plus lisinopril (10 mg/kg), respectively, for 7 days. The administration of NaF was by drinking water ad libitum, while clofibrate and lisinopril were administered by oral gavage. Administration of NaF induced hypertension, and was accompanied with exaggerated oxidative stress; depletion of antioxidant defence system; reduced nitric oxide production; increased systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressure; activation of angiotensin-converting enzyme activity and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB); and testicular apoptosis. Treatment of rats with clofibrate reduced oxidative stress, improved antioxidant status, lowered high blood pressure through the inhibition of angiotensin-converting enzyme activity, mineralocorticoid receptor over-activation, and abrogated testicular apoptosis. Taken together, clofibrate could offer exceptional therapeutic benefit in mitigating toxicity associated with sodium fluoride.Cape Peninsula University of Technology and National Research Foundation (South Africa).https://link.springer.com/journal/12011hj2023Paraclinical Science

Social system and strategic entry of women entrepreneur into informal economy in Lagos, Nigeria

Strategic entry of women into entrepreneurial activities and subsequent entrepreneurial development in informal economy within the social system has received little academic attention in spite of the fact that, entrepreneurship development is important to economic growth and decent work. It has also been found to promote quality of life. The focus of this paper is to examine the influence of social system in strategic entry of women into informal economic activities in Nigeria, using Yoruba women textile traders at Balogun market, Lagos State, South-West, Nigeria as a case study. The paper is anchored on Social action theory by Max Weber. The paper utilized only qualitative method of data collection. Eight focus group discussions, and forty In-depth – interviews were used to collect information from the women participants who were purposively chosen. The data reveal that parents, family members, and social friends had great influence in strategic entry of women into textile trading at Balogun market and subsequent development of women entrepreneurial activities. This information is essential towards policy formulation for women entrepreneurial development in informal economy

Study of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) maturity and value: The relationship

A key challenge within the service industry is how the benefits from ICT adoption and diffusion (ICT value) relate to the degree of adoption and diffusion of ICT (ICT maturity). This challenge has resulted in the uncertainty of value generation from investments on ICT leading to ICT mis-planning and disaster. This paper unraveled this uncertainty by measuring the ICT maturity and value of service firms listed in the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and established the relationship between them. The Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) model was adopted to measure the value of ICT in the service firms while the ICT Maturity model of Small-and-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) was used to measure their ICT maturity. The relationship between these two service variables was established by correlation analysis. The result showed that the Nigeria service industry is comfortably web based in ICT maturity with an index of about 0.76. The ICT value index was estimated to be about 4.60, an indication that ICT’s potentials are not effectively utilized in Nigeria for service delivery. The final analysis showed that, there is a negative-weak correlation between ICT maturity and ICT Value in the Nigeria service industry. This shows that the benefit from ICT adoption and diffusion is not traceable to the degree of ICT adoption and diffusion in the service industry

Determination of the optimum transformation ratio for a trapezoidal modulated dual active bridge converter for wide range voltage operation

This paper provides analytical approaches for determining the optimum transformation ratio (TR) of a trapezoidal modulated dual active bridge (TraMDAB) converter for automotive and other related applications. The approaches are based on the duty cycle of the transformer (inductor) AC voltages. The search for optimum TR is explored further using the extrema of the converter's maximum power transfer. The theory is verified by simulation of a 5 kW TraMDAB converter modelled in PLECS. The converter was operated at 50 kHz for an input voltage range of 500 V to 1000 V and output voltage range of 10 V to 15 V to determine the best choice among the three investigated TRs selected based on the limit provided by this paper. It concludes that the selected TR must not be too close to or not far from the maximum allowable TR such that the required voltage and power ranges are covered. The resulting transformer must be easy to manufacture, and its size must not impact negatively on the converter's power density. A modified leakage inductance formula is provided to limit the output power to the specified power range