Bankfull curves for the temperate rainforests in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of Western North Carolina

Bankfull hydraulic geometry relationships, also called regional curves, relate bankfull stream channel dimensions and discharge to watershed drainage area. This paper describes results of bankfull curve relationships developed for the temperate rainforests of the Southern Appalachian Mountains primarily on Western North Carolina Mountain streams in the Southeastern United States. Gauge stations for small and larger catchments were selected with a range of 10 to 50 years of continuous or peak discharge measurements, no major impoundments, no significant change in land use over the past 10 years, and impervious cover ranges of <20%. Cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys were measured at each study reach to determine channel dimension, pattern, and profile information. Log-Pearson Type III distributions were used to analyze annual peak discharge data for nine small watersheds sites gauged by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory and for eleven larger watersheds gauged by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Power function relationships were developed using regression analyses for bankfull discharge, channel cross-sectional area, mean depth, and width as functions of watershed drainage area

Morphological Study of Loganiaceae Diversities in West Africa

Loganiaceae belongs to the Order Gentianales which consists of the families Apocynaceae, Gelsemiaceae, Loganiaceae, Gentianaceae and Rubiaceae. Several Herbaria samples were studied prior to collection from Forest Reserves and National Parks in Nigeria, Republic of Benin and Ghana – with the aid of collection bags, cutlass, secateurs and ropes. Plants parts, both vegetative and reproductive were assessed with the aid of meter rule and tape rule in their natural environment and in the laboratory. Strychnos species collected were 47 individuals; 35 species were adequately identified. Anthocleista genus consists of nine species, Mostuea - three species while Nuxia, Spigelia and Usteria were monotypic genera. The leaf surfaces within the family are: hirsute, pilose, pubescent, tomentose and glabrous as found in Mostuea hirsuta, Strychnos phaeotricha, Strychnos innocua, Strychnos spinosa and members of Anthocleista species respectively. Morphological characters show 10 clusters at threshold of 47 % similarity. Clusters 1, 2 and 4 revealed how Anthocleista and Mostuea species separated out from other species of Loganiaceae. West African diversities have not been fully explored, there are yet novel plant species in the wild to be conserved before they slip out of our hand and sight. Keywords: Morphology, Loganiaceae, West Africa, cluster Analysis, dendrogram

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT CAPABILITIES AND SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE OF MSMES

This study empirically measured the impact of human resources management capabilities on the sustainable operational excellence of some selected micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to examine the impact of demographic characteristics on human resources management capabilities and sustainable operational excellence of MSMEs in Nigeria, and to investigate the impact of human resources management capabilities on sustainable operational excellence of MSMEs in Nigeria. The study used descriptive survey research design. The sample size of the study was 324 which was determined using Taro Yamane formula (1967). 324 copies of questionnaire were administered to departmental heads and middle level officers of MSMEs out of which 288 copies were validly retrieved and used for data analysis. Both descriptive and inferential (simple regression) statistics are employed for the test of the hypotheses. Data were analysed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences Version 22. The findings of the study revealed that most of the MSMEs lacked useful capabilities (people management, and finance) because of their business size and nature. The study concluded that human resources management capability has significant impact on sustainable operational excellence of MSMEs in Nigeria. The study recommends that there is need for MSMEs in food, agro-allied and services to establish strong human resources management capabilities in order to enhance their relevance, survival, and growth of the MSMEs in Nigeria

Youth Farmers, Shocks and Food Security in Nigeria

Shocks are insufficiently handled in many developing countries, including Nigeria. At least 60percent of the farmers in Nigeria lack adequate safety net coverage to mitigate the effect of shocks. Thus, this study examines how shocks affect youth farmers and its possible effect on food security in Nigeria. This study makes use of Wave 4 (2018/2019) of the Living Standard Measurement Study-Integrated Survey on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) data, applying the Propensity Score Matching (PMS) model and the two-sample t-test. Findings from the PSM showed that households affected by shocks are less food secure. This is validated from the two-sample t-test; which tests for the potential impact of shocks on household food security. The results showed that though a higher percentage of the households (94.42percent) are not affected by shocks, compared to those affected by shocks (2.58percent), but are worse-off by 0.007percent in terms food security. This means that households who are not affected by shocks are more food secured by 0.007percent. Therefore, based on the findings, it is recommended that appropriate measures be adopted by the Nigerian government, such as providing social protection, safety nets, credit facilities amongst others, to help increase agricultural productivity in order to sustain food security

ENTREPRENEURIAL BRANDING AND PERFORMANCE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Literature search revealed that brand corporate identity is one of the intangible assets that can be employed by an entrepreneur to carve a niche for his business in the business environment. It is a well calculated strategy that an entrepreneur uses through intrinsic and extrinsic plan to project itself. However, organisational performance management is a process wherein the organization manages its operations/activities to match its corporate and functional strategies and objectives. This study examined and chronologically reviewed extant literature in entrepreneurial branding and it can bring performance into the operating system. This research work made use of relevant academic literature from various disciplines ranging from entrepreneurship, marketing and business. The study carried out a systematic review of academic journals and publication, conference papers, few textbooks and websites. The study was restricted to English publications. Meanwhile, academic journals of various disciplines were consulted from where the review of literature was explored for this research study. In all, the findings of the study were that multifaceted nature of the discipline had for long been acknowledged by specialties who engages the knowledge of expertise searched across from diverse disciplines. This multi-sided approach may also be handily applied by social art researchers in way enlightenment can cross fertilized other field of research. Marketing probably can make an essential impact in this respect since it is expanding into novel areas. Gaps in literature were that the concept of corporate identity theories above can be endorsed for meticulously expounding, improving and inciting an in-depth knowledge about corporate identity, this could also be logical way they were deteriorated by their nonexistence of practical backing, and recommendations were that, it is anticipated that entrepreneurial branding for further studies occupies position in advertising and business programs in the nearest future

Early development of non-hodgkin lymphoma following initiation of newer class antiretroviral therapy among HIV-infected patients - implications for immune reconstitution

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In the HAART era, the incidence of HIV-associated non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is decreasing. We describe cases of NHL among patients with multi-class antiretroviral resistance diagnosed rapidly after initiating newer-class antiretrovirals, and examine the immunologic and virologic factors associated with potential IRIS-mediated NHL.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>During December 2006 to January 2008, eligible HIV-infected patients from two affiliated clinics accessed Expanded Access Program antiretrovirals of raltegravir, etravirine, and/or maraviroc with optimized background. A NHL case was defined as a pathologically-confirmed tissue diagnosis in a patient without prior NHL developing symptoms after starting newer-class antiretrovirals. Mean change in CD4 and log₁₀VL in NHL cases compared to controls was analyzed at week 12, a time point at which values were collected among all cases.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Five cases occurred among 78 patients (mean incidence = 64.1/1000 patient-years). All cases received raltegravir and one received etravirine. Median symptom onset from newer-class antiretroviral initiation was 5 weeks. At baseline, the median CD4 and VL for NHL cases (n = 5) versus controls (n = 73) were 44 vs.117 cells/mm3 (p = 0.09) and 5.2 vs. 4.2 log₁₀(p = 0.06), respectively. The mean increase in CD4 at week 12 in NHL cases compared to controls was 13 (n = 5) vs. 74 (n = 50)(p = 0.284). Mean VL log₁₀reduction in NHL cases versus controls at week 12 was 2.79 (n = 5) vs. 1.94 (n = 50)(p = 0.045).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>An unexpectedly high rate of NHL was detected among treatment-experienced patients achieving a high level of virologic response with newer-class antiretrovirals. We observed trends toward lower baseline CD4 and higher baseline VL in NHL cases, with a significantly greater decline in VL among cases by 12 weeks. HIV-related NHL can occur in the setting of immune reconstitution. Potential immunologic, virologic, and newer-class antiretroviral-specific factors associated with rapid development of NHL warrants further investigation.</p

Business Climate, Infrastructure and Institutions in Nigeria: Implication for Foreign Direct Investment

The business climate in any country is one of the many factors that play a major role in attracting foreign direct investment that brings about economic growth. A favourable business climate helps countries create opportunities for mobilising private and foreign investment for growth in the economy; it engenders sustainable development and alleviates poverty. Thus, this study examined how the business climate and institutions would positively impact foreign direct investment in Nigeria, which will indirectly help in improving the business climate and institution for greater economic growth. This will assist in the attainment of SDG 9 (maintaining industry, innovation and infrastructure) and SDG 16 (attaining peace, justice and strong institutions). The study used secondary and employed the Auto-regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds test. The study found out that business climate, government stability, inflation, law and order and socio-economic condition significantly affect the inflow of foreign direct investment in Nigeria. Therefore, the study recommends that to enhance a favourable business climate that will attract foreign direct investment the Nigerian government should ensure that there is adequate security and provide infrastructural facilities to attract foreign investors

ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE OF NON-OIL EXPORTING SMEs IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

Evidences abound on the importance of entrepreneurship and its orientation on the development of economy of the world. It has been established by literature that to keep growing especially in a developing economy like Nigeria, SMEs are key factors due to their resilience attitude propelled by their orientations. This study therefore assessed how the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) (innovativeness, risk-taking and pro-activeness) influenced the performance of exporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Lagos State Nigeria. It adopted a Descriptive research design via the structured survey instrument- questionnaire administered to a sample of 134 exporters handling non-oil export in medium and low-technology manufacture industries, mechanised agriculture and as suppliers of merchandise. The data collected were analysed using regression analysis with aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 23). The result of the descriptive data imply that entrepreneurial orientation works better when all the features are put to use as a whole than as individual, then the contributions will have greater impact on the performance of the firm. However, their innovativeness was low. Therefore, entrepreneurial innovativeness should be encouraged and enhanced by improving the domestic and foreign technological networking for competitive innovations in the foreign markets. Besides, entrepreneurship education should be promoted to permeate the socio-economic environment with attributes necessary for sustainable growth, the export production base should be upgraded technologically to enhance innovativeness, as well as stable and positive trade policies and regulations among other factors should be entrenched in the system to improve the socio-economic environment stressor