Impact of Social Entrepreneurship on Youth Economic Empowerment in Kaduna Meropolis, Kaduna-Nigeria

There are certain kinds of people who garner enormous satisfaction from successfully taking on a “mission impossible” and, by so doing, actually manage to change the world, or wherever they live, sometimes in surprising ways. Such individuals are rare, and when we become aware of them and their astonishing achievements, we observe that they cannot easily be ignored. Such individuals are the products of rural as well as urban areas; of developing as well as developed countries; of large cities as well as remote areas; they may be Hausas/Fulanis from Northern Nigeria, or Yorubas from the South-Western Nigeria, or Igbos from the Souh-Eastern Nigeria, or other tribes like the Tivs, Gwaris and Nupes from north-entral Nigeria,  Kanuris from the northeastern Nigeria. They may be well- known figures, such as Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, Gen. TY Danjuma, Gen. Aliyu Mohammed Gusau, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar (Wazirin Adamawa), Alhaji Aminu Dantata, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, or anonymous, unrecognized individuals from cities and small villages in Nigeria and elsewhere. Social entrepreneurship has emerged as a contemporary issue in the social arena. It is a concept well suited for our age because it makes a call for entrepreneurial activities to spearhead the resolving of social issues in our communities; since many governmental and charitable efforts have failed to meet the existing social needs (Dees, 2001). Societies are dealing with social challenges such as youth unemployment, poverty, hunger, terrorism, floods, health care challenges, infrastructural inadequacies, and maternal mortality, among others. All these challenges are capable of affecting the social wellbeing of individuals. Life can only be interesting if there are tools and strategies readily available for dealing with these challenges. Social challenges at different levels (global, national or regional) require special strategies and tools for handling them. The complexities of social challenges experienced in most parts of Nigeria, especially Kaduna metropolis demands a more creative and innovative approach in balancing these pressures and constraints geared towards overcoming these challenges as well as initializing sustainable development in our communities

Isolation of Epicatechin from the Stem Bark of Neocarya macrophylla (Sabine) Prance (Chrysobalanaceae)

Neocarya macrophylla has a wide range of medicinal uses in traditional medicine. The aim of the study was to isolate and characterize compound from the stem bark of the plant. (-)-Epicatechin (a flavan-3-ol) was isolated from the ethylacetate soluble fraction of the methanol stem bark extract of the plant using a combination of silica gel and sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. The structure of the compound as (-)-epicatechin was confirmed on the basis of chemical test, 1D- & 2D-NMR spectroscopy and comparison with existing data in literature. This is the first report of isolation of epicatechin from the stem bark of the plant. Keywords: Neocarya macrophylla, stem bark, (-)-Epicatechin, NMR analysi

Curie point Depth and Heat Flow Analyses over Part of Bida Basin, North Central Nigeria using Aeromagnetic Data

This study attempt to estimate the Curie point depth and heat flow using high resolution aeromagnetic data over part of Bida basin bounded with longitude 5o00’E – 6o30’E and Latitude 8o30’N – 9o30’N   with an estimated total area of 18,150 km2. We subjected the total magnetic intensity field of the study area to regional/residual separation using polynomial fitting. We divided the residual map into sixteen overlapping spectral blocks. We obtained centroid depths and depth to top of basement got from the plot of log of power spectrum against wave number; the centroid depth ranges from 6.61 km to 20.30 km while the depth to top of basement ranges from 1.59 km to 6.38 km. input parameter to calculate the curie depth. The CPD range from 10.88 km to 35.51 km with an average value of 23.22km. The CPD is deeper at the centre of the southern and eastern part of the study area which correspond to part of Pategi and part of Baro; and shallow at the northeastern and Northwestern part of the study area correspond to part of Mokwa and part of Bida. The geothermal gradients for the sixteen blocks range from 16.33 oCkm-1 at the centre of the southern region of the area to 53.30 oCkm-1 at the northeastern and north western region of the study area with an average of 28.98 oCkm-1. While the heat flow to range from 40.99 mWm-1 to 133.80 mWm-1 with an average value of 76.19 mWm-2. It can be deduced from this study that the Southeastern, southwestern, and the northwestern part of the study area might be a good indicator of geothermal energy potential with minimum CPD, maximum geothermal gradient and heat flow since demagnetized rocks confirm a hot rock quantity in the crust that can be harnessed for geothermal energy exploitation

A MODEL FOR DETERMINING THE SAFETY LEVEL OF OCCUPATIONAL WORK USING ACCIDENTS AND INJURIES MEASUREMENT PARAMETERS: A REVIEW

Frequency Rate (FRR), Fatality Rate (FAR) and Severity Rate (SR) are common parameters used in communicating the research output of occupational accidental injuries. These parameters have been used to provide a model for classifying an occupational work activity into five level/degrees of safety ranging between Very Safe and Highly Unsafe. With a work activity defined as x: x ≤ 0.01, x ≤ 0.003 or x ≤ 0.03 indicates Very Safe Level while x > 0.04, x > 0.015 or x>0.11 indicates Highly Unsafe Level according to FRR, SR and FAR respectively. A case study is provided from an existing work to experiment the application of the model

A MODEL FOR DETERMINING THE SAFETY LEVEL OF OCCUPATIONAL WORK USING ACCIDENTS AND INJURIES MEASUREMENT PARAMETERS: A REVIEW

Frequency Rate (FRR), Fatality Rate (FAR) and Severity Rate (SR) are common parameters used in communicating the research output of occupational accidental injuries. These parameters have been used to provide a model for classifying an occupational work activity into five level/degrees of safety ranging between Very Safe and Highly Unsafe. With a work activity defined as x: x ≤ 0.01, x ≤ 0.003 or x ≤ 0.03 indicates Very Safe Level while x > 0.04, x > 0.015 or x>0.11 indicates Highly Unsafe Level according to FRR, SR and FAR respectively. A case study is provided from an existing work to experiment the application of the model

Finite Element Simulation of a Taylor Bubble in Two-Phase Gas-Liquid Slug Flows using Petrov-Galerkin Formulation

Petrov-Galerkin finite element scheme for systematic analysis of the dynamics of a rising Taylor bubble and general free surface flow problems is derived and implemented. The validity of the scheme is confirmed by simulating the buoyancy-driven motion of a Taylor bubble through a stagnant Newtonian liquid in a vertical pipe characterised by dimensionless inverse viscosity number and Eötvös number of magnitude 111 and 189, respectively. Comparison of the numerical results for the steady state features defining the nose, film, and bottom regions around the bubble with the experiment shows a good agreement between the numerical simulation and the experiment. The percentage deviation of the numerical computed rise velocity, equilibrium film thickness, and stabilisation length ahead of the bubble from the experimental determined values are 8.4%, 2.3%, and 9.5%, respectively

Isolation, characterization, crystal structure, free radical scavenging- and computational studies of 9-[-4(propan-2-yl)pheny]-3,4,5,6,7,9-hexahydro-1H-xanthene-1,8(2H)-dione from Garcinia kola seeds

ceylan, umit/0000-0002-1461-9889WOS: 000403855700047A new crystallographic form of a pure xanthenedione derivative (11'), C22H24O3, was isolated from the hexane extract of the seeds of Garcinia kola. The structure of the compound was determined on the basis of FTIR and NMR spectroscopy and confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The compound crystallized as C22H24O3 H2O H3O+ Cl-, as the result of the extraction process, adopts monoclinic, space group P21/n (no. 14) and is stabilized by OW-H center dot center dot center dot OW, OW-H center dot center dot center dot Cl, C-H center dot center dot center dot OW, C-H center dot center dot center dot Cl intramolecular hydrogen bonds and weak OW-H center dot center dot center dot O, C-H center dot center dot center dot O, intermolecular interactions forming a 3-D supramolecular structure. The molecular property of the pure xanthene derivative, C22H24O3, has also been investigated using the density functional theory (DFT) method. The calculated IR, H-1 and C-13 data were found to be in good agreement with experimental values. The compound C22H24O3 showed weak DPPH radical scavenging activity with IC50 value of 2.37 +/- 0.08 mg/ml. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.NSF-MRI programNational Science Foundation (NSF)NSF - Office of the Director (OD) [CHE-1039027]JPJ acknowledges the NSF-MRI program (grant No. CHE-1039027) for funds to purchase the X-ray diffractometer

Antimicrobial activity of stigmasterol from the stem bark of <i>Neocarya macrophylla</i>

Background: Natural products play a significant role in human therapy. They represent a huge reservoir of bioactive chemical diversity and help in understanding the cellular pathways that are essential component of drug discovery process.   Objective: This study was aimed at evaluating the antimicrobial activity of stigmasterol isolated from the stem bark of Neocarya macrophylla.   Methods: Stigmasterol previously isolated from the stem bark of N. macrophylla was subjected to antimicrobial screening against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), S. aureus, Streptococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Candida albicans and Candida krusei using agar diffusion and broth dilution methods.   Results: Susceptibility test results showed that the compound (100 μg/mL) inhibited the growth of all the test organisms with mean zone of inhibition range from 23 mm to 30 mm except the VRE, S. typhi and K. pneumoniae. The activity of stigmasterol was compared with that of ciprofloxacin (5 μg/mL), the standard antibacterial drug, and fluconazole (5 μg/mL), the antifungal agent. The test compound displayed a broad-spectrum of activity, and in many cases exhibited comparable antibacterial activity when compared to ciprofloxacin. Interestingly, the compound also showed antifungal activity against Candida spp., affording comparable inhibitory effect as fluconazole. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal/fungicidal concentration (MBC/MFC) of stigmasterol range from 6.25 μg/mL to 25 μg/mL and from 12.5 μg/mL to 50 μg/mL, respectively.   Conclusion: These properties suggest that the isolated stigmasterol is a potent and broad-spectrum antibacterial and antifungal agent and as such may serve as a lead compound in the development of novel antimicrobial drugs