Determinants of timber exports in Nigeria: an error correction modeling approach

Abstract This study analyzed the factors influencing the exports of timber in Nigeria with the aid of Error Correction Model (ECM) representation procedures. The analysis was carried out with the data collected on roundwood and sawnwood over 33 years (1970 – 2003) using the long run restricted ECM. The statistical significance of the ECM terms for roundwood (-1.110) and sawnwood (-1.772) validates the existence of relationship among the variables. This suggests the short run dynamic effect of the changes in export quantities of roundwood are determined by one-year lagged export quantity of roundwood & domestic output-consumption ratio of roundwood, domestic output-consumption ratio of roundwood and domestic-international price ratio of roundwood, while that of sawnwood is determined by lagged values of the official exchange rate, domestic consumption-output, domestic consumption-output and world export-output ratios of the sawnwood. Efforts to boost timber export from Nigeria needs to incorporate policy measures that will improve the quantity and quality of timber products in order to meet the local and foreign demands.Roundwood; Sawnwood; Nigeria; Exports; Co-integration and Error-correction model

Understanding The Behavior And Attitude Of Professional Athletes In Saudi Arabia Toward Dietary Supplements

A dietary supplement is defined as a product taken orally that contains a dietary ingredient (vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, enzymes, etc.), and is intended to supplement one\u27s diet. Dietary supplements include plant extracts and concentrates from foods. Supplements help provide required nutrients to fulfill nutritional levels for daily training or competitive performance, and can help remedy nutritional deficiencies. Therefore, it is important that sports professionals have a thorough knowledge of these supplement products. However, athletes need to be informed about the use and possible benefits, side effects, and risks associated with the use of dietary supplements. Four objectives guided this study: (a) assess the use and attitudes of professional athletes in Saudi Arabia toward dietary supplements, (b) determine the availability of dietary supplements in Saudi Arabian markets, (c) identify the microbiological quality and safety of dietary supplements in Saudi Arabia, and (d) evaluate the impact of educational program on the knowledge and attitude of professional athletes in Saudi Arabia toward dietary supplements. In order to achieve the first objective, approximately 105 professional athletes were recruited as subjects from three different Saudi Arabian sports clubs. A questionnaire was designed to determine factors that influence professional athletes\u27 choices and use of dietary supplements. To achieve the second objective, twelve stores from each region of Riyadh were selected to assess the availability of dietary supplements on the market. In the third objective, approximately 80 different supplements from Riyadh were analyzed for microbial quality and product safety. The aim of the fourth objective was to develop a program to educate professional athletes in Saudi Arabia about the benefits of dietary supplements. Both pre- and post assessments were used. The majority of athletes indicated that their use of supplements was for the purpose of improving health and performance. The availability of different supplements ranged from approximately 23 to 97% according to the demand. In addition, of 80 most popular supplements selected for microbiology analysis, nine were shown to have contamination. Thus, this study provides a better understanding of factors that influence the attitudes of professional athletes with regard to the use of dietary supplements. The study identifies dietary supplements available in the Saudi Arabian market, and more importantly provides analyses to differentiate the quality among these products. The overall effect of this research is that professional athletes in Saudi Arabia and athletes worldwide will be able to make informed decisions about their choices and use of dietary supplements

External Debt, Economic Growth and Investment in Nigeria

This study examines the impact of external debt on the level of economic growth and the volume of investment in Nigeria between 1980 and 2008. We adopt the Debt Cum-Growth model along with the Investment model while the econometrics analysis techniques of multiple regressions were employed. The result of the analysis indicates that there exists a positive relationship between external debt, economic growth and Investment; this was confirmed by the coefficient of determination (R2­) of about 79.8% .While the findings reveal that the current external debt ratio of GDP stimulates growth in the short term, the Private Investment which is measure of real and tangible development shows a decline. The study recommends among others that government should ensure that appropriate measures are put in place to achieve optimal use of borrowed funds so that servicing such funds will not invoke economic crises and erode the level of private investment which is central to the overall economic growth and development. KEYWORDS: Debt overhang, debt rescheduling, debt burden, Investment, Consumption, Illiquidit

Production of Yoghurt Analogue from Soy Milk and Different Fermented Cereal Based Water Filtrates (Omi ogi)

Yoghurt analogue was produced by fermenting soy milk with different selected fermented cereal based filtrates. The water filtrate was obtained from fermented 100% Zea mays (yellow variety) 100% Quality Protein Maize (yellow variety), 100% Sorghum (red variety) and 100% Millet (light cream variety). The pH, titratable acidity (TTA), microbial load, microbial type, proximate composition and mineral content of the yoghurt samples were determined. The samples were also subjected to sensory evaluation. The pH ranged from 4.68 in soy milk fermented with millet to 5.20 in soymilk fermented with quality protein maize. Total viable count was highest in soymilk fermented with sorghum filtrate (9.08 log cfu/ml) while Lactic acid bacteria count was highest in soymilk fermented with millet filtrate (7.50 log cfu/ml). Lactobacillus plantarum, L. fermentatum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were found to occur in all the four yoghurt samples. There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the moisture content of all the yoghurt samples. Soymilk fermented with sorghum filterate contained the highest crude protein (3.57%) while the highest fat content was recorded in soymilk fermented with yellow maize filtrate (2.97%). Highest calcium and magnesium content was found in soymilk fermented with millet filterate. Commercial yoghurt was the most preferred in all the sensory attributes tested followed by soy milk fermented with millet filterate. All the yoghurt samples were accepted organoleptically. Soymilk and fermented cereal filterate could serve as good alternative to the expensive soymilk and commercial starter for production of good quality yoghurt analogue. Filtrate from sorghum appear to be the best starter for soy yoghurt production in terms of nutrients content while filterate from millet was most accepted by sensory panelists. Keywords: Yoghurt, soymilk, maize, millet, sorghum, filtrate

Pengaruh Budaya Organisasi, Iklim Kerja Dan Komitmen Organisasi Terhadap Kinerja Guru Pada SMPN 2 Amarasi Selatan Kabupaten Kupang

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis signifikansi pengaruh budaya organisasi, iklimkerja, dan komitmen organisasi baik secara parsial maupun simultan terhadap kinerja guru.Sampel penelitian sebanyak 20 orang guru. Sampel ditentukan dengan menggunakan tekniksampel jenuh. Instrumen utama pengumpulan data adalah kuesioner. Teknik analisis datamenggunakan regresi linier berganda. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa budaya organisasi,iklim organisasi, dan komitmen organisasi baik secara parsial maupun simultan berpengaruhsignifikan terhadap kinerja guru

Measuring the effectiveness of work–life balance strategies in the manufacturing sector

Abstract:Orientation: The development of an appropriate framework to measure the effectiveness of work–life balance strategies (WLBS) among manufacturing firms in Nigeria is still a major challenge. Research purpose: The main purpose of this article is to measure the effectiveness of WLBS in the manufacturing sector, drawing insights gathered from two selected manufacturing firms in Lagos metropolis, Nigeria. Motivation for the study: Despite the global explosion of research on work–life balance, there is a dearth of studies measuring the effectiveness of WLBS adopted by manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Research approach/design and method: A structured questionnaire was adopted to gather data among 312 employees of the two selected manufacturing firms in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria. Structural Equation Modelling was valuable in establishing the mediating influences of WLBS and work-family satisfaction on the interplay between work-family stressors and the selected manufacturing firms’ performance. Main findings: The study findings revealed that WLBS and work–family satisfaction mediate the interplay between work–family stressors and the selected manufacturing firms’ performance. .

Numerical modeling of magneto electric co-generator plant for sustainable marine vessel power system

Peer Reviewe

Exergetic analysis of breakfast cereal production in Nigeria

This work comprehensively studied energy and exergy analyses of breakfast cereal production in Nigeria. The process analysis method of energy accounting wa s used to evaluate the energy requirement for each of the five defined unit operations. The total energy used in the operation is 1,287.94 MJ. The types of energy used in breakfast cereal production were electrical, thermal and manual and the respective pe rcentages are 48.87%, 50.53% and 0.60%. It was estimated that an average energy intensity of 11.27 MJ/kg was required for the production of breakfast cereals. The most energy intensive operation was identified as the mixing operation followed by milling with energy intensities of 665.10 MJ/kg and 383.04 MJ/kg, respectively. The exergy analysis revealed that the roller dryer was responsible for most of the inefficiency (over 65.94%) followed by the wet mixer (27.40%). Suggestions for energy saving which will help in the reducing the high expenditure on energy and thus improve the profit margin were provided. Keywords : Energy, Exergy, Efficiency Breakfast Cerea

Determination of haptoglobin, hemoglobin genotypes and malaria incidence in Nigerian breast cancer patients

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer morbidity and mortality globally. Cancer chemotherapy commonly result in hemolysis, which impacts patient overall health. There is a need to determine genetic factors associated with hemolysis in breast cancer patients. Haptoglobin (Hp), a polymorphic protein plays important role in hemoglobin clearance and disease predisposition, but has been reported to have no prognostic factor in breast cancer. However, understanding selection pressure that drives certain gene mutations in specific populations and how it confers protection or susceptibility to diseases is crucial. In Nigeria, breast cancer, malaria infection and sickle cell disease are prevalent and associated with hemolysis, but little is known of their association in breast cancer patients. This study aims to determine relationship between haptoglobin, hemoglobin genotypes and submicroscopic malaria co‐morbidity in clinically diagnosed breast cancer and healthy Nigerian women. DNA was extracted from blood using standard methods. Haptoglobin 2 and hemoglobin genotypes were detected by RFLP‐PCR, while Plasmodium falciparum infection was detected by primer specific amplification of plasmodium cytochrome oxidase III gene (cox III) in 75 clinically diagnosed breast cancer (BC) and 287 healthy women (control; HC). Proportions were determined and compared in the two groups and test of association was carried out with significance level set at P <0.05. In BC groups, 3 (4.1%) of 72 Hp 2‐2 phenotypes was detected compared to a significantly higher occurrence of 48 (16.7%) of 287 in HC group (p <0.05). Conversely, malaria infection was detected in 68 (94.4%) BC versus 255 (88.9%) in HC group. A similar proportion had Hp deletions (2 in BC and 8 in HC group). There was a low prevalence of hemoglobin S genotype in the entire population and relative risk for Hp 2‐2 polymorphism in hemoglobin genotypes was not significantly different. In conclusion, this study reports in breast cancer and healthy women an inverse correlation of haptoglobin (Hp2‐2) genotype with malaria incidence in southwest Nigeria. The results imply a possible protection against hemolysis and can play significant role in determining choice of cancer therapy for good patient treatment outcomes

Performance Indicators for Sustainable Cement Production in Nigeria

The cement industry is an intensive energy consuming process with attendant economic benefits and environmental caution. Cement processing comes with economic advantages and environmental implications, like dust and pollutants. Host communities and staff of cement factories are bound to experience and endure this barrage of emissions, which leads to serious health and environmental challenges. Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), three cement manufacturing companies in Ogun State, South-West, Nigeria were investigated to determine how best they conform to industry best practices. Fifteen criteria were identified and used for this analysis. Results show that COMPANY B is operating at acceptable standards while COMPANY A should consider improving on safety, spares, emission levels and staff welfare