Ontology modelling methodology for temporal and interdependent applications

The increasing adoption of Semantic Web technology by several classes of applications in recent years, has made ontology engineering a crucial part of application development. Nowadays, the abundant accessibility of interdependent information from multiple resources and representing various fields such as health, transport, and banking etc., further evidence the growing need for utilising ontology for the development of Web applications. While there have been several advances in the adoption of the ontology for application development, less emphasis is being made on the modelling methodologies for representing modern-day application that are characterised by the temporal nature of the data they process, which is captured from multiple sources. Taking into account the benefits of a methodology in the system development, we propose a novel methodology for modelling ontologies representing Context-Aware Temporal and Interdependent Systems (CATIS). CATIS is an ontology development methodology for modelling temporal interdependent applications in order to achieve the desired results when modelling sophisticated applications with temporal and inter dependent attributes to suit today's application requirements

Commercial Bank Financing and Agricultural Sector Output in Nigeria (1981-2014)

This research work examined the Effect of Commercial Banks Financing and Agricultural sector output in Nigeria for a period of 34 years (1981-2014). Its focus is to describe the trend of Real Agricultural Domestic Product (RAGDP) and Commercial Bank Loans to Agricultural Sector (CBLA); determine the effect of commercial banks financing and agricultural sector output in Nigeria as well as make policy recommendations based on research findings.Secondary data were sourced from Central Bank Statistical Bulletin of various years. The Ordinary Lease square technique was used in this research to estimate the effect of commercial banks financing on agricultural sector output. Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) test was conducted to determine the properties of the variables used in the study and also to test for stationarity of the variables. The independent variable is commercial bank loan to agriculture and the dependent variable is real agricultural gross domestic product.The results of the unit root test shows that the variables were stationary at first difference.The results of descript statistics show slight fluctuating trend in both RAGDP and CBLA. The regression results revealed that R2 is   0.996415 or 99.6%. This implies that about 99.6 percent  of the total variations in real agricultural gross domestic product is explained by the explanatory variable (commercial bank loans to agricultural sector). Thus, findings revealed that there is a positive relationship between commercial bank loan to agriculture and the real agricultural gross domestic product and this is in line with the aprori expectation of the study.This means that a one percent increase in commercial bank loan to agricultural sector will increase real agricultural gross domestic product by 1.9 percent. The F-ratio of the model showed that model is statistically significant. Thus, we conclude that the commercial bank financing has significant impact on agricultural sector output in Nigeria. The study recommends that the commercial bank should increase loan facilities to the agricultural sector to sustain food production for the teeming population of Nigeria.

Index for surveys of indoor pollution in Brussels dwellings

Since September 2000 and on medical request, the Regional Unit for Indoor Pollution Intervention (French acronym: CRIPI) conducts indoor pollution analyses in Brussels dwellings. Currently, more than 2200 interventions were performed. These interventions are based on a multifactorial approach including amongst others a questionnaire on Health and Environment to be completed by the patient, chemical and microbiological analyses. In order to facilitate result interpretation, CRIPI developed and uses several indices. Concerning the chemical pollutants, a global index based on six categories of Volatile Organic Compounds (COVs) is applied. Concerning the microbial pollutants, several indices are also available: 1) fungal spores in air, 2) settled dust on furniture, 3) dust present in/on mattress, carpets or armchairs. Both chemical and microbiological indices allow to identify anomalies in the patients environment, which can help in the communication of effective sanitation procedures to the patient. Concerning the physician, this environmental assessment can also help to refine his diagnosis.</p

Leadership training and delivery prospects of team leaders in Communication Network Support Services Limited, Ilorin

Training and development of staff has been one of the key focuses of every human resources department of any formal work organisation. This is as a result of the realisation that training is an important determinant of people’s behaviour as well as their general delivery ability at work. In realisation of this, intellectuals and researchers in industrial relations generally have put vested interest in the phenomena of training and work delivery ability. However, despite the enormous volume of literatures available in this regard, very few among them have specifically examined the importance of leadership training as a possible determinant of work delivery. Thus, this study is an attempt to cover this gap. In order to achieve this objective, survey design was used as the research design for the study. A questionnaire was used to elicit information from the respondents, while simple random sampling technique was used to select the study sample. Frequency distribution and percentage were used as descriptive tools, while chi-square was used as an inferential statistical tool in the study. The study found out that leadership training has a significant relationship with the identified work delivery elements measured in the study. The study concluded that leadership training has a significant effect on delivery ability of team leaders and thus recommended that leadership training should be given utmost priority in work organisations so that work delivery prospects of the employees could be realised