Occupational mobility in engineering profession (craftman and artisan) in Oyo State, Nigeria.

This paper evaluate occupational mobility in engineering professional in Oyo State of Nigeria with the goal assessing causes and readiness of the professionals to return to the profession when the hindering factors are removed as well as sufficiency of the survey instrument in addressing the research problems. The study was conducted using a well structured questionnaire administered in 20 local government of Oyo State, Nigeria representing the sample space of 0.424. The Cronbach’s alpha of the reliability test of 0.453 was returned for the scale mean statistics of 11516.83 and variance of 0.0000007 showing that the survey instrument was sufficient and could be relied upon. The result of the socio economic analysis showed that 80% of the respondents were married while (15%) were single and the rest (5%) were divorced. The age distribution of the respondents ranged between greater than 50 years groups (12%) and 30 -39 years group (39%).The result of the analysis of job characteristics of the respondents showed that the longer the year of graduation, the lesser the number of graduates still in the business. The cross table analysis of the socio-economic indices with the job status of the respondents showed that marital status and level of education does not have significant effects on the job status of the respondents (whether still practicing or not) because 1.454 and 5.223 returned for both marital status and level of education are not significant (P<0.05). Also, the contingency table analysis of the effects of the skill acquisition methods showed that more of the respondents who acquired their skill via Technical School (70%) are willing to go back to the professions. However, for those who acquired their skill through Learning/artisanship, less than average (32%) of the respondents are ready to return to the profession. Lastly, the establishment of the regression model for the relationship between the proportion of the people wishing to go back to the profession and year of practicing the profession provide a necessary impetus for addressing the Job mobility problem faced by the profession

Use of probiotics for sustainable aquaculture production in Nigeria

Aquaculture is fast developing in Nigeria but to ensure a sustainable development there is need to address problem of diseases which is an important issue affecting the aquaculture production. Though the use of antimicrobial drugs has helped in some ways, the notorious effects of antibiotics has necessitated seeking an alternative that is environmental friendly and safe for the organisms and consumers. Probiotics has been established to be a good alternative and its use is now gaining acceptance. This review aims to define the concept of probiotics, highlights the process of isolation and methods of application as well as its current status, challenges and prospects in Nigeria. Probiotics are entire or components of microorganisms that are beneficial to the health of a host. They are naturally present in the organism and or the culture medium and have different mechanisms of action. They are usually isolated from the gill, skin or culture medium and pass through isolation processes to obtain the desired strains and applied in-vitro or in-vivo. Probiotics is a natural ingredient in finfish, shellfish and culture environment and its appropriate application will save Nigeria aquaculture from losses due to diseases. It will make available, aquaculture products that are safe for consumption as well ensuring a healthy aquatic environment. However research should be conducted to make available, products that suit the local species and environment in commercial forms. Also, safety issues should be considered at all time.Key words: sustainable production, fish culture, probiotics, antibiotics, diseases.

Investigation of biological condition of fish species in lower Ogun River wetlands, Lagos, Nigeria

The study was carried out to investigate the biological condition of fish species in lower Ogun River wetlands. A total of 175 individual fish belonging to 10 species were collected from artisanal fishermen usingdifferent types of fishing gears. Two biological indices; condition factor “K” and growth exponent “b” obtained from length-weight relationship were used to determine the biological condition of the fishes. The conditionfactor (K) recorded during the study ranged between 0.55 in Liza  grandisquamis and 5.61 in Oreochromis niloticus. The growth exponent (b) ranged from 1.48 in Penaus notialis to 5.67 in Gymnarchus niloticus. Theregression coefficient of determination was significant for some of the fish with highest value of R2=0.98 for Sardinella madarensis. The study showed that most of the fish species in the study area are in poor biologicalcondition and exhibit allometric growth.Keywords: Allometric growth, condition factor, growth exponent, length-weight relationship

Partial Ordering in Soft Set Context

In [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6] and [7] basic introduction of soft set is discussed with examples. The main aim of this paper is develop partial ordering in soft set context.

Influence of Culture Water Draw-off on Growth of the African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus, Burchell 1822) cultured under Integrated System

An experiment was carried out over a period of 10 weeks to investigate the influence of culture water draw-­‐off on growth and feed utilization of the African catfish. Two similar fish culture tanks (designated A and B) were stocked with juveniles of African catfish at 43 fish per m3. The fish were fed twice daily at 3 % body weight. 0.06 m3of culture water was removed at 3-­‐day intervals from tank B to irrigate Okra plot and the tank was replenished with an equal amount of freshwater. Culture water was not removed from tank A till both tanks were replenished with freshwater at 14-­‐day intervals. Selected water quality, growth and feed utilization parameters were measured just before replenishing. The selected water quality parameters were within the recommended range for fish culture except for nitrite and dissolved oxygen. The water quality, growth performance and feed utilization parameters were better in tank B, with periodic culture water removal than in tank A, without water draw-­‐off. Average final weight, weight gain, daily weight gain, specific growth rate, percentage survival and feed conversion ratio were; 165.06 g, 95.07 g, 1.36 g/day, 0.01 %/day, 95.30 % and 2.40 in tank A and 238.22 g, 171.62 g, 2.45 g/day, 0.02 %/day, 94.87 % and 1.82 in tank B respectively. Periodic draw-­‐off of culture water had positive effect on the cultured fish as evident in better performance indices recorded in this study

Characterization of brick masonry: Study towards retrofitting URM walls with timber-panels

The overall purpose of this study is to explore the possibility of using timber-panels to retrofit URM walls. However, this paper only present the overall proposed experimental program together with the experimental characterization of mechanical properties of masonry components: units and mortar. The present work developed finite element numerical model that is able to predict the strength of the masonry cube, on the safe side. The numerical model was validated with an experimental test on masonry cube showing 9% difference in the maximum compressive strength of masonry. The modelling technique adopted is the detailed micro modelling where the unit and mortar were represented by their respective mechanical properties using ABAQUS. Because, the numerical results compliment what was observed during the experimental test, then the developed model can be used to predict the general behaviour of masonry wall in the subsequent study.- (undefined

Composition of Soft Set Relations and Construction of Transitive Closure

In [3] concepts of soft set relations, partition, composition and function are discussed. In this paper, we present composition of relations in soft set context and give their matrix representation. Finally, the concepts of reflexive, symmetric and transitive closure are presented and show that construction of transitive closure in soft set satisfies Warshall’s Algorithm

Design and Construction of A Domestic Solar Power Bank in a Convective Environment

Objective: This research seeks to solve the problem of storing solar energy in small scale modules for domestic use. Method: The Solar Power Bank (SPB) was constructed with local materials based on their individual properties. The functionality of the SPB was tested in a convective environment. Davis automatic Weather Station (DWS) was used to get the weather parameters (like solar irradiance, solar energy and temperature) for each day the SPB was tested. The maximum solar irradiance for four days (during the experiment) were 220 W/m2, 208 W/m2, 450 W/m2 and 900 W/m2. The maximum solar energy was 0.33 J, 03 J, 0.64 J and 1.33 J. Result: The maximum voltage and power obtained from the Solar Power Bank (SPB) was 0.18V and 0.065W respectively. The design showed tremendous heat energy entrapment during solar irradiance peak as the temperature in the SPB was about three times the DWS. Conclusion: It was specifically noted that the convection of the heat transfer that is triggered by the glass shield determines the functionality of the thermo-electric module. This is a clear indication that though the power output may be low to charge the batteries, the prospects of the SPB to operate in convective-rural communities (in tropic region) is very hig

Design, fabrication and testing of shea nut shelling machine

Sheanut (Butyrospernum paradoxum) is an oil rich tropical tree crop, which is indigenous to the West African savannah zone. In Nigeria, most of the sheanuts shelling are done manually by rural women and children, which is labour demanding and tedious. This research work was carried out to determine some physical and mechanical properties of sheanut in order to minimize economic losses associated with its processing. The mean values recorded for the physical properties at 25% moisture content (wb) are; major diameter (29.20 mm), intermediate diameter (21.90 mm), minor diameter (15.00 mm), geometric mean diameter (21.90 mm), arithmetic mean diameter (21.20 mm), angle of repose (30.280). The mean values for the mechanical properties are; linear limit force (0.80 kN), linear limit deformation (4.60 mm), bioyield point force (1.40 kN), bioyield point deformation (6.50 mm), rupture point force (2.10 kN) and rupture point deformation (9.60 mm). Based on the physical and mechanical properties, a sheanut shelling machine was developed that is capable of addressing the aforementioned problems. Putting into consideration better shelling and efficient separation of shea nuts so as to encourage more utilization and processing of shea nuts and its products. The machine was designed to be powered by 5 hp electric motor. It was tested to shell, separate and clean sheanuts. The result of the performance evaluation showed that the machine had shelling efficiency of 96%; cleaning efficiency of the machine was 69.56% while the recovery efficiency was 82.7%. The successful development of this machine will reduce drudgery and time taken associated with the traditional method of sheanut shelling and therefore will increase productivity and utilization