The Nexus Between Total Quality Management, Job Satisfaction and Employee Work Engagement in the Food and Beverage Multinational Company in Nigeria

Adopting total quality management (TQM) program in an organisation may have consequences not only for organisational outcomes but also for employee work behaviour. Therefore, this study investigates the conceptual and empirical link between TQM practices, job satisfaction, and employee work engagement. Cross-sectional survey design, quota, proportionate and simple random sampling were used to draw 300 participants from the study population, out of which 190 responded and n = 183(61%) usable responses to the questionnaire designed for the purpose from employees of a food and beverage multinational company in Lagos metropolis were obtained. Regression and correlation analyses were used to analyse the study data. Significant positive relationship was found between dimensions of TQM practices (leadership and management support, employee participation, training, reward and recognition, and customer focus), job satisfaction and employee work engagement. After controlling for sex, age and experience, job satisfaction and TQM practices construct jointly and independently predicted employee work engagement. Also, job satisfaction partially mediated the relationship between TQM practices and work engagement. The implications of soft TQM implementation on employee job satisfaction for achieving highly engaged workforce are discussed

Green hydrogen production from photovoltaic power station as a road map to climate change mitigation

The increasing recognition of hydrogen as a critical element in the global net-zero transition and its clear role in decarbonizing challenging sectors coincide with the growing urgency to address climate change. Africa's favourable renewable-energy capacity, ranging from 28% to 36% for solar, has been reported by the global solar irradiance index. However, the majority of hydrogen production today relies on fossil fuels (96%), with only a small fraction (4%) being produced through water electrolysis. Even though there have been many studies on climate change mitigation with a focus on Africa, a green hydrogen production from a photovoltaic power station approach has not been reported. Also, literature with a focus on Nigeria is lacking. This study focuses on the African green hydrogen production industry, utilizing Nigeria as a case study to explore the feasibility of generating clean hydrogen vectors from a percentage of photovoltaic power output in various regions of the country through stand-alone solar grid electrification projects. Analyses of the usage and effectiveness of the produced hydrogen fuel in each region are carried out, with the highest region having an annual output of 12 247 278 kg of green hydrogen and 8 573 094 kg of ammonia and the lowest region having an output of 511 245 kg of green hydrogen and 357 871 kg of ammonia, and the expected production from the proposed usage of 50% of the power generation output of the installed 1.6-MWp and 80-kWp solar power minigrids in the regions is calculated. The analyses were repeated for the other considered regions in the country. The results showcased the enormous advantages of the electrolytic production of hydrogen and how the greener economy project can play a major role in mitigating climate change effects and overreliance on fossil fuels as the driver of the economy in many African countries

Chromatographic and antiproliferative assessment of the aerial root of Ficus thonningii Blume (Moraceae)

Ficus thonningii (Blume) has long history of use for variety of ailments. The hot aqueous extract of Ficus thonningii aerial root (FT) was obtained by infusion. The antiproliferative activity of FT was evaluated using Sorghum bicolor seed radicle over a period of 24 h to 96 h. The mean radicle length (mm), percentage inhibition and percentage growth were calculated. Chemical characterization of FT was done using chromatographic techniques. Thin layer chromatography revealed the presence of β-sitosterol. High performance liquid chromatography showed ten peaks with gallic acid, tannins, caffeic acid, rutin, ferulic acid and morin eluting at 3.530, 3.928, 4.668, 6.706, 7.669 and 18.844 minutes respectively. Compared with negative control, FT at 1 mg/ml to 32 mg/ml significantly (p<0.0001) inhibited S. bicolor seed radicle growth over 24 h-96 h. At 96h, FT dose-dependently inhibited S. bicolor seed growth, giving a percentage inhibition of 20.31%, 24.30%, 31.71%, 53.23%, 78.74%, 95.37% at 1 mg/ml, 2 mg/ml, 4 mg/ml, 8 mg/ml, 16 mg/ml, 32 mg/ml, respectively. Methotrexate 50 µg/ml used as the positive control gave inhibition of 70.62% at 96h. The result revealed the potential of FT to inhibit rapid proliferating cells of S. bicolor seed radicle and by extension cancer cells. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.114365

Characterization of methicillin-susceptible and -resistant staphylococci in the clinical setting: a multicentre study in Nigeria

BACKGROUND: The staphylococci are implicated in a variety of human infections; however, many clinical microbiology laboratories in Nigeria do not identify staphylococci (in particular coagulase negative staphylococci - CNS) to the species level. Moreover, data from multi-centre assessment on antibiotic resistance and epidemiology of the staphylococci are not available in Nigeria. This study investigated 91 non-duplicate staphylococcal isolates obtained from the microbiology laboratories of eight hospitals in Nigeria during the period January to April 2010. METHODS: Identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using the VITEK 2 system, detection of resistance genes by PCR, and molecular characterization was determined by SCCmec typing, spa and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). RESULTS: All the isolates were susceptible to mupirocin, tigecycline, vancomycin and linezolid, but 72.5% of CNS and 82.3% of Staphylococcus aureus were resistant to cotrimoxazole, while multiresistance was observed in 37 of the 40 CNS isolates. Untypeable SCCmec types (ccrC/Class A mec and ccr-negative/Class C2 mec gene complex) in two methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) were identified. Additionally, ccr-negative/Class A mec and ccr type 4/Class C2 mec gene complex was detected in one isolate each of S. sciuri and S. haemolyticus, respectively. The S. aureus isolates were classified into 21 spa types including two new types (t8987, t9008) among the methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolates. Two (CC8-SCCmecnon-typeable and CC88-SCCmec IV) and four (CC8-SCCmec III/IV/V; CC30-SCCmec II/III; CC88-SCCmec IV; and ST152-SCCmecnon-typeable) MRSA clones were identified in Maiduguri (North-East Nigeria) and South-West Nigeria, respectively. The proportion of Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-positive MSSA was high (44.4%) and 56.3% of these strains were associated with sequence type (ST) 152. CONCLUSIONS: The identification of multiresistant mecA positive S. haemolyticus and S. sciuri from clinical samples indicates that characterization of CNS is important in providing information on their diversity and importance in Nigeria. There is the need to develop new SCCmec classification methods for non-typeable methicillin-resistant staphylococci, and to curtail the spread and establishment of the S. aureus ST152 clone in Nigeria. The study presents the first report of a PVL-positive ST152-SCCmecnontypeable MRSA and SCCmec typing of methicillin-resistant CNS in Nigeria

Validation of an instrument and measurement of employee work-life policies, psychological Empowerment, and job commitment of academic staff in universities

This study used a structural equation modelling approach to assess the association between employee work- life policies, psychological empowerment, and academic staff job commitment in universities in Cross River State, Nigeria. Three null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study following a descriptive survey research design. Multistage sampling procedure was adopted in the selection of 315 academic staff from two universities in the study area. “Work-Life Policies, Psychological Empowerment and Job Commitment Questionnaire (WPPEJCQ)” was used as the instrument for data collection. The construct validity of the instrument was ascertained through an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The Kaiser-Meyer-Ohlin of .894 and the Bartlett coefficient of 7795.820 were obtained. Several fit indices of Confirmatory Factor Analysis were used to accept the model such as RMSEA=.031, TLI=.969, CFI=.971 and many others. The null hypotheses were all tested using Path analysis. Findings revealed, among others, that there is a significant effect of work-life policies on the affective (β=.774,t=21.636,p\u3c.05), continuance (β=.450,t=8.932,p\u3c.05), and normative (β=490,t=9.967,p\u3c.05) dimensions of academic staff commitment; furthermore, psychological empowerment has a significant effect on the affective (β=.795,t=23.199,p\u3c.05), continuance (β=.501,t=10.261,p\u3c.05) and normative (β = .520, t = 10.795, p\u3c .05) dimensions of staff commitment; and there is a significant composite effect of work-life policies and psychological empowerment on the affective, continuance, and normative commitment levels of academic staff in universities. Based on these findings, conclusions and recommendations were mad

Thermoeconomic and exergo environmental sustainability of a power-cooling organic Rankine cycle with ejector system

The study presents a power-cooling organic Rankine cycle with an ejector system (ORCPCES). The objective is to determine the thermodynamic, economic and sustainability of the ORCPCES from the manufacturing, commissioning and decommissioning phases. Component-wise modelling was first performed based on the exergy concept. The system simulation was carried out using a developed source code in Engineering Equation Solver (EES). The refrigerant leakages and the material component impact on the environment were evaluated at all phases of the plant life cycle. The results indicate that the evaporator cooling rate (ECR) and the power-cooling efficiency (PCE) varied from 120.8 to 153 kW and 28.87 to 34.43 % across the refrigerants with the highest PCE and exergy efficiency obtained using R1234ze. The maximum power output was obtained using R1234ze. The overall environmental impact due to the components occurred at, and for R245fa, R1234yf, and R1234ze, respectively, while and was due to the working fluids in that order. The unit cost of electricity (UCOE) across the refrigerants varies from 0.181$/kWh to 0.2291$/kWh with the least UCOE, 0.181$/kWh obtained using R1234ze. The highest exergetic sustainability index of 0.56 was achieved using R1234ze

Thermoeconomic and exergoenvironmental sustainability of a power-cooling organic Rankine cycle with ejector system

The study presents a power-cooling organic Rankine cycle with an ejector system (ORCPCES). The objective is to determine the thermodynamic, economic and sustainability of the ORCPCES from the manufacturing, commissioning and decommissioning phases. Component-wise modelling was first performed based on the exergy concept. The system simulation was carried out using a developed source code in Engineering Equation Solver (EES). The refrigerant leakages and the material component impact on the environment were evaluated at all phases of the plant life cycle. The results indicate that the evaporator cooling rate (ECR) and the power-cooling efficiency (PCE) varied from 120.8 to 153 kW and 28.87 to 34.43 % across the refrigerants with the highest PCE and exergy efficiency obtained using R1234ze. The maximum power output was obtained using R1234ze. The overall environmental impact due to the components occurred at, and for R245fa, R1234yf, and R1234ze, respectively, while and was due to the working fluids in that order. The unit cost of electricity (UCOE) across the refrigerants varies from 0.181$/kWh to 0.2291$/kWh with the least UCOE, 0.181$/kWh obtained using R1234ze. The highest exergetic sustainability index of 0.56 was achieved using R1234ze

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely