Alleviating Poverty Through the Use of Entrepreneurship Skill Acquisition in Kogi State, Nigeria

- This study assessed the impact of entrepreneurship skill acquisition on poverty in Kogi State of Nigeria. The study made use of primary data collected with the aid of a well-structured questionnaire, which were administered by well-trained enumerator to beneficiaries of entrepreneurship acquisition skills randomly sampled from six Local Government Area of the state. The data collected through the questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive statistics like frequencies and percentages. The result shows that 65% of the respondents accepted that lack of entrepreneurship skills among youth is responsible for the high rate of poverty in Nigeria. The result also revealed that at least 60% of the people that benefitted from the skill acquisition programme can now afford the basic necessity of life. The study therefore recommended that since most of the people that benefited from the programme could afford the basic necessity of life, the government should begin to think of the way of developing the programme to the status of poverty eradication programme. Keywords : Entrepreneur; Vocation; Skill acquisition; Poverty; Alleviation; OptimumPaper Type : Research Pape

Student Engagement at the Higher Learning Institutions: the Case of Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates

- Universities in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), just like other Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), strive to be at the forefront of academic excellence. Towards this end, HEIs endeavour to provide their students, their primary clientele with the most conducive learning environment in order to maximise their potentials and prepare them to the real world of work. Do the students really make the most of the learning experiences in the university? Are the students really actively engaged in the teaching programmes and learning activities provided by the university? What might be the implications of student engagement to curriculum, instruction, policy and decision making, and educational administration? This paper focused on the level of academic challenge provided to students. In this study, academic challenge was based on study time and course requirements for reading, writing, and application of higher-order thinking skills rather than on student judgments of the difficulty of the coursework (Carini and Kuh, 2003). Specifically, this investigation attempted to ascertain the types of engagement activities at the HEIs of Malaysia and the UAE. Interesting findings are presented, and recommendations are offered in light of student engagement in the context of higher education

Prescribing pattern of drugs in pediatric wards of three Ethiopian hospitals

Abstract: The 193/94 prescribing pattern of drugs in paediatric wards of three hospitals in North-west Ethiopia was reviewed retrospectively. A total of 158 medical records from Gondar (G) Hospital, 197 medical records from Bahirdar (BD) Hospital, and 177 medical records from Debre Tabor (DT) Hospital were randomly selected. The mean age of the patients was 4.4, 4.0, and 4.6 in G, BD and DT Hospital, respectively. The average admission diagnosis per patient was 1.6, 1.4 and 1.35 in G, BD, and DT Hospitals, respectively. Infectious diseases and malnutrition were the main causes of morbidity in all the three hospitals. The average number of drugs prescribed per patient was four in G Hospital, 3.2 in BD Hospital, and 3.3 in DT Hospital. Antibiotics, particularly chloramphenicol and penicillin G were the most frequently prescribed individual drugs. In most cases the selection of the antibacterials was empirical. Over prescription of analgesics/antipyretics was recorded in DT Hospital. The need for an establishment of antibiotic policy and prescription audit is discussed to enlighten on the rational use of drugs. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 1999;13(2):135-140

The Impact of Public Agricultural Expenditure on Agricultural Output in Nigeria (1981-2014)

This study investigated the impact of public agricultural expenditure on agricultural output in Nigeria for the period 1981 to 2014 with time series data obtained from the Statistical Bulletin and Annual Reports of the Central Bank of Nigeria, 2014. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller test, Johansen Co-integration test, Error Correction Method (ECM) and Granger Causality test were employed as analytical tools in the course of the study. Agricultural output was explained by public agricultural expenditure, commercial bank loans to the agricultural sector and interest rates. The Johansen Co-integration test revealed that there exists a long-run relationship between agricultural output, public agricultural expenditure, commercial bank loans to the agricultural sector and interest rates in Nigeria. The results of the parsimonious ECM model showed that public agricultural expenditure has a significant negative impact on agricultural output while commercial bank loans to the agricultural sector and interest rate have insignificant positive impacts on agricultural output in Nigeria. The value of the coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.630677 showed that the exogenous variables in the ECM equation viz; public agricultural expenditure, commercial bank loans to the agricultural sector and interest rate explains over 63% of the systematic variations in agricultural output. The error correction term was highly significant at the 5% level with the appropriate negative sign, indicating that the adjustment is in the right direction to restore the long-run relationship. The study concluded that the negative impact of public agricultural expenditure on agricultural output may have resulted due to discrepancies that existed between the amount allocated to the agricultural sector and the amount actually spent on the sector in the country. We therefore recommended that monitoring agencies be established by the federal government to ensure that the amount allocated to the agricultural sector is actually and judiciously spent on the sector in Nigeria

Alleviating Poverty through the Use of Entrepreneurship Skill Acquisition in Kogi State, Nigeria

Abstract - This study assessed the impact of entrepreneurship skill acquisition on poverty in Kogi State of Nigeria. The study made use of primary data collected with the aid of a well-structured questionnaire, which were administered by well-trained enumerator to beneficiaries of entrepreneurship acquisition skills randomly sampled from six Local Government Area of the state. The data collected through the questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive statistics like frequencies and percentages. The result shows that 65% of the respondents accepted that lack of entrepreneurship skills among youth is responsible for the high rate of poverty in Nigeria. The result also revealed that at least 60% of the people that benefitted from the skill acquisition programme can now afford the basic necessity of life. The study therefore recommended that since most of the people that benefited from the programme could afford the basic necessity of life, the government should begin to think of the way of developing the programme to the status of poverty eradication programme. Keywords     : Entrepreneur; Vocation; Skill acquisition; Poverty; Alleviation; OptimumPaper Type : Research Pape

Konzipierung und Realisierung eines Kommunikationsverfahrens zum Austausch von Modellierungsdaten und zur Erstellung und Aufrechterhaltung von Traceability zwischen verteilten Applikationen

Verteilte, miteinander vernetzte Softwaresysteme haben in den vergangenen Jahren immer mehr an Bedeutung gewonnen und durchdringen mittlerweile viele Aspekte unseres Lebens. Verteilte Systeme sind deswegen heutzutage eines der aktuellen Forschungsthemen bei der Softwareentwicklung. Da die SW-Anwendungen/Komponenten dabei häufig zwangsweise verteilt sind, wollen Benutzer auch von verschiedenen Orten aus auf gemeinsame Ressourcen, wie etwa eine Datenbank, zugreifen. Die TU Ilmenau hat im Rahmen eines Forschungsprojekts ein Softwaretool/PlugIn, Trace-Maintainer(TM) für das SW-Modellierungstool Enterprise Architect entwickelt. Dieses Tool kann zur Zeit nur im lokalen Rechnerbetrieb dafür eingesetzt werden, die Traceability-Links innerhalb des gesamten Entwicklungsprozesses für eine effektive, evolutionäre Entwicklung zunutzen. Um aber den gesamten Funktionsumfang des Tools ausschöpfen zu können, muss das Tool unbedingt in einer verteilten Rechnerumgebung arbeitsfähig gemacht werden. Das Tool ist keine eigenständige SW-Anwendung und muss zur Laufzeit mit verschiedenen anderen SW-Komponenten kommunizieren. Da alle diese SW-Komponenten und das Tool selbst in Zukunftim Internet vollständig voneinander unabhängig arbeiten müssen, tritt ein neues Problem auf – die Herstellung einer Kommunikation zwischen diesen SW-Anwendungen. Im Rahmen dieser Diplomarbeit wurde eine neue SW-Komponente für das Tool entwickelt, die die Kommunikation dieser SW-Komponenten im lokalen als auch im verteilten Rechnerbetriebeinfach unterstützt. Auf der Basis dieser grundlegenden Systemeigenschaft wurden noch eine Reihe weiterer Funktionalitäten wie Start-Stop-Mechanismus, Sessionverwaltung und Nachrichtenverteilung eingebaut, um die Zusammenarbeit der SW-Komponenten des Tools nach wie vor ohne Schwierigkeiten zu gewährleisten. Die neue SW-Komponente ist nach dem Prinzipvon Netzwerk-Hub und Hub-und-Spoke-System realisiert und erlaubt einen eventbasierten Nachrichtenaustausch zwischen den SW-Komponenten des Tools. Die vorliegende Diplomarbeit zeigt die Ergebnisse der Entwicklung von Programmkomponenten im Zusammenhang mit dem Entwurf eines modularen Nachrichtentransportsystems für TraceMaintainer. Durch die Vorstellung dieses Lösungsansatzes wird in dieser Diplomarbeit vermittelt, dass die Traceability-Link-Beziehungen auch in verteilten Rechnerumgebungen angewendet werden können.Ilmenau, Techn. Univ., Diplomarbeit, 201

Analysis of China's Agricultural Exports to Five Central Asian Countries

This paper uses the statistical description and the constant market share model to analyze the Chinese agricultural product export to Central Asian countries. It discovered that the establishments the SCO Shanghai cooperation organization and cooperation process promote agricultural exports; agricultural products from China to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan is mainly attributed to the scale factor; in recent years, competition factor becomes the more important one. Owing to the market fluctuating, it restricted the exporting process in a certain degree. We can enhance the process in organization, construction, agricultural technology and marketing research.Keywords: The five Central Asian Countries; Agricultural products; Export; Scale effect; Competition effec

Antibiogram profile and phenotypic characteristics of clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus at Ayder Referral Hospital, Tigray, Ethiopia

Background: Staphylococcus aureus is a notorious pathogen known for its ability to form biofilms, contributing to a spectrum of infections ranging from minor skin abscesses to life-threatening bloodstream infections. The biofilm-forming capability of S. aureus complicates treatment and contributes to resistance to antimicrobial agents. This study investigates the antimicrobial susceptibility profiles and biofilm-forming capacities of clinical isolates of S. aureus. Methods: A total of 118 clinical isolates of S. aureus were collected and subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing using the disk diffusion method against a panel of 17 antibiotics. Biofilm formation was assessed quantitatively using the tissue culture plate (TCP) method, which categorizes biofilm production into strong, moderate, or weak/non-based on optical density measurements. Results: The results revealed a high resistance rate to ampicillin (71%), while resistance to linezolid was observed in only 2.54% of isolates. Notably, 49.15% of the isolates were identified as methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Among the isolates, 64.4% were biofilm producers, with 64.5% of these being strong biofilm formers and 9.2% classified as weak biofilm formers. A significant correlation was found between antimicrobial resistance and biofilm formation, with 43 (74%) of the MRSA isolates being strong biofilm formers. This association underscores the challenge posed by biofilm-associated resistance in S. aureus infections. Conclusions: Strategies to combat biofilm-associated infections, including development of novel antimicrobial agents and biofilm-disrupting compounds, are urgently needed to mitigate the public health impact of S. aureus infections

Antitumor effect of a pyrazolone-based complex [Cu(PMPP-SAL)(EtOH)] against murine melanoma B16 cell in vitro and in vivo

Pyrazolone-based derivative metal complexes were reported to have cytotoxicity in some tumor cells. In this study, the antitumor effect of [Cu(PMPP-SAL)(EtOH)] (PMPP-SAL = N-(1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-propenylidene-5-pyrazolone)-salicylidene hydrazide anion) in murine melanoma B16 cells in vitro and in vivo was investigated. The result showed that [Cu(PMPP-SAL)(EtOH)] inhibited the survival of B16 cells in vitro, and the IC50 value was superior to cisplatin (DDP) (p < 0.001). B16 cell apoptosis was significantly higher in comparison to the control group (DMSO) (p < 0.01), and cell cycle arrest occurred at the G0/G1 phase. When challenged C57 BL/6J mice were treated with [Cu(PMPP-SAL)(EtOH)], a smaller volume of B16 solid tumors were reported than the control group (p < 0.01), with lower positive expression indices of CD 34, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) (p < 0.01). Moreover, the tumor growth was suppressed in mice due to the induction of apoptosis, as detected by the TUNEL assay (p < 0.001). In summary, [Cu(PMPP-SAL)(EtOH)] effectively inhibited the growth of B16 cells in vitro and in vivo due to the induction of apoptosis and the inhibition of intra-tumoral angiogenesis, demonstrating its therapeutic potential in melanoma treatment

The SOS-framework (Systems of Sedentary behaviours): an international transdisciplinary consensus framework for the study of determinants, research priorities and policy on sedentary behaviour across the life course: a DEDIPAC-study.

BACKGROUND: Ecological models are currently the most used approaches to classify and conceptualise determinants of sedentary behaviour, but these approaches are limited in their ability to capture the complexity of and interplay between determinants. The aim of the project described here was to develop a transdisciplinary dynamic framework, grounded in a system-based approach, for research on determinants of sedentary behaviour across the life span and intervention and policy planning and evaluation. METHODS: A comprehensive concept mapping approach was used to develop the Systems Of Sedentary behaviours (SOS) framework, involving four main phases: (1) preparation, (2) generation of statements, (3) structuring (sorting and ranking), and (4) analysis and interpretation. The first two phases were undertaken between December 2013 and February 2015 by the DEDIPAC KH team (DEterminants of DIet and Physical Activity Knowledge Hub). The last two phases were completed during a two-day consensus meeting in June 2015. RESULTS: During the first phase, 550 factors regarding sedentary behaviour were listed across three age groups (i.e., youths, adults and older adults), which were reduced to a final list of 190 life course factors in phase 2 used during the consensus meeting. In total, 69 international delegates, seven invited experts and one concept mapping consultant attended the consensus meeting. The final framework obtained during that meeting consisted of six clusters of determinants: Physical Health and Wellbeing (71% consensus), Social and Cultural Context (59% consensus), Built and Natural Environment (65% consensus), Psychology and Behaviour (80% consensus), Politics and Economics (78% consensus), and Institutional and Home Settings (78% consensus). Conducting studies on Institutional Settings was ranked as the first research priority. The view that this framework captures a system-based map of determinants of sedentary behaviour was expressed by 89% of the participants. CONCLUSION: Through an international transdisciplinary consensus process, the SOS framework was developed for the determinants of sedentary behaviour through the life course. Investigating the influence of Institutional and Home Settings was deemed to be the most important area of research to focus on at present and potentially the most modifiable. The SOS framework can be used as an important tool to prioritise future research and to develop policies to reduce sedentary time