Archives-February 2012

The effects of chemical reactions on free convection MHD flow of an incompressible, viscous, electrically conducting fluid past an exponentially accelerated infinite vertical plate through a porous medium with variable temperature and mass diffusion is discussed. The plate temperature and the concentration level near the plate increase linearly with time. The magnetic lines of force are assumed to be fixed relative to the plate. The Laplace transform method has been used to find the solutions for the velocity, temperature and concentration profiles. The effects of the various parameters such as Prandtl number, Schmidt number, time, magnetic parameter, permeability parameter, thermal Grashof number, mass Grashof number, accelerating parameter and chemical reaction parameter for velocity, temperature, and concentration and skin-friction profiles have been discussed in detail with the help of graphical representation. The numerical values of skin-friction, Nusselt number and Sherwood number have been tabulated.

An earthquake measuring 7.6 Richter that rocked Kashmir (India) on October 8, 2005 struck without any warning, wreaking a trail of death and destruction. But the psychological after-effects among the survivors can last longer and are generally overlooked because the immediate focus is on the rescue-and-relief operations. Even as the disaster left people, already reeling under years of unremitting terrorist violence, shaken, it also underscored the lack of disaster management in seismically active, remote mountainous areas. The deaths led to the emotional and psychological trauma among those who survived the tragedy. While the physical and material relief poured in, the psychological help for the survivors struggling to come to terms with the trauma was, however, starkly missing.

Pulverized fruits (500g) of Lantana camara on hydrodistillation, afforded oil in the yield of 0.4% (v/w). Analysis of the oil using GC and GC-MS showed that the bulk of the oil is characterized by the abundance of sesquiterpenoids (91.9%). The percentage composition of monoterpenoids in the oil was 7.1%, while phenylpropernoids were detected in trace amounts. The principal constituents of the oil were; germacrene D (38.1%), germacrene-D-4-ol (19.6%), ?-caryophyllene (17.7%) and germacrene B (16.5%). The abundance of germacrene D in the oil shows that the oil is of germacrene D chemotype.

Education is one of very important component of development. Progress of any country principally reflects with literacy level of the population. The Government of India has assigned high priority to the education sector not only to achieve the Univerlisation of Elementary Education by 2010 but also to improve the quality of education at all levels. Some of the initiatives such as District Primary Education Programme (1994), the Mid Day Meal Scheme (1995) and the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (2001) have led some positive impact in elementary education, specifically in rural areas. But most of the work or research carried out for primary school education and educationist or researchers concentrated on primary education only. Therefore it is an attempt a look out to the development of upper primary school education in India.

It is envisaged in the XI th Five year Plan of Government of India that the Spot and Future Prices of Commodities should be made available to the farming communities across the country to enable them to take rational and informed decision about cropping pattern and Marketing strategies to increase their Farm Income.

The amino acid composition of the muscle and skin of the matured female African giant pouch rat (Cricetomys gambianus) was determined on a dry weight basis. The total essential amino acids ranged from 29.8-41.2 g/100 g crude protein or from 48.6-53.2 % of the total amino acid. The amino acid score showed that lysine ranged from 0.73-1.06 (on whole hen’s egg comparison), 0.82-1.20 (on provisional essential amino acid scoring pattern) and 0.78-1.14 (on suggested requirement of the essential amino acid of a preschool child). The predicted protein efficiency ratio was 1.89-2.41 and the essential amino acid index range was 0.84-1.21. The correlation coefficient (rxy) was positive and significant at r = 0.01 for the total amino acids, isoelectric points and amino acid scores (on whole hen’s egg basis) in the two samples. Comparison of the samples with the muscle and skin amino acid compositions of the Greater Cane Rat showed that positive and significant differences existed at r = 0.01 between their muscles and their skins respectively. Results have good comparison with whole hen’s egg protein.

Comparative study of levels of mercury in surface soil samples in gold and non-gold mining towns were conducted from Sikakrom of Kenyasi No. 1 and Dadiesoba of Asutsifi District in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana. The mercury concentrations of acid digested dried samples were measured by Cold Vapour Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. Higher levels of T-Hg concentrations were found in surface soil samples at the sites with extensive small-scale “galamsey” mining activities than at the non small-scale “galamsey” mining sites. Levels of Hg in surface soil samples were in the range of 38.56 µg kg-1 to 93.34 µg kg-1 for the extensive small-scale “galamsey” mining sites at Sikakrom of Kenyasi No.1. The concentration levels of T-Hg in surface soil from all the sampling sites are in excess of the WHO tolerable limit of 0.001 µg/kg for soil. The concentration levels of total mercury at Dadiesoba were lower than the WHO tolerable limit of 0.001µg/kg. The influence of the off-shore sea breeze might have affected this observation. Hg levels obtained in this research were higher than the natural background levels of Hg. Obviously; Hg is a major metal pollutant at Sikakrom of Kenyasi No.1. Recovery and Repeatability test were done to check for the accuracy and reproducibility of the analytical method. Regression analysis on surface soil mercury concentrations showed proportionately less deposits at higher distances in 10 cm soil zone. In general, these findings suggest evidence of severe mercury pollution in Sikakrom of Kenyasi No. 1 in the Asutsifi District of the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana.

If a nuclear reactor happened to be prompt critical - even very slightly - the number of neutrons would increase exponentially at a high rate, and very quickly the reactor would become uncontrollable by means of cybernetics. The prompt neutron flux spectrum of the compact core of the Ghana’s miniature neutron source reactor (MNSR) was understudy using the Monte Carlo method. 20484 energy groups combined for all three categories of the energy distribution, thermal, slowing down and fast regions were modeled to create small energy bins. The moderator, the inner irradiation channels, the annulus beryllium reflector and the outer irradiation channels were the region monitored. The prompt thermal neutrons recorded it highest flux in the inner irradiation channel with a peak flux of (1.2091 ± 0.0008) × 1012 n/cm2•s, followed by the outer irradiation channel with a peak flux of (7.9393 0.0056) × 1011 n/cm2•s. The beryllium reflector recorded the lowest flux in the thermal region with a peak flux of (2.3328 0.0004) × 1011 n/cm2•s. The peak values of the thermal energy range occurred in the energy range 1.8939× 10-08 MeV – 3.7880× 10-08 MeV. The inner irradiation channel again recorded the highest flux of (1.8361 0.0301) × 1009 n/cm2•s at the lower energy end of the slowing down region between 8.2491× 10-01 MeV – 8.2680 × 10-01 MeV, but was over taken by the moderator as the neutron energies increase to 2.0465 MeV. The outer irradiation channel recorded the lowest flux in this region. In the fast region, the core, where the moderator is found, the moderator recorded the highest flux as expected at a peak flux of (2.9143 0.0195) × 1008 n/cm2•s at 6.961MeV. The inner irradiation channel recorded the second highest flux while the outer channel and annulus beryllium recorded very low flux in this region. The final k-effective contribution from only prompt neutrons is 0.9956, hence the Ghana MNSR not prompt critical

The issue of poverty and strategies to deal with it has occupied the ‘minds’ of various Governments in Nigeria before and after independence in 1960. Indeed the scourge of poverty has been the bane of the Countries of sub Saharan Africa for decades. Each country has tried to devise strategies and methods of dealing with the problem. Poverty is actually a world wide phenomenon hence; it has always attracted the attention of International Organizations like the United Nations and its subsidiary Organizations like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), and a host of others. The concern over poverty and the need to alleviate it, is predicated on the fact that it is a social phenomenon with multifarious negative consequences on the health of the people, the socio economic dimensions of the country and the totality of the productive capability and capacity of any country.

This paper examined the link between corporate governance and organisational performance in the banking industry. The objectives of this study were to investigate the significant difference between corporate governance practices and organisational performance and also to examine whether corporate governance variables used in this study were predictors of or were associated with organisational performance in the banking sector in Nigeria. The study employed survey research design. The subjects were employees of five banks in Oyo, Oyo State, Nigeria. Primary data was obtained through questionnaires to get opinions of employees in the five banks. Five hypotheses were formulated and tested using Correlation Analysis, Regression Analysis, and T-test. The findings showed that there was a significant difference between Corporate Governance practices and Organizational Performance. It was also shown that corporate governance policies, and Shareholder Right and responsibilities jointly predicted Organizational Performance. In addition, it was shown that there was significant relationship between Shareholder right and responsibilities and Organizational performance. Lastly, research found that corporate governance policies and corporate governance practices jointly predicted Organizational Performance. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the management and staff of the banks should make it a point of duty to understand the concept of corporate governance and carry along the various stakeholders with a view to improving organizational performance.