Rivers State University of Science and Technology

About: Rivers State University of Science and Technology is a education organization based out in Port Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Threatened species. The organization has 1826 authors who have published 1833 publications receiving 15183 citations.

Customer‐focus and business performance: the study of food and beverages organizations in Nigeria

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of customer‐focus on the performance of the organisation. While many empirical works have centered on customer‐focus, the generalisability of its impact on performance of the food and beverages organisations in the Nigeria context has been under‐researched.Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopted a triangulation methodology (quantitative and qualitative approach). Data were collected from key informants using a research instrument. Returned instruments were analyzed using non‐parametric correlation through the use of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 10.Findings – The paper validated the earlier instruments but did not find any strong association between customer‐focus and business performance in the Nigerian context using the food and beverages organisations for the study. The reasons underlying the weak relationship between customer‐focus and business performance of the food and beverages organizations are govern...

Is thermoregulation really unimportant for tropical reptiles? Comparative study of four sympatric snake species from Africa

Abstract: Most of the studies concerning the thermal and reproductive relationships of snakes have been conducted in temperate regions, whereas very few data are available for African tropical species. In the present study, aspects of the comparative thermal and reproductive ecology of four sympatric freshwater snakes from tropical Africa (the colubrids Natriciteres fuliginoides, N. variegata, Afronatrix anoscopus, and Grayia smythii) are studied with emphasis on exploring whether their thermal ecology relations with reproduction biology may indicate a substantial influence of thermoregulation on their life-history traits (as shown in several studies from temperate-zone reptiles), or whether thermoregulatory biology is less important in tropical reptiles (as suggested in some recent experimental studies). The present study showed that, with minor species-specific differences, thermoregulation certainly has some relevance for the activity and life-history attributes of the studied species, as (i) the females tended to show body temperatures inversely related to their size (snout‐vent length), and (ii) gravid specimens tended to maintain higher body temperatures than non-gravid specimens. However, other sets of our data (e.g., the high and constant Tb exhibited during night-time) strongly indicate that these four species of tropical water snakes can maintain high and stable Tb with little overt thermoregulatory behaviour. As is the rule in most of the other snake species studied to date, the maternal size of the females strongly influenced the number of eggs produced, and testifies that reproductive biology models linking reproductive performance to thermal ecology, highlighted in other snakes from temperate and cool regions, may well apply at least to some extent also to these Afrotropical species. © 2002 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

A genome-wide association study of a global rice panel reveals resistance in Oryza sativa to root-knot nematodes

Abstract: The root-knot nematode Meloidogyne graminicola is one of the most serious nematode pests worldwide and represents a major constraint on rice production. While variation in the susceptibility of Asian rice (Oryza sativa) exists, so far no strong and reliable resistance has been reported. Quantitative trait loci for partial resistance have been reported but no underlying genes have been tagged or cloned. Here, 332 accessions of the Rice Diversity Panel 1 were assessed for gall formation, revealing large variation across all subpopulations of rice and higher susceptibility in temperate japonica accessions. Accessions Khao Pahk Maw and LD 24 appeared to be resistant, which was confirmed in large pot experiments where no galls were observed. Detailed observations on these two accessions revealed no nematodes inside the roots 2 days after inoculation and very few females after 17 days (5 in Khao Pahk Maw and 100 in the susceptible controls). These two cultivars appear ideal donors for breeding root-knot nematode resistance. A genome-wide association study revealed 11 quantitative trait loci, two of which are close to epistatic loci detected in the Bala x Azucena population. The discussion highlights a small number of candidate genes worth exploring further, in particular many genes with lectin domains and genes on chromosome 11 with homology to the Hordeum Mla locus.