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The purpose of this paper is to determine the effect of dietary sulphur supplementation from elemental sulphur on the growth performance, nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S) utilisation, rumen microbial volatile fatty acids production, acid/base balance, serum biochemical status and haematological profile of young West African dwarf and Red Sokoto (Maradi) goats, with a view of improving their nutrition for greater performance.

Twenty‐four (12 of each) growing West African dwarf and Red Sokoto goats were fed isonitrogenous (17 per cent) and isocaloric (3.98 Mcal/kgDM) treatments containing varying levels of elemental sulphur at (percentage DM) 0.00, 0.15 and 0.20 in a 2×3 factorial arrangement within randomized complete block design. After a 61 day feeding trial, the performances of the goats were assessed and compared.

The results showed that S supplementation increased (p<0.05) weight gain and feed efficiency in the fed goats with those on 0.20 per cent S level recorded highest values. Similar trends were observed for N and S retention, haematological and serum biochemical studies. S supplementation did not influence (p>0.05) ruminal pH, lactate and acid/base balance. Increased dietary S inclusion increased (p<0.05) molar proportions of acetate and priopionate.

Owing to the outstanding performances of goats fed 0.15 and 0.20 per cent S dietary levels relative to their contemporaries on an unsupplemented (0.00 per cent) S diet, inclusion of S in the diet of growing animals becomes necessary for optimal production.

The paper provides information on the influence of sulphur on animal performance as poor nutrition constitutes a limiting factor to animal production.

The purpose of this study is to nutritionally evaluate complementary food formulated from fermented maize, pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.) and soybean.

Maize, pigeon pea and soybean were the sole energy and protein sources, respectively. Experimental diets consist of dietary Basal (A), fermented maize–soybean–pigeon pea 70:15:15 (B), fermented maize–soybean 70:30 (C), fermented maize–pigeon pea 70:30 (D) and Nutrend (E) a commercial dietary. A commercial product (Nutrend) manufactured by Nestle Plc was obtained at Orisunmibare central market, Oshogbo, Osun State, Nigeria, and was used as standard diet. The formulated complementary foods were fed to 30 albino rats for 28 days.

The results showed that the average weight gained increased for dietary B, C, D and E (73.8-142.60, 73.8-98.26, 73.8-93.62 and 73.8-91.86, respectively), but diet A caused a decrease from 73.8 to 62.72 g. Protein qualities of dietary samples including biological value (BV; 94.26-98.67), true digestibility (TD; 72.55-80.46), net protein utilization (NPU; 71.72-76.53), protein efficiency ratio (1.63-3.49), feed efficiency (0.16-0.35), net protein ratio (2.49-4) and protein retention efficiency (46.38-61.24).

Protein qualities of dietatry samples determined including biological value (BV), true digestibility (TD), net protein utilization (NPU) among others. The complementary food formulated from maize, pigeon pea and soybean supported animal growth and favourably compared with the standard. Meaning that, the application of multiple plant protein (pigeon pea and soybean) in the formulation of complementary food may be suitable for feeding of infants or children in developing countries to alleviate protein energy malnutrition.

This paper aims to focus on the novel design and development of an automatic feeding system which is capable of feeding cylindrical parts which are fragile and powdery in nature and possess asymmetrical features such as a groove near to one end.

It is an active feeder, performing its task without having to reject any feeding part by performing active orientation of feeding parts that are in the undesired orientation. This design incorporating active orientating capability is aimed at 100 percent feeding efficiency. The system is controlled and driven by a programmable logic controller and electropneumatics.

System evaluation results showed that the average jam rate is below 5 percent and the percentage of correctly orientated parts is above 95 percent. With enhancement and fine tuning, the system could become a very useful feeder for industry in the future.

The scope of this paper focuses on presentation of the design concept, development and evaluation of the feeder only and design calculations are not included.

This paper is of value to those who are involved in the manufacturing of small delicate and powdery engineering parts such as those providing performs to the semiconductor industry for encapsulation of integrated circuit chips.

Outlines development work on the surfing hopper, a new parts feeding system where chain conveyors with free rollers are driven by a variable‐speed motor and a flexible belt is pushed up partly by the free rollers to generate a wave in the belt. Describes how the wave effect keeps the stacked parts level and how experiments were carried out using different parts materials such as small water‐filled bottles and nuts made of steel. Looks at studies carried out on feeding correctly orientated parts to the assembly station and experiments on surfing feeding system with regard to part separation on the belt. Concludes that the surfing hopper can supply heavy parts intermittently at a rough definite supply ratio, without jamming and entangling the parts and without damage to the belt.

Under the patent system created by Congress a patent enjoys only a rebuttable presumption of validity. The resulting probability of invalidity has an economic value. The incentive for a challenger to capture that value creates consumer benefit. In contrast, a payment by the patent holder to the challenger to recognize validity changes the congressionally mandated rebuttable presumption into a conclusive presumption. When a patent holder enlarges the reward granted to him by Congress, by paying a potential rival to confess validity, he reduces efficiency and consumer welfare and, therefore, commits a per se violation of the antitrust laws.

This paper aims to examine whether CEO/chair dual roles influence board monitoring-audit fees nexus. The impact of corporate governance on audit fees literature is lacking in the banking sector, which is subject to different regulations and reporting requirements to other sectors. The level and quality of external audit services are important not only to shareholders and customers but also for regulators’ reputations and public confidence.

Examining a sample of the US national commercial banks, this study fills the gap by empirically examining whether the attributes of internal corporate governance mechanisms, proxied by boards of directors and audit committee characteristics, are related to audit fees. We introduce two interaction variables to understand whether chief executive officer (CEO)/chair dual roles influence the relationships between board independence and audit fees on the one hand and between the audit committee and audit fees on the other hand.

We find that audit fees are positively associated with board independence, board size, CEO/chair dual role and audit committee financial experts. The results of the interaction variables indicate that boards with higher independence and more effective audit committees tend to demand higher audit quality, and consequently, pay higher audit fees to protect shareholders’ interests from potential power abuse by CEOs who also chair boards.

This study contributes to the literature by providing extensive understanding of the influence on audit fees of the independence of the board of directors and the effectiveness of the audit committees. The authors first examine the impact of each individual governance variable separately and then introduce two interaction variables. This study provides policymakers with insights into the existing relationships between audit fees and the banking sector governance structure.

Public private partnerships (PPPs) centralize decision making into a hybrid type of firm, consisting of a government entity with a private firm, that is either a profit‐seeking or non‐profit entity, that initiates, constructs, maintains, or provides a service. The PPP model recognizes that both the public and the private sectors have certain comparative advantages in the performance of specific tasks. PPPs, grounded in cost/benefit analysis, have been used in Australia for decades and are presently being introduced in the USA as a form of innovate contracting. This paper aims to evaluate PPPs as a potentially transferable model for the delivery of public services. PPP firms are evaluated in terms of capital asset management, productive and allocative efficiency, transfer of risk between the public and private sectors, rights to the residual, and the public interest. A case study comparison of Fremantle Ports (Australia) and the Indiana Toll Road (USA) is employed to demonstrate PPP design and function.

A description and evaluation of public private partnerships (PPP) is presented and two original and primary case studies are reviewed.

A PPP functioning as a monopoly provider of a common pool public asset approximates economic efficiency when user fees cover virtually full cost. Identifying optimal output and quality assessment is more challenging in the case of social goods in which the public goal is subsidy minimization and clients cannot assess quality. Best practices are helpful; they guarantee the PPP process, but not the outcome. All PPPs, in whatever country or industry, are vulnerable to bureaucratic expansion whenever they are given access to subsidized loans underwritten by taxpayers.

The two case studies in this paper are 100 percent original; they were examined in person by the authors, and the managers of the two entities were interviewed in Indiana (USA) and Fremantle, Western Australia.

Probiotics are known to extend health benefits and therefore may be included during yoghurt manufacture to enhance its prophylactic properties. Different probiotic strains may exhibit diverse biotechnological behaviour in association with yoghurt cultures, therefore interactive behaviour amongst probiotic and yoghurt cultures must be evaluated prior to their commercial application. This paper aims to assess the effect of inclusion of different probiotic cultures on various biotechnological (technological, dietetic and prophylactic) characteristics of yoghurt cultures.

Yoghurt was assessed for technological characteristics based on acidification and flavour production, dietetic characteristics based on proteolytic activity, vitamin synthesis and L (+) lactic acid production and prophylactic characteristics based on β‐galactosidase activity, antibacterial spectrum, viability in product as well as during gastro‐intestinal transit, intestinal colonization, immunomodulation, anti‐carcinogenicity and hypocholesterolemic effect.

Different probiotic cultures exhibited diverse technological, dietetic and prophylactic behaviour in association with yoghurt cultures. Functional properties of traditional yoghurt could be enhanced with the combined introduction of probiotic cultures such as Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium infantis and Lactobacillus acidophilus and the resultant product may be recommended for consumption as a dietary adjunct.

The paper shows that combined introduction of probiotic cultures such as B. bifidum, B. infantis and L. acidophilus, as microbial additives during the manufacture of yoghurt would result in a product with enhanced functional properties.

The aim of this research is to examine if building information modelling (BIM) is feasible as an information management platform to determine a financially and environmentally affordable housing refurbishment solution based on the life cycle cost (LCC) and LCC calculation.

A case study in conjunction with BIM simulation approach using BIM tools (Autodesk Revit and IES VE/IMPACT) was adopted to identify the feasibility of BIM for the simultaneous formulation of LCC and life cycle assessment in housing refurbishment.

This research reveals that BIM is a suitable for the information management platform to enable construction professionals to consider trade-off relationship between LCC and life cycle assessment simultaneously, and determine the most financially and environmentally affordable refurbishment solution. The interoperability issues in data exchange among different BIM tools and unstandardized BIM object libraries with incomplete data sets of construction materials are recognised as the major shortcomings in a BIM system. Essential remedial actions to overcome the shortcomings in the current BIM tools are identified.

Actual housing information and various refurbishment materials for the BIM simulation are limited.

This research contributes to supporting construction professionals to prepare practical BIM adoption for the integration of the LCC and life cycle assessment that can significantly improve early decision-makings on sustainable housing refurbishment.

This research will contribute to providing proper remedial actions to overcome the shortcomings in the current BIM tools, and insights for construction professionals to understand the implication of BIM-embedded housing refurbishment.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate cow-calf producer incentive to adopt innovations in traits with important environmental and economic implications for the beef supply chain.

A whole farm multi-year farm optimization model that tracks changes in discounted net returns and methane emissions from the use of newer DNA-related technologies to breed for feed efficient cattle is developed. The analysis is situated within the context of whole beef cattle supply chain. This allows for the derivation of the entire value and environmental impact of the innovation, and the decomposition of value by different participants. The impact of different policies that can stimulate producer uptake and the diffusion of the innovation is also addressed.

The results of the study showed that whilst the use of the breeding technology yielded positive economic and environmental benefits to all producers in the supply chain, primary adopters were unlikely to adopt. This paper finds evidence of the misalignment in incentives within the supply chain with a significant proportion of the additional value going to producers who do not incur any additional cost from the adoption of the innovation. The study also highlighted the role of both public and market-based mechanisms in the innovation diffusion process.

This paper is unique as it is the first study that addresses producer incentive to adopt genomic selection for feed efficiency across the entire beef cattle supply chain, and incorporates both economic and environmental outcomes.