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The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of family, individual difference and cultural factors on the choice of gender‐dominated occupations among female students in some tertiary institutions.

A field‐based survey approach was adopted to collect quantitative data through the means of questionnaires from 340 female students randomly selected from tertiary institutions in Southwest Nigeria.

Hierarchical multiple‐regression statistical analysis employed revealed that family, individual differences and cultural factors were good predictors (collectively and independently) of choice of gender‐dominated occupations of female students.

These findings were limited to nursing and engineering professions as well as variables investigated. Thus, future researchers should make efforts to extend the study's scope to other professions that could be categorized as gender‐dominated occupations.

The findings provide evidence on the factors influencing the choice of gender‐dominated occupations among female students. Hence, attention should be paid to the predicting variables investigated in that they provided significant basis for this study. These predicting variables could assist the female students in making realistic and purposeful career choices, so that they could overcome the barriers of occupational stereotyping in Nigerian society. This would enable the women to contribute their quota to their families and society in general.

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the relationships of parental attachment and psychological separation to the career development process of secondary school adolescents.

An ex post facto survey research design was adopted. The sample comprised 242 (males=121, females=121) senior secondary school II students randomly selected. Parental attachment, psychological separation, and career development scales were administered on the students. The data collected were analysed using hierarchical multiple regression analysis treating parental attachment and psychological separation as predictors and career development as a criterion variable. Parental attachment and psychological separation (mother scales) separately and significantly predicted career information‐seeking behaviour of participants. However, combined attachment and separation (father scale) could not significantly predict any of the career development variables.

The study utilised cross‐sectional and self‐report measures.

The cultural environment and type of family in which the study was carried out should be considered. Counsellors in Nigeria should assess views of students' parents and peers on career development.

Most previous studies have linked familial factors like parental educational, financial and modelling opportunities with career development. This study reported the relationship of parental attachment and psychological separation with the career development process. Results from this study may enlighten career counsellors, parents and students on the need to assess the relationship between the students and their parents when dealing with their career development problems.

This paper seeks to examine the roles of personality, vocational interests, academic achievement and some socio‐cultural factors in educational aspirations of secondary school adolescents in southwestern Nigeria.

A survey research design was adopted. The sample comprised 430 (males = 220, females = 210) secondary school students. Data personality, vocational interests, academic achievement, socio‐cultural factors and educational aspiration were obtained from the students. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to analyse the data.

The paper finds that specific personality, interest dimensions, academic achievement, socio‐economic status and demands from extended family were significantly related to the students' educational aspirations.

The cross‐sectional correlational research design does not permit cause‐and‐effect inferences to be made. Use of a single‐item survey to assess educational aspirations may limit the results. Future research may add more items to assess educational aspiration.

The adolescents' personality, vocational interests, academic achievement and socio‐cultural factors should be identified and included in the career counselling process by counselling psychologists.

This research provides basis for the need to consider personality, interests and socio‐cultural factors in addition to cognitive attainment when explaining the adolescents' educational aspirations.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the psychosocial factors that predict mentoring among nurses.

This study adopted a survey research design. Questionnaires were used to collect data on self‐esteem, locus of control, emotional intelligence and demographic factors from 480 nurses (males 230; females =250) from five states in southwestern Nigeria. Data analysis included regressing mentoring behaviour on the psychosocial factors.

Results revealed that self‐esteem, locus of control, emotional intelligence, age, job status and tenure are linear predictors mildly associated to mentoring but gender is not.

An implication of the findings from this study is that counselling and industrial psychologists should let the employees know the importance of mentoring and the factors that predict it among nurses in the workplace. It is suggested that formal mentoring should be introduced into the various work organizations and career counsellors employed to counsel the workers on what they stand to gain from developing mentoring relationships.

This study is able to demonstrate that some psychosocial factors are linear predictors mildly associated with mentoring among nurses in Nigeria. Career counsellors, personal psychologists and nurses will find the results from this study useful when they are considering factors that could predict mentioning relationships among nurses.

The purpose of this study is to forecast the mechanical properties of ternary blended concrete (TBC) modified with oyster shell powder (OSP) and shea nutshell ash (SNA) using deep neural network (DNN) models.

DNN models with three hidden layers, each layer containing 5–30 nodes, were used to predict the target variables (compressive strength [CS], flexural strength [FS] and split tensile strength [STS]) for the eight input variables of concrete classes 25 and 30 MPa. The concrete samples were cured for 3–120 days. Levenberg−Marquardt's backpropagation learning technique trained the networks, and the model's precision was confirmed using the experimental data set.

The DNN model with a 25-node structure yielded a strong relation for training, validating and testing the input and output variables with the lowest mean squared error (MSE) and the highest correlation coefficient (R) values of 0.0099 and 99.91% for CS and 0.010 and 98.42% for FS compared to other architectures. However, the DNN model with a 20-node architecture yielded a strong correlation for STS, with the lowest MSE and the highest R values of 0.013 and 97.26%. Strong relationships were found between the developed models and raw experimental data sets, with R² values of 99.58%, 97.85% and 97.58% for CS, FS and STS, respectively.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this novel research establishes the prospects of replacing SNA and OSP with Portland limestone cement (PLC) to produce TBC. In addition, predicting the CS, FS and STS of TBC modified with OSP and SNA using DNN models is original, optimizing the time, cost and quality of concrete.

Bank tellers have been ignored in stress research. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between occupational stress, job satisfaction, and gender difference among bank tellers in Ghana.

Using a cross-sectional survey approach, the authors used questionnaires to collect data from bank tellers in Ghana. Valid questionnaires were retrieved from 112 tellers across four banks. The hypotheses were tested using Pearson r-test, standard multiple regression and independent t-test.

The results revealed that tellers are more likely to exhibit counterproductive behaviours such as job dissatisfaction due to work-related stress. The results further showed that gender is not a strong determinant of job satisfaction and occupational stress among the bank tellers. Thus, both male and female tellers can have similar stress perceptions and experiences. Also, both male and female tellers can be satisfied with their jobs.

The findings must be interpreted with caution because cross-sectional surveys are often criticised for causality issues. The causality issue here is that the use of cross-sectional data did not allow the study to examine any changes in some of the constructs examined with time. Also, the results are occupation, industry and country-specific.

To reduce counterproductive behaviours due to occupational stress, human resource managers and line managers of the banks urgently need to train bank tellers on stress management. Emotional intelligence training is also necessary for bank tellers to obtain the needed resources and competencies to deal with daily stress.

A stressful work environment negatively affects employee and organisational productivity and performance. The socioeconomic consequences of occupational stress are expensive for organisations, economies and society. The indirect effect of stress on employees' families and friends are often ignored by organisations.

The transactional stress theory has been applied towards an understanding of occupational stress and job satisfaction among bank tellers. The examination and establishment of particular relationships between occupational stress, job satisfaction and gender difference are significant for human resource managers and other line managers.

Any scheme whereby the treasures of a public reference library are made more widely known is sure of the sympathetic consideration of all serious librarians, for it is a lamentable fact that reference libraries generally, and especially those in the provinces, are very sparingly appreciated. Their primary function is largely defeated by the ignorance of those most likely to be benefited. When there is displayed any considerable use of the facilities for research and study, analysis will often show it to be a mere prostitution by competition‐mongers and acrostic‐solvers; the genuine student is seldom much in evidence.

Credit is essential in the farm business because it facilitates the adoption of productive technologies such as irrigation. However, access to credit remains a significant hurdle for sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghanaian farmers. Therefore, the authors assessed credit utilization and the intensity of borrowing by irrigated rice farmers in the Upper East region. In addition, how extension moderates the amount borrowed was analysed.

The multistage sampling approach was used in the study. The Tono and Vea irrigation schemes were purposively selected. Proportionally, 318 rice farmers were sampled from the Tono irrigation scheme and 159 from the Vea irrigation scheme. Cragg's double hurdle and moderation analysis were used.

It was uncovered that gender, age, years of farming, total farm size, rice farm size, contract farming and off-farm employment explain farmers' decision to borrow. On the other hand, the intensity of borrowing was influenced by gender, age, years of farming, rice farm size, contract farming and the number of extension contact. The moderation analysis revealed that extension contact improves the amount borrowed by farmers.

While there are irrigated rice farmers in other regions of Ghana, this study was limited to rice farmers under the Tono and Vea Irrigation schemes in the Upper East region.

This study investigated the moderating role of extension contact on amount borrowed in Ghana. This makes a modest addition to the limited literature on the moderating role of extension and credit access.

This study aims to describe the preparation of antimicrobial material usable in 3D printing of medical devices. Despite the wealth of technological progress at the time of the crisis caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus: Virus that causes current Pandemic situation (COVID-19), the global population had long been exposed beforehand to an acute absence of essential medical devices. As a response, a new type of composite materials intended for rapid prototyping, based on layered silicate saponite (Sap), antimicrobial dye phloxine B (PhB) and thermoplastics, has been recently developed.

Sap was modified with a cationic surfactant and subsequently functionalized with PhB. The hybrid material in powder form was then grounded with polyethylene terephthalate-glycol (PETG) or polylactic acid (PLA) in a precisely defined weight ratio and extruded into printing filaments. The stability and level of cytotoxicity of these materials in various physiological environments simulating the human body have been studied. The applicability of these materials in bacteria and a yeast-infected environment was evaluated.

Ideal content of the hybrid material, with respect to thermoplastic, was 15 weight %. Optimal printing temperature and speed, with respect to maintaining antimicrobial activity of the prepared materials, were T = 215°C at 50 mm/s for PETG/SapPhB and T = 230°C at 40 mm/s for PLA/SapPhB. 3 D-printed air filters made of these materials could keep inner air flow at 63.5% and 76.8% of the original value for the PLA/SapPhB and PETG/SapPhB, respectively, whereas the same components made without PhB had a 100% reduction of airflow.

The designed materials can be used for rapid prototyping of medical devices.

The new materials have been immediately used in the construction of an emergency lung ventilator, Q-vent, which has been used in different countries during the COVID-19 crisis.