The Relative Effectiveness of Three Evaluation Techniques on Academic Performance of Secondary School Integrated Science Students in Ondo State, Nigeria

This study examined relative effectiveness of three evaluation techniques on academic performance of secondary school students in integrated science (I.SC) in Ondo State, Nigeria.  It is a quasi-experimental research of the counterbalanced design type.  The 300 students that formed the sample were selected from two purposively selected local government areas from two Senatorial Districts of Ondo State on the basis of rural/urban location.  Three schools with three intact classes were selected from each of the rural and urban centers using stratified random sampling technique.  Fifty students whose Cumulative Continuous Assessment (CCA) records showed an average score ranging between 30-45 were selected from each intact class using simple random sampling technique.  Scores from locally standardized I.SC. Multiple choice achievement test and CCA of the participants between 2009-2011 served as database for the study.  Data collected for the study were analysed sing ANOVA.  The results showed that; there is significant difference in the performance of students exposed to closed book, open book and open time techniques of evaluation learning outcome in I.SC.  It also revealed that students’ performance in I.SC was better in closed book than open book and open time techniques while open book was better than open time technique.  It also showed that interaction of location and evaluating techniques did produce significant effect on secondary school students’ learning outcome.  Based on the findings, it was recommended that teachers and examining bodies should compliment closed book technique of evaluating learning outcome with open book technique to  reduce students’ cheating behaviours, anxiety and  examination phobia. Keywords: Relative effectiveness, Closed book, Open book, Open time, Evaluation techniques, Location, interaction, Integrated Science

Ameliorative potential of vitamin E on the impact of dietary fumonisin B1 on reproductive performance of female rabbits

Fumonisin B_1 (FB_1), a contaminant of agricultural products, particularly maize worldwide is known to be consumed by farm animals and has been documented to cause various physiological responses in animals. A 15-week trial on the ameliorative potential of vitamin E on the negative impacts of FB_1 on reproductive performance of rabbits was conducted. Forty-nine female rabbits aged 16 to 18 weeks weighing 1.65 to 2.0 kg body weight were assigned to seven experimental feeding groups: the control group received a diet without FB_1, three groups were fed diets containing different concentrations of FB_1 at 2.5, 5.0 or 7.5 mg kg^(−1), and three further groups had diets containing FB_1 and vitamin E i.e., 2.5 mg FB_1 kg^(−1) + 100 mg vitamin E, 5.0 mg FB_1 kg^(−1) + 100 mg vitamin E, and 7.5 mg FB_1 kg^(−1) + 100 mg vitamin E. Data obtained on reproductive parameters - gestation length, litter size, kit weight as well as the kit crown-rump length, were analysed using ANOVA. Serum reproductive hormones - luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), prolactin, prostaglanding F_2α (PGF_2α), and estradiol (E_2) levels in rabbits fed diets containing 7.5 mg FB_1 kg^(−1) were significantly lower than those for all other treatments. Rabbits fed diets containing = 5 mg FB_1 kg^(−1) had significantly (p0.05) longer gestation lengths and lower kit weights compared to the other treatment groups. The litter sizes of rabbits fed FB_1-contaminated diets supplemented with vitamin E were significantly (p0.05) higher compared with those on diets not supplemented, including the control. The 21-day postpartum weight gain of kits of does fed diets containing =5.0 mg FB_1 kg^(−1) were significantly (p0.05) lower than the weight gain observed in the other treatment groups. Does fed diets supplemented with vitamin E had significantly (p0.05) higher milk yield compared with does on not supplemented diets, including the control. This study has shown that vitamin E supplementation of does counteracts the adverse impacts of FB 1 on reproductive hormones, gestation length, kit weight, and milk production in rabbits

TOXICOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF DIETARY FUMONISIN B1 ON SERUM BIOCHEMISTRY OF GROWING PIGS

Twenty-four male Large White weanling pigs of 8-9 weeks of age averaging 6.94±0.26 kg were used to evaluate the effect of dietary fumonisin B1 (FB1) on serum biochemical parameters. The animals were randomly assigned to 4 dietary treatments containing 0.2, 5.0, 10.0 and 15.0 mg FB1/kg constituting the control, diets 1, 2 and 3 respectively, in a 6-month feeding trial. Blood sample was collected from the ear vein of each animal at the end of the feeding trial for biochemical analyses. Animals fed the control diet and diet 1 had significantly (P<0.05) higher serum total protein, albumin and globulin concentrations as well as the serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities and serum cholesterol concentrations than those on diets 2 and 3, while the serum triglyceride concentrations of the animals fed diets 1 and 2 were significantly (P<0.05) lower than those fed diet 3 but significantly (P<0.05) higher than those fed the control diet. The study revealed that chronic ingestion of dietary FB1 ≥10.0 mg kg-1 may result in significant alterations of serum biochemical parameters in growing pigs suggesting chronic gastrointestinal or hepatic disease

Effects of Testwiseness Training in Mathematics on Adolescent Secondary School Students’ Test Anxiety in Ondo State, Nigeria

This study investigated the effects of testwiseness training in Mathematics on adolescent secondary school students’ test anxiety The research study adopted for the study was an experimental research that involved pre-test, posttest and control groups design. One hundred and twenty (120) adolescent senior secondary school class three students of Ondo State public secondary schools selected through stratified random sampling technique formed the sample. These participants were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Experimental group was made to undergo the testwise training package in Mathematics (TTPM), which lasted for six weeks, while ‘placebo’ was used on the control group. Two instruments were used to collect data. They are Adolescent Students’ Test Anxiety Scale (ASTAS) and Adolescent Students’ Testwiseness Scale in Mathematics (ASTSM). Three research questions were raised translated into two hypotheses The data collected were analyzed using simple mean, standard deviation and t-test statistics, The findings showed that: (i) There is no significant difference in the test anxiety levels of the participants before exposure to treatments; (ii) testwiseness training in Mathematics had positive impact on the adolescent secondary school students’ test anxiety levels. Adolescent students without testwiseness training in Mathematics are more test anxious than the adolescent students with testwiseness training in mathematics. It is therefore recommended that testwiseness training in Mathematics should be inculcated into the curriculum of both secondary schools and teacher training colleges. Teachers are also encouraged to add  testwiseness instruction to their regular Mathematics classes so that their students may become testwise in a testing situation Keywords: Testwiseness training, Mathematics, Test Anxiety, Adolescent student

Evaluation of subchronic dietary fumonisin B1 on nutrient digestibility and growth performance of rats

Fumonisin B1 (FB1), a toxin produced by Fusarium verticillioides (Fusarium moniliforme) and other Fusarium species which grow on maize worldwide, has been documented to cause various physiological responses in animals. Thirty-nine female Wistar rats randomly assigned to three treatment groups were used to assess the effects of dietary FB1 on nutrient utilization and growth performance. Each group received one of the three diets containing 0.20, 10.0 and 20.0 mg FB1/kg constituting diets 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The animals were weighed weekly and proximate chemical compositions of the diets and the faecal samples collected from the rats on each diet were determined using standard methods. Dietary FB1 significantly (P &lt; 0.05) influenced nutrient digestibility, feed intake, feed conversion efficiency and relative weight gain. Rats fed diets 2 and 3 had relative weight gains of 87.2 and 66.2% of the rats fed diet 1, respectively. Rats on diet 1 were about 104.5 and 160.6% more efficient in feed conversion compared to those on diets 2 and 3, respectively. Dietary exposure to FB1 at a concentration of about 10 mg/kg or higher for a period of 35 days is a potential health risk that reduced nutrient utilization by adversely affecting proper nutrient digestion, absorption and/or metabolism, resulting in poor growth rates in Wistar rats. This study revealed that adverse effects of FB1 on nutrient digestibility and utilization play a significant contributory role in poor growth performance usually associated with animals exposed to diets containing FB1.Key words: Fumonisin B1, growth performance, mycotoxin, nutrient digestibility, rats

TOXICOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF DIETARY FUMONISIN B1 ON SERUM BIOCHEMISTRY OF GROWING PIGS

Twenty-four male Large White weanling pigs of 8-9 weeks of age averaging 6.94±0.26 kg were used to evaluate the effect of dietary fumonisin B1 (FB1) on serum biochemical parameters. The animals were randomly assigned to 4 dietary treatments containing 0.2, 5.0, 10.0 and 15.0 mg FB1/kg constituting the control, diets 1, 2 and 3 respectively, in a 6-month feeding trial. Blood sample was collected from the ear vein of each animal at the end of the feeding trial for biochemical analyses. Animals fed the control diet and diet 1 had significantly (P&lt;0.05) higher serum total protein, albumin and globulin concentrations as well as the serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities and serum cholesterol concentrations than those on diets 2 and 3, while the serum triglyceride concentrations of the animals fed diets 1 and 2 were significantly (P&lt;0.05) lower than those fed diet 3 but significantly (P&lt;0.05) higher than those fed the control diet. The study revealed that chronic ingestion of dietary FB1 ≥10.0 mg kg-1 may result in significant alterations of serum biochemical parameters in growing pigs suggesting chronic gastrointestinal or hepatic disease

Rast, hematološki i biokemijski pokazatelji u kunica (Oryctolagus cuniculus) hranjenih hranom s dodatkom fumonizina

To account for the potential effects of dietary mycotoxin on growth performance, haematological and serum biochemical constituents of rabbit, 24 mature female rabbits were assigned to three diets containing 0, 5.0 and 10.0 mg fumonisin/kg constituting the control diet, and diets 1 and 2, respectively. The animals were initially maintained on these diets for 2 weeks before they were mated and subsequently for 4 weeks after mating. Dietary fumonisin significantly (P<0.05) reduced the daily dry matter intake (DMI) and final live weight. The daily DMI of the rabbits fed diets 1 and 2 were 6.32 and 50.13% respectively lower than the daily DMI of rabbits fed the control diet. The erythrocyte counts, packed cell volume and haemoglobin values significantly (P<0.05) decreased, while the leukocyte values of the pregnant rabbits increased with the increase in the dietary fumonisin concentrations. Pregnant does fed the control diet had significantly (P<0.05) higher serum total protein concentrations than those fed diets 1 and 2. The serum enzymes significantly (P<0.05) increased in rabbits fed diets 1 and 2. Diet containing 5 mg fumonisin/kg may reduce growth performance and induce negative responses in the haematology and serum biochemistry of pregnant does, which may affect the proper development of foetuses.Radi istraživanja mogućih učinaka mikotoksina u hrani na rast, hematološke i biokemijske pokazatelje u serumu, 24 odrasle kunice dobivale su hranu koja nije sadržavala fumonizin i bila je kontrolna, te hranu s oznakom 1 koja je sadržavala 5,0 i hranu s oznakom 2 koja je sadržavala 10,0 mg fumonizina/kg. Kunice su takvu hranu dobivale tijekom dva tjedna prije parenja i četiri tjedna poslije parenja. Fumonizin u hrani značajno je smanjio (P<0,05) dnevni unos suhe tvari i konačnu tjelesnu masu. Dnevni unos suhe tvari kunica hranjenih hranom 1 bio je 6,32%, a onih hranjenih hranom 2 bio je 50,13% manji nego u onih kontrolne skupine. Broj eritrocita te vrijednosti hematokrita i hemoglobina bile su značajno smanjene (P<0,05), dok se broj leukocita u gravidnih kunica povećao poslije povećanja koncentracije fumonizina u hrani. Gravidne ženke hranjene kontrolnom hranom imale su značajno veću koncentraciju (P<0,05) ukupnih serumskih proteina nego one koje su dobivale hranu 1 i 2. Aktivnost serumskih enzima značajno se (P<0,05) pojačala u kunica hranjenih hranom 1 i 2. Hrana koja je sadržavala 5 mg fumonizina/kg smanjila je sposobnost rasta i uzrokovala negativne učinke na hematološke i biokemijske pokazatelje kunica što može poremetiti pravilan razvoj plodova

TOXICOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF DIETARY FUMONISIN B1 ON SERUM BIOCHEMISTRY OF GROWING PIGS

ABSTRACT Twenty-four male Large White weanling pigs of 8-9 weeks of age averaging 6.94±0.26 kg were used to evaluate the effect of dietary fumonisin B 1 (FB 1 ) on serum biochemical parameters. The animals were randomly assigned to 4 dietary treatments containing 0.2, 5.0, 10.0 and 15.0 mg FB 1 /kg constituting the control, diets 1, 2 and 3 respectively, in a 6-month feeding trial. Blood sample was collected from the ear vein of each animal at the end of the feeding trial for biochemical analyses. Animals fed the control diet and diet 1 had significantly (P&lt;0.05) higher serum total protein, albumin and globulin concentrations as well as the serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities and serum cholesterol concentrations than those on diets 2 and 3, while the serum triglyceride concentrations of the animals fed diets 1 and 2 were significantly (P&lt;0.05) lower than those fed diet 3 but significantly (P&lt;0.05) higher than those fed the control diet. The study revealed that chronic ingestion of dietary FB 1 ≥10.0 mg kg -1 may result in significant alterations of serum biochemical parameters in growing pigs suggesting chronic gastrointestinal or hepatic disease

Empirical analysis of monetary policy channels and the Nigerian economy

Purpose: The study empirically analyses monetary policy channels and the Nigerian economy, with a view to examine the effect of monetary policy channels on the economy as well as how it determines the causal relationship between various channels of monetary policy and macroeconomic aggregates of the economy. Design/Methodology/Approach: The VAR impulse-response and variance decomposition and Granger causality tests were considered as analytical techniques of the study with time series data spanning in the period of 1985-2018. Findings: The findings through the impulse-response and variance decomposition results reveal that interest rate channel is the most effective and dominant monetary policy channel in Nigeria, while the causality tests also confirm the existence of causal relationship between the monetary policy channels and the Nigerian economy with the traditional interest rate channel Granger causes the Gross Domestic Product and the consumer price index respectively but not causally related to the country’s reserves. Practical implication: Based on the findings, the study recommends that to improve the effectiveness of monetary policy the monetary authorities in Nigeria should take cognizance of channels of monetary policy that impacted positively on the economy particularly those found to be causality related to macroeconomic indicators of the economy. Originality/Value: The study provides the missing link by examining the various channels of monetary policy that affect the Nigerian Economy using selected macroeconomic aggregates and also determines not mere relationship but causal relationship between monetary policy channels and macroeconomic aggregates with expanded scope from 1985 to 2018. This makes the study unique from others considered in the literature.peer-reviewe

Undergraduates’ Awareness of the Use of Technological Tools for Information Collection and Analysis

The study examined Undergraduates’ awareness of the use of technological tools for information collection and analysis. Specifically, the study is focused on: (i) examining how often final-year undergraduates have heard about the different methods used to collect information about a respondent or participants (ii) investigating how commonly final-year undergraduates believe technological tools are used to collect information (iii) examining how frequently final-year undergraduates have heard about technological tools used to analyze information collected. The sample of the study comprised 100 undergraduates selected using Krejcie and Morgan sample size determination table. The results revealed that the respondents are aware of the common methods (questionnaire, experiment, and interview) used to collect information, except for focused group discussion, which is occasionally used as a method to collect information. Also, it was revealed that the use of computer-assisted tools, social media, and audio-visual tools are common technological tools used to collect information, with low awareness of the use of Google Forms and email. The use of SPSS and Microsoft Excel for information analysis is common amongst undergraduates, which showed high awareness whereas, the use of ACTIVITY INSIGHT, STATA, and NVIVO is not frequent, which showed low awareness. Awareness and practical teachings be organized for undergraduates on the different methods as well as technological tools that can be to collect and analyze information respectively