Green Pesticides in Nigeria:An Overview

With Nigeria’s burgeoning population, there is an ever-increasing need to step-up agricultural productivity. There has been an overzealous application of scientific techniques, such as chemical pesticides and herbicides, bringing its own set of problems, ranging from pollution of water resources to destruction of wildlife. In a bid to maximize crop yield from available arable land, many old, non-patented, more toxic, environmentally persistent and inexpensive pesticides are used extensively in Nigeria. The fate of these pesticides has become a source of concern particularly in the developing world where they are used indiscriminately.  Protecting the environment is crucial in improving the lives of poor people in developing countries, because they pay a higher price when the environment turns against them. This paper examines first, the relationship between food security, agrochemicals and the environment and highlights some strategies for sustainable use of plant protection products. It further highlights the challenges hampering the use of green pesticides in Nigeria. Keywords: agrochemicals, food security, green pesticides, sustainabilit

Agile optical confocal microscopy instrument architectures for high flexibility imaging

Ideally, a no-moving parts fast and agile scanning confocal microscope system is required that can produce true real-time 3-D scans with precision and repeatability. In this paper, such agile optical confocal microsopy designs are proposed that enable high speed precise non-invasive 3-D imaging. These compact confocal microscopes can provide real-time pin-point focussed imaging to enable confocal slices in-vivo, thus greatly reducing motion artifacts. These microscopes can be modified into interferometric microscopes for phase contrast imaging. The proposed microscopes can also greatly improve confocal fluorescence imaging as needed for cancer detection. An ultracompact confocal probe tip connected to a single ultra-thin fiber is another design option allowing flexibility for usage in tight cavities

The principle of double jeopardy versus the principle of condonation: revisiting the Supreme Court’s decision in Nigerian Army v Aminun Kano

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) guarantees the rights of every person in Nigeria, including persons accused of the commission of any crime. These rights are classified as ‘fundamental rights’, and they include: the right not to be subjected to double trial for the same offence, popularly referred to as right against double jeopardy2 and the right not to be tried for an offence for which one has been pardoned.3 These two rights formed the bedrock of the decision of the Supreme Court in Nigerian Army v Aminun Kano.4 This paper critically examines and reviews the decision and observed that had the Supreme Court considered the meaning of double jeopardy under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on the one hand, and condonation and pardon on the other, the court would have discovered that these triumvirate concepts do not exactly mean the same thing and consequently may have varied legal outcomes when applied, and as such, the court may have provided a different reason for their judgment in the case. This paper finds that since the principle of the right against double jeopardy requires a judicial trial and a judgment to inure, while pardon and condonation is wholly administrative action, the principle of double jeopardy should never have been invoked in the case under review because there was no prior judicial decision that exculpated or incriminated the respondent. The paper recommends that in future, if the Supreme Court is faced with the same scenario, it should make a clear distinction between the principles of right against double jeopardy and pardon and condonation so as to clarify the jurisprudential perspectives of these principles.Keywords: Judicial, Double Jeopardy, Condonation, Pardon, Court Martial, Fundamental Rights, Constitutio

Effects of Load Ratio Variation on the Safety of Timber Concrete Composite Floor

This paper presents the structural reliability appraisal of timber concrete composite floor designed in line with Eurocode 5 (2004) and Eurocode 2, (2004). Limit state expressions for timber concrete composite floor subdued to tension, bending, tension and bending, shear and compression were generated and their entailed reliability degrees were assessed. The basic variables associated with the design are considered to be random variables with their properties espoused from the previous studies. Reliability analysis was performed using reliability mothed i.e. first order reliability method (FORM) owing to assess the safety levels of the composite floor structural elements by considering six different modes of failure. The analysis comprised of different selected species of softwood, hard wood and glue laminated timber whose strength class were obtained from BS EN 338, 2008 and concrete of strength class C30 from Eurocode 2. The results obtained disclosed that safety indices decrease as the load ratio steps up that led to cut down of the strength. It was detected that timber with strength classes D70, D50 and C50 are safe against all different failure modes looked at except C50 and D50 against shear failure at load ratio of 1, 1.5 and 2. It was conclude timber of strength classes D70, D50 and C50 would reliable for the construction of composite floor i.e. timber-concrete floor

Agile ultrasound-modulated optical tomography techniques using smart fiber optics

For the first time, proposed is an ultracompact biomedical optical instrument for ultrasound tagged optical tomography that can simultaneously realize an agile ultrasonic probe and an agile optical probe, all in the same fiber-optic package, allowing close proximity in-vivo internal/intracavity imaging. In addition, the same dual probe can be used for external in-vivo imaging of several centimeters thick biological sample. The ultrasound and optical probe utilize the multiwavelength nature of light to provide a compact and fast mechanism to distribute and steer probing beams, thereby reducing motion artifacts and improving imaging contrast detection sensitivity

Programmable spectral interferometric microscopy

A programmable optical sensor is proposed based on spectrally programmable heterodyne optical interferometric confocal microscopy implemented via an ultrastable in-line acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) based interferometer using double anisotropic acousto-optic Bragg diffraction. The design uses a tunable laser as the light source and anisotropic diffractions in an AOTF to generate two near-collinear orthogonal linear polarization and slightly displaced beams that both pass via the test sample to deliver highly sensitive sample birefringence or material optical retardation measurements. A spherical lens is used to form focused spots for high resolution confocal spatial sampling of the test object. Thus the instrument also forms a classic interferometric confocal microscope via the use of single mode fiber optics for the receive light. The laser and AOTF tuning allows birefringence measurements taken at different wavelengths, one at a time with minimal interwavelength crosstalk. Experimental demonstration of the instrument is achieved using a 1550nm center 100nm band tunable laser and variable birefringence liquid crystal and fixed retardance birefringent materials, all showing accurate retardation measurements to within a 0.5° rf phase accuracy. The instrument shows a fiber-in to fiber-out loss of 8.5dB. An alternate design via a transmissive beam generation design provides collinear co-located beams on the sample plane for superaccurate measurements

Carcass characteristics and cost benefits of two broiler strains as affected by duration of feed withdrawal at finisher phase

The present study was undertaken to examine the before and post-slaughter characteristics of two broiler strains under feed withdrawal regime during the hot weather conditions. 180 day-old broiler chicks comprising 90 chicks each of Arbor Acre and Ross 308 were procured from reputable hatchery, and were raised for four weeks before being distributed randomly to three groups of feed withdrawal regime. The treatments are: T1= ad libitum (control), T2= 8-12noon feeding (morning) and T3= 12noon-4pm feeding (afternoon). Each treatment was replicated thrice with 10 birds per replicate. At 49th day, three birds per treatment were randomly taken after starving them overnight for carcass evaluation. Analysed data showed that there was no significant effect of strain on live weight, carcass and non-carcass traits regardless of feed restriction employed. But Arbor Acre recorded higher net profit than Ross308 in terms of cost of production on strain basis. With regard to duration of feed withdrawal, dressed weight, eviscerated weight, carcass weight and back weight were significantly affected by the feeding regime imposed on the birds. Birds on ad libitum and afternoon feeding groups had higher and superior mean values to morning group. This implies that feeding birds in the afternoon under favourable conditions and improved management practices is beneficial and economically viable and profitable

Broadcast spawning coral <i>Mussismilia hispida</i> can vertically transfer its associated bacterial core

The hologenome theory of evolution (HTE), which is under fierce debate, presupposes that parts of the microbiome are transmitted from one generation to the next [vertical transmission (VT)], which may also influence the evolution of the holobiont. Even though bacteria have previously been described in early life stages of corals, these early life stages (larvae) could have been inoculated in the water and not inside the parental colony (through gametes) carrying the parental microbiome. How Symbiodinium is transmitted to offspring is also not clear, as only one study has described this mechanism in spawners. All other studies refer to incubators. To explore the VT hypothesis and the key components being transferred, colonies of the broadcast spawner species Mussismilia hispida were kept in nurseries until spawning. Gamete bundles, larvae and adult corals were analyzed to identify their associated microbiota with respect to composition and location. Symbiodinium and bacteria were detected by sequencing in gametes and coral planula larvae. However, no cells were detected using microscopy at the gamete stage, which could be related to the absence of those cells inside the oocytes/dispersed in the mucus or to a low resolution of our approach. A preliminary survey of Symbiodinium diversity indicated that parental colonies harbored Symbiodinium clades B, C and G, whereas only clade B was found in oocytes and planula larvae [5 days after fertilization (a.f.)]. The core bacterial populations found in the bundles, planula larvae and parental colonies were identified as members of the genera Burkholderia, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Ralstonia, Inquilinus and Bacillus, suggesting that these populations could be vertically transferred through the mucus. The collective data suggest that spawner corals, such as M. hispida, can transmit Symbiodinium cells and the bacterial core to their offspring by a coral gamete (and that this gamete, with its bacterial load, is released into the water), supporting the HTE. However, more data are required to indicate the stability of the transmitted populations to indicate whether the holobiont can be considered a unit of natural selection or a symbiotic assemblage of independently evolving organisms

Expansion of Agriculture in Northern Cold-Climate Regions: A Cross-Sectoral Perspective on Opportunities and Challenges

Agriculture in the boreal and Arctic regions is perceived as marginal, low intensity and inadequate to satisfy the needs of local communities, but another perspective is that northern agriculture has untapped potential to increase the local supply of food and even contribute to the global food system. Policies across northern jurisdictions target the expansion and intensification of agriculture, contextualized for the diverse social settings and market foci in the north. However, the rapid pace of climate change means that traditional methods of adapting cropping systems and developing infrastructure and regulations for this region cannot keep up with climate change impacts. Moreover, the anticipated conversion of northern cold-climate natural lands to agriculture risks a loss of up to 76% of the carbon stored in vegetation and soils, leading to further environmental impacts. The sustainable development of northern agriculture requires local solutions supported by locally relevant policies. There is an obvious need for the rapid development of a transdisciplinary, cross-jurisdictional, long-term knowledge development, and dissemination program to best serve food needs and an agricultural economy in the boreal and Arctic regions while minimizing the risks to global climate, northern ecosystems and communities

Agile optical confocal microscopy instrument architectures for high flexibility imaging

Ideally, a no-moving parts fast and agile scanning confocal microscope system is required that can produce true real-time 3-D scans with precision and repeatability. In this paper, such agile optical confocal microsopy designs are proposed that enable high speed precise non-invasive 3-D imaging. These compact confocal microscopes can provide real-time pin-point focussed imaging to enable confocal slices in-vivo, thus greatly reducing motion artifacts. These microscopes can be modified into interferometric microscopes for phase contrast imaging. The proposed microscopes can also greatly improve confocal fluorescence imaging as needed for cancer detection. An ultracompact confocal probe tip connected to a single ultra-thin fiber is another design option allowing flexibility for usage in tight cavities