Studies of Curvularia and Colletotrichum Foliar Diseases of jatropha curcas l. In Some North-West States of Nigeria

A study on foliage disease of Jatropha curcas was conducted in Semi–Arid region of North-Western States (Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara) of Nigeria to determine the incidence and severity of fungal foliar diseases. Leaves with disease symptoms were collected from the selected locations in each of the states studied and taken to pathology laboratory at Department of Crop Protection (ABU, Zaria) for identification. Curvularia and Colletotrichum species were the fungal pathogens identified and found to be responsible for leaf blight disease on the leaves of Jatropha curcas in the study area. A spore count of the isolates was made with the aid of haemocytometer and used as inocula in the pathogenicity trial in glasshouse to prove Kochs’ postulate. Results from the farmers’ field revealed that, highest incidence of Curvularia leaf blight was recorded in Tsaki of Sokoto State with 53.33% and a severity of 33.33%. Colletotrichum leaf blight on Jatropha curcas was observed to have higher incidence value of 75.67% in Janbaki of Kebbi State when compared with other States. The survey conducted showed that, Jatropha curcas planted in lowland areas tend to be more prone to the fungal leaf blight infection particularly those close to water source like streams. In the pathogenicity trial, results indicated that, there was no significant difference with respect to the methods of inoculation (smear, spray and soil inoculation). Number of days after inoculation in relation to fungal count (appearance) on leaves of the seedlings showed no statistical difference. As part of the recommendations, second field survey should be conducted in the study areas to further determine the incidence and severity of fungal leaf blight on Jatropha curcas, similarly, to enable the selection of appropriate fungicides for the control of leaf blight and pathogens responsible for the disease should be identified to species level. In vitro and In vivo evaluations of the selected fungicides should also be conducted to ascertain the most effective among them

Gynaecological malignancies in Azare, North-East Nigeria: an assessment of types, stage at presentation and treatment affordability

Background: In many parts of the world, presentations for most gynecological cancers are late; this makes treatment difficult due to the cost of chemotherapy or radiotherapy which form the bedrock for cure or palliation. Objective of this study was to determine the types, stage at diagnosis, affordability of care and outcome of treatment of gynaecological cancers in Federal Medical Centre Azare, Bauchi State, Nigeria.Methods: All cases of gynaecological cancers seen over a ten-year period, from 1st January, 2003 to 31st December, 2012 were reviewed retrospectively. The number of all gynaecological cases seen during the period was also extracted.Results: Gynaecological cancer cases accounted for 11.84 % of 8,642 gynaecological cases seen during the period of study.  The mean age and parity of the women were 42±5 SD years and 5±1 SD respectively. Cervical cancer accounted for 55 %, ovarian cancer 30%, endometrial cancer 6%, choriocarcinoma 5%, secondaries/ cancers of undetermined origin were 4%.  Ninety-two percent presented with advanced stage of diseases. Only 25.3% could afford the cost of full treatment, and 8.4% attained cure of their disease. The modalities of treatment available were surgery and chemotherapy.Conclusions: Cervical and Ovarian Cancers remain the leading types of gynaecological cancers in our environment and late presentations are frequent occurrence. Late presentation and unaffordability of treatments are major challenges associated with the management of these patients. Early presentation and funding mechanisms for gynaecological cancers are keys to improved cure rate and reduced mortality

Simulation of Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) for Voltage Profile Improvement

Voltage profile improvement is a very important aspect of power quality and system stability. Flexible A.C Transmission System (FACTS) devices have been developed to provide system stability thereby enhancing controllability and increasing the power transfer capability. Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) is a member of FACTS devices used for voltage profile improvement as well as power quality improvement of the net system. In this paper, a STATCOM is simulated in Simpower Simulink of MATLAB environment for voltage regulation in a nominal π medium transmission line. The simulation results show that a STATCOM without droop is a perfect voltage regulator and follows exactly the reference voltage. When the results are compared to one with droop regulator, it was found that the sooner performs better than the later. However, the droop extends the linear operating range of the STATCOM. Keywords—STATCOM, FACTS, power quality, voltage regulation, gri

An Impact Assessment of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) On Employees’ Productivity in Adamawa State, Nigeria

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Assessment of Noise Generated By Operations within the Gunduwawa Quarry in Kano State, Nigeria

Noise levels in a well known quarry located in Gunduwawa village in Gezawa Local GovernmentArea of Kano State was studied on both working days and non-working days to ascertain theambient noise levels. Specialized Integrating Average Sound Level Meter was used for the mea-surement. The impact of noise through the action of vibration was conducted to ascertain theintegrity of structures 300 m and 600 m respectively away from the quarry site. Results obtainedshowed that the average morning, afternoon and evening noise levels on Sundays, a typical restday were 37.83, 45.5 and 41.5 dB(A) respectively. While the corresponding values for successivesix working days were 96, 101.4 and 83.6 dB(A) respectively. At break time during the workingdays the noise level had an average value of 87.16 dB(A). The structural integrity of buildingsrecorded values ranging from 8 to 36 KPa. The ones with high values were constructed by theconstruction companies with concrete and sandcrete blocks with good foundation. On the otherhand, the local buildings werebuilt with mud and without good foundations. They were found to begenerally weak and had cracked, with vey low lifespan. It was concluded that the villagers livingwithin 600m from the quarry site were exposed to excessive and uninterrupted noise which hasadverse eect on their health conditions.Keywords: buildings, cracks, decibel, environment and nois

McDonald Generalized Power Weibull Distribution: Properties, and Applications

This research introduces a novel six-parameter model called the McDonald Generalized Power Weibull distribution. The model contains several sub-models that prove highly valuable in modeling real-life scenarios, including the McDonald Weibull, McDonald exponential, McDonald Nadarajah-Haghighi, beta generalized power Weibull distribution, and Kumaraswamy generalized power distributions, among others. The proposed model demonstrates suitability in modeling survival/reliability data, accommodating various hazard failure rates such as increasing, decreasing, unimodal (upside-down bathtub), modified bathtub, and reversed J-shape. Various properties of the new model are investigated, including moments, quantiles, incomplete moments, moment-generating functions, and order statistics. The maximum likelihood estimation method is employed to estimate the model parameters. The study concludes by illustrating the flexibility of the proposed model through the use of lifetime data to demonstrate its applicability

Investigation on the Effects of Addition of Binder and Particle Size on the High Calorific Value of Solid Biofuel Briquettes

The effects of biomass particle size and addition of binder on the high calorific values (HCVs) of five (5) selected biomass briquettes is studied. Analyses of the experimental results show that finely grinded particles (about 1.75mm and 2.00mm) had low calorific values as the grinding resulted in a loss of some heat and made the sample vulnerable to air oxidation.Addition of gum Arabic binder greatly inceases the high calorific value of all samples followed by starch and top-glue binder tend to decerease the HCVs for the range of biomass tested in the order 25.3201> 23.2985>20.0023 respectively.Thus indicating gum Arabic and starch improves the caloric value while top glue and polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) decreases the calorific value of the samples. An extensive investigation on the PVC dissolved in Toluene compound(organic) as chemical binder was observed to decrease the calorific values of all the briquette samples except those made of coconut shell and rice husk. Keywords: Biomass, Biofuel, Binder, Briquette, High heating valu

Measurement of Radon Concentration in Water Sources around Ririwai Artisanal Tin Mine Kano State, Nigeria

In this work liquid scintillation analysis was used to measure the concentration of 222Rn in three sources of water around Ririwai Artisanal Tin mine. The annual effective dose due to 222Rn concentration in surface water source and Domestic water were also determined. The result shows that the tailing bearing water has the highest 222Rn concentration of 3.04±0.14 Bq/L followed by surface water source with 222Rn concentration of 2.51±0.13 Bq/L while the Domestic water has the lowest 222Rn concentration of 2.23±0.11 Bq/L. The results also indicated that the annual effective dose due to the 222Rn concentration is higher in surface water with 13.05±0.55 mSv/year than in Domestic water with 11.11 ± 0.44mSv/year. The mean 222Rn concentration obtained in this work is lower than 10.00Bq/L recommended by WHO and UNSCEAR. Also in this study the annual effective dose obtained is lower than the maximum permissible of 0.1mSv/year recommended by UNSCEAR. Keywords: Radionuclide, activity concentration and annual effective dos

Structural Integrity of A 2-Storey Building Using None Destructive Testing Method

The paper assessed the condition of the existing two-storey building of six classrooms in Government Girls Day Secondary School, Gumel, Jigawa State. The method of Non Destructive Testing (NDT) using a rebound hammer was adopted. Five structural elements(slabs, beams, columns, staircases and foundations) were assessed. The cumulative average strength of the five structural elements was 32.7 RN. Results revealed that despite signs of physical defects on the building such as cracks, exposed column reinforcement bars, etc. it was still considered safe for use. The study recommended that to prevent the building from deteriorating further, periodic structural assessment and good maintenance practice should be carried out. This is to prolong the life span of the building and prevent any threat to the building users and third parties. Keywords: Non-destructive test, Rebound hammer, structural integrity, structural component