First report of polymelia and a rudimentary wing in a Nigerian Nera black chicken

A case of polymelia with a rudimentary wing is described in an eight-week-old Nera black chicken (Gallus domesticus). It is a rare disorder with chromosomal aberrations, which are associated with congenital limb malformations. The condition was observed during routine physical examination of a flock of 2000 poultry birds in the month of February 2008 in Ibadan, Nigeria. After physical examination, the bird was found to have two extra well-developed legs, which were shorter than the normal legs. These extra legs were also found to be non-functional. Similarly, a rudimentary wing, which was highly vestigial, was found on the left lateral side of the bird very close to the cloaca. The bird died at the age of eight weeks. This is the first reported case of polymelia with a rudimentary wing in a domestic chicken in Nigeria

The effects of prolonged oral administration of the disinfectant calcium hypochlorite in Nigerian commercial cockerels

This study was designed to investigate the effects of prolonged oral administration of calcium hypochlorite in the drinking water of commercial cockerels. It was carried out in order to ascertain probable toxicity associated with prolonged exposure to calcium hypochlorite. Thirty-two healthy birds were used; they were grouped into four groups of eight. Group 1, which served as the control, received 10 mL/kg body weight of physiological saline. Groups 2, 3 and 4 received 0.0375 g, 0.375 g and 0.75 g of calcium hypochlorite per 10 litres of drinking water for six weeks respectively. Six weeks after the administration of calcium hypochlorite, blood was collected from the jugular vein to assess liver function, lipid profiles and for markers of oxidative stress. The results revealed a significant (p < 0.05) increase in alanine aminotransferase activity in a dose-dependent manner when compared with the control. Also, there was a significant (p < 0.05) increase in aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase activity. Similarly, there was a significant (p < 0.05) increase in total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein levels compared with the control. There was a significant increase in malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide generation with a concomitant significant (p < 0.05) decrease in serum glutathione level in a dose-dependent manner when compared with the control. In this study, calcium hypochloriteinduced hepatic damage via oxidative stress and decrease in antioxidant defense system was found. Therefore, prolonged exposure of chickens to calcium hypochlorite is potentially harmful

Epidemiology of complications of male circumcision in Ibadan, Nigeria

BACKGROUND: The number of infants managed for neonatal circumcision injuries in our unit has been on the increase over the past 16 years. In our search for the sources and reasons for these injuries, we were unable to identify any previous studies of circumcision injuries from our environment. We therefore decided to carry out this study in order to shed some light on this growing problem. METHODS: The patients were made up of 370 consecutive consented children attending our infant welfare clinic for immunization over a period of 3 months. Information on their demographic data, their age at circumcision, where, why and who circumcised them was obtained from their mothers. They were clinically examined for the presence and type of complications of circumcision. RESULTS: Our circumcision rate was 87%. Neonatal circumcision had been performed in 270 (83.9%) of the children. Two hundred and fifty nine (80.7%) were performed in hospitals. The operation was done by nurses in 180 (55.9%), doctors in 113 (35.1%) and by the traditional circumcisionist in 29 (9%) of the children. Complications of circumcision occurred in 65 [20.2%] of the children. Of those who sustained these complications, 35 (53.8%) had redundant foreskin, 16 (24.6%) sustained excessive loss of foreskin, 11 (16.9%) had skin bridges, 2 (3.1%) sustained amputation of the glans penis and 1 (1.5%) had a buried penis. One of the two children who had amputation of the glans also had severe hemorrhage and was transfused. Even though the complications tended to be more likely with nurses than with doctors or traditional circumcisionists, this did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.051). CONCLUSION: We have a very high rate of complications of circumcision of 20.2%. We suggest that training workshops should be organized to adequately retrain all practitioners of circumcision on the safe methods available

Comparative evaluation of processes for production of soybean meal for poultry feed in Nigeria Evaluación comparativa de procesos para la producción de harina de soya para la alimentación de pollos en Nigeria

This work examined and compared three processes for production of low trypsin inhibitor soybean meal. Soybean flour was subjected to roasting, autoclaving and steaming to denature trypsin inhibitors. Roasting was done at 120, 130, 135 and 140 ºC for 5, 7, 8 and 9 minutes, respectively. Autoclaving was carried out at 121ºC, 15psig for 20, 30, 40 and 50 minutes. Steaming was carried out at 105 ºC for 10, 12, 15 and 18 minutes. Defatting of the samples was done and the activity of trypsin inhibitor was investigated. Proximate analysis and quality tests was carried out to ascertain quality of the heat treated soybean meals. Trypsin inhibitor in the soybean meals from the three heat treatment processes ranged from 1.20 to 3.54mg/g while that of raw sample was 6.01mg/g. Percentage crude protein in all the heat treated samples ranged from 39.38 to 40.58 % while that of raw sample was 44.60 %. Urease index ranged from 0.11 to 2.07 % for all heat treated samples while it was 2.11 % for the raw samples. % KOH protein solubility in Soybean meal from the three processes ranged from 45.2 to 73.1 % while that of the raw sample was 49.1%. The results were statistically significant at p>0.05. At significance level of p>0.05 it was established that local soybeans can be processed with adequate heat to obtain low activity soybean meal with good nutrient standard. The steaming process operated at 105 ºC for 18 minutes gave the best overall results with trypsin inhibitor activity of 1.20 mg/g

Evaluation of Customer service and Retention; A Comparative Analysis of Telecommunication Service Providers

For a product to receive complete loyalty depends not only on the quality of the product but also on the satisfaction derived from such product. All three, loyalty, quality and satisfaction are significant factors that show how effective the customer service of an organization is. When customer service is effective then customer retention/ retention of product is considered. This study was carried out to investigate on the effectiveness of customer service in the retention of GSM SIM packs using a comparative analysis. Data were collected through the use of questionnaire administered to a determined sample size of users of the three major GSM service providers. Data were analyzed and the four hypotheses were tested using correlation and ANOVA. This study shows that with effective customer service, customer loyalty and customer satisfaction and customer retention can be achieved. Though it is observed that to achieve the afore-mentioned factors, concepts such as customer expectation, customer-focus and service quality should be regarded with utmost importance

Talent Retention and Organizational Performance: A Competitive Positioning in Nigerian Banking Sector

The study examined how best an organization can retain and manage talented employees to ensure survival and growth in the banking industry. The descriptive research design was adopted. The survey sample size was one hundred and eighty five (185) and was analysed as a whole. Self-administered questionnaire was adopted in order to obtain adequate and valid data for the study and the responses obtained were subjected to some analyses with the use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) AMOS 21, with the adoption of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to obtain correlation between observed variables and also regression between the dependent and independent constructs of the study. However, the results from the survey indicate that pay has positive significant implications on employees’ commitment and involvement. This suggests that decision makers should incorporate these variables (salary, bonus, incentives, reward, and profit sharing) into their employment relation strategies and policies which ultimately lead to increase the level of commitment and involvement among the employees

Primary osteogenic sarcoma of the breast

BACKGROUND: Primary extra-osseous osteogenic sarcomas have been reported in many tissues of the body but their occurrence in the breast is extremely rare. It can arise as a result of osseous metaplasia in a pre-existing benign or malignant neoplasm of the breast or as non-phylloides sarcoma from the soft tissue of a previously normal breast. CASE PRESENTATION: A 40 year-old Nigerian woman was clinically diagnosed to have carcinoma of the left breast. The histology report of core-needle biopsy of the mass showed a malignant neoplasm comprising islands of chondroblastic and osteoblastic stromal cells. This report changed the diagnosis from carcinoma to osteogenic sarcoma of the breast. She had a left modified radical mastectomy, however there was significant post surgery skin deficit. A latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flap was used to cover the anterior chest wall defect. Sections from the mastectomy specimen confirmed the diagnosis of osteogenic sarcoma. She died six months after mastectomy. CONCLUSION: A diagnosis of osteogenic sarcoma of the breast was made based on histology report and after excluding an osteogenic sarcoma arising from underlying ribs and sternum. This is the second documented case of primary osteogenic sarcoma of the breast coming from Nigeri

An integrated dataset on organisational retention attributes and commitment of selected ICT and accounting firms

The articlepresentedanintegrateddataonorganisationalreten- tion strategiesandcommitmentofselectedICTandAccounting firms inNigeria.Thestudyadoptedaquantitativeapproachwitha surveyresearchdesigntoestablishthemajordeterminantsof employeeretentionstrategies.Thepopulationofthisstudyinclu- ded staffandmanagementoftheselected firms. Datawasanalysed with theuseofstructuralequationmodellingandthe field dataset is madewidelyaccessibletoenablecriticaloramorecompre- hensiveinvestigation.The findings identified criticalattraction factors fortheretentionofsampled firms. Itwasrecommended that ICT firms willneedtoadoptconsistentrangeofstrategiesto attract andretainpeoplewiththerightICTskills,intherightplace and attherighttime

Data regarding talent management practices and innovation performance of academic staffina technology-drive nprivate university

The articlepresentedanintegrateddataontalentmanagement practices andinnovationperformanceofacademicstaffina technology-drivenprivateuniversityinNigeria.Thestudyadopted a quantitativeapproachwithasurveyresearchdesigntoestablish the majordeterminantsoftalentmanagementpractices.The population ofthisstudyincludedacademicstaffandtheuseof questionnairewasadoptedtoelicitfromthestudypopulation. Data wasanalysedwiththeuseofstructuralequationmodelling and the field datasetismadewidelyaccessibletoenablecriticalor a morecomprehensiveinvestigation.The findings identified talent development andretentionstrategiesaspredictorsforfacilitating innovationperformanceinthesampleUniversity.Itwasrecom- mended thatmanagementofthesampleduniversitywillcon- sistentlyneedtoadoptreliablerangeofstrategiestoattractand retain peopleforexcellenceperformanc

Haematology and Erythrocyte Osmotic Fragility Indices in Domestic Chicken Following Exposure to a Polyvalent Iodophorous Disinfectant

The effect of prolonged use of Iodosteryl, a polyvalent iodophorous compound, as water disinfectant, on the hematology and erythrocyte osmotic fragility of the domestic chicken was investigated. Twenty eight adult male domestic chickens of the Nera black strain were divided into four groups of seven birds per group. Birds in groups B-D were given potable water containing 1 ml, 2 ml and 4 ml/l Iodosteryl respectively for six weeks. Group A served as the control. Blood samples were collected from each bird after six weeks and analyzed immediately. No significant changes were observed in the packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), platelet total and differential leucocytes values. However, red blood cells (RBC) were slightly lower while erythrocyte osmotic fragility and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was higher in those birds exposed to Iodosteryl compared with control. This study confirms that prolonged use of Iodosteryl is stressful and may lead to intravascular haemaolysis as indicated by the higher erythrocyte fragility and ESR values, respectively. The damage observed may be due to peroxidation of erythrocyte membrane lipids, proteins or a generation of free radicals induced by iodine