Assessment of Growth Support Potentials of Different Substrates for the Cultivation of Volvoriella Volvaceae

Four substrates (banana leaves, sawdust, palm trunk fibre and coconut coir) were screened for the cultivation of straw mushroom (Volvoriella volvaceae). Palm trunk fibre and coconut coir substrates did not support spawning and fruit body production of the test mushroom. Proximate analyses of the composted and spent substrates revealed marked reduction in crude fibre and increase in the protein content of the spent substrates. Treatment of the substrates with CaCO3 and rice bran increased the alkalinity of the banana and sawdust substrates. On banana leaves, spawn run took 21 days while sawdust substrate was totally colonized in 28 days. Pinheads appeared three days after transfer of the fully colonized substrates to the cropping room. Thirty one (31) flushes (each spanned 7 days) were recorded in 210 days. However, sawdust did not support the production of fruit bodies beyond the 24th flush which corresponded to day 161 from the initiation of pinheads. The biological efficiency was 19.93% for banana leaves and 10.05% for sawdust. The total fresh weight of fruit bodies produced from banana leaves and sawdust were 21.62kg and 10.91kg respectively. The mean length of stipe, area of pileus, fresh and dry weights of V. volvaceae cultivated on banana leaves substrate doubled those produced on sawdust substrate and were significantly different at P<0.05 Key words: Sawdust, banana leaves, nutrient composition, pH, Volvoriella volvaceae

In-Vitro Effect of some Commonly Found Botanicals on the Growth and Sporulation of Choanephora Cucurbitarum (Berkeley and Ravenel)

A soft rot infection of Abelmoschus esculentus, Amaranthus hybridus and Vigna unguiculata was observed in home gardens and Government farms in the 2010 cropping season. This disease caused remarkable yield loss in these crops. Due to residual effects of synthetic chemical control, it became necessary to test the potency of some botanicals on the growth and  sporulation of the fungus as a control measure.  The  procedures involved isolation and identification of the fungus and potency trials of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the  botanicals on the assay fungus. The isolated fungus was confirmed  as Choanephora cucurbitarum. The extracts were obtained from Zingiber officinale Roscoe, Gmelina arborea Roxb, Chromolaena odorata Linnaeus and Azadirachta indica A. Juss. Different concentrations of the extracts (0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50%) were used. With ethanol extract, there was complete inhibition of growth by all plant extracts and at all concentrations;  and a little growth in aqueous extracts with Azadirachta indica showing the highest inhibitory effect, while C. odorata showed the lowest inhibitory effect on the first day, (A. indica, 0.1 ± 0.0 ≥ G. arborea, 0.1 ± 0.0 ˃ Z. officinale, 0.2 ± 0.0 ˃ C. odorata, 0.3 ± 0.0). On the last day, the level of inhibition was as follows A. indica, 0.4 ± 0.0 ˃ G. arborea, 0.6 ± 0.0 ˃ Z. officinale, 0.7 ± 0.0 ≥ C. odorata 0.7 ± 0.0. The inhibitory effect increased with increase in the percentage concentration of the extracts. The  potency  was also due in part to the phytochemical constituents of the plant extracts which was observed from the screening test that Saponins, Tannins, Alkaloids, Cardiac glycosides, Flavonoids, Reducing Compounds, Polyphenol, Phlobatannins, Anthraquinones and Hydroxymethyl anthraquinones were either present or absent. Ke words: Botanicals, Cross-River, Phytochemicals, Extract, Susceptibility.

Growth Influence of Some Additives on the Mycelial Growth and Fruit Body Development of Pleurotus Ostreatus (Jacq. Et. Fr.) Kummer

Studies were conducted to establish the response of a wood – rotting fungus, Pleurotus ostreatus to different growth substrates (sawdust (SD), dry banana leaves (BL) and a combination of both) and additives [groundnut cake (GC) and palm kernel cake (PKC)]. Spawning (Mycelia running rate) and fruit body development (area of pileus, length of stipe and fresh weight) were assessed. Initiation of mycelial growth took place in both treated and untreated substrate samples within 7 days post inoculation (dpi). Spawn run was delayed in SD substrates treated to PKC beyond 2% and in BL substrates treated with 4% PKC and above. In BL+SD, spawn run was delayed at all levels of PKC treatments. Spawn run in the BL, BL+SD and SD controls were completed in 21, 28 and 35 days respectively, following inoculation. Primordia production occurred in all the samples within 7 days of transfer of bags to the cropping room. Treatment of substrates with additives (GC and PKC) negatively affected the performance of the substrates. Addition of 4% of the additives on BL and BL+SD substrates produced mushrooms with smaller pileus size with the smallest (13.08cm2) observed on 4% PKC-treated BL substrates. Similar trends were observed in length of stipe, fresh weight and biological efficiency of the mushroom. All substrates evaluated supported production of fruit bodies for 70 days making a total of 14 flushes from the inception of cropping. Key words: Additives, Mycelial growth, fruit body production, Pleurotus ostreatus

Modelling and Forecasting of Residential Electricity Consumption in Nigeria Using Multiple Linear Regression Model and Quadratic Regression Model with Interactions

In this paper statistical analysis of residential electricity demand in Nigeria is presented. Multiple linear regression model and quadratic regression model with interactions are applied to estimate residential electricity consumption and to forecast long-term residential electricity demand in Nigeria. Population and temperature are used as explanatory variables. The results show the Quadratic Regression with interaction has RMSE of 52.77 and r-square value of 0.9389 which  indicates that 93.89% of the variation in residential electricity consumption is explained by the model. On the other hand , the multiple linear regression model has RMSE of 69.97 and r-square value of 0.873 which  indicates that  87.3%  of the variation in residential electricity consumption is explained by the model. Essentially,  the quadratic regression model with interaction with lower RMSE and  higher r-square value is selected and then used to forecast the residential electricity demand in Nigeria from 2015 to 2029. From the results, the Residential Electricity Consumption  in Nigeria will reach 6521.09 MW/h in the year 2029. Furthermore, the results show that population has a positive sign and it is significant in the short run and in the long run forecasting. On the other hand, the result also revealed insignificant moderately weak relationship between residential electricity consumption and temperature

The global atmospheric electrical circuit and climate

Evidence is emerging for physical links among clouds, global temperatures, the global atmospheric electrical circuit and cosmic ray ionisation. The global circuit extends throughout the atmosphere from the planetary surface to the lower layers of the ionosphere. Cosmic rays are the principal source of atmospheric ions away from the continental boundary layer: the ions formed permit a vertical conduction current to flow in the fair weather part of the global circuit. Through the (inverse) solar modulation of cosmic rays, the resulting columnar ionisation changes may allow the global circuit to convey a solar influence to meteorological phenomena of the lower atmosphere. Electrical effects on non-thunderstorm clouds have been proposed to occur via the ion-assisted formation of ultra-fine aerosol, which can grow to sizes able to act as cloud condensation nuclei, or through the increased ice nucleation capability of charged aerosols. Even small atmospheric electrical modulations on the aerosol size distribution can affect cloud properties and modify the radiative balance of the atmosphere, through changes communicated globally by the atmospheric electrical circuit. Despite a long history of work in related areas of geophysics, the direct and inverse relationships between the global circuit and global climate remain largely quantitatively unexplored. From reviewing atmospheric electrical measurements made over two centuries and possible paleoclimate proxies, global atmospheric electrical circuit variability should be expected on many timescale

Lightning as a space-weather hazard: UK thunderstorm activity modulated by the passage of the heliospheric current sheet

Lightning flash rates, RL, are modulated by corotating interaction regions (CIRs) and the polarity of the heliospheric magnetic field (HMF) in near-Earth space. As the HMF polarity reverses at the heliospheric current sheet (HCS), typically within a CIR, these phenomena are likely related. In this study, RL is found to be significantly enhanced at the HCS and at 27 days prior/after. The strength of the enhancement depends on the polarity of the HMF reversal at the HCS. Near-Earth solar and galactic energetic particle fluxes are also ordered by HMF polarity, though the variations qualitatively differ from RL, with the main increase occurring prior to the HCS crossing. Thus, the CIR effect on lightning is either the result of compression/amplification of the HMF (and its subsequent interaction with the terrestrial system) or that energetic particle preconditioning of the Earth system prior to the HMF polarity change is central to solar wind lightning coupling mechanism

Infant Rule Learning: Advantage Language, or Advantage Speech?

<div><p>Infants appear to learn abstract rule-like regularities (e.g., <em>la la da</em> follows an AAB pattern) more easily from speech than from a variety of other auditory and visual stimuli (Marcus et al., 2007). We test if that facilitation reflects a specialization to learn from speech alone, or from modality-independent communicative stimuli more generally, by measuring 7.5-month-old infants’ ability to learn abstract rules from sign language-like gestures. Whereas infants appear to easily learn many different rules from speech, we found that with sign-like stimuli, and under circumstances comparable to those of Marcus et al. (1999), hearing infants were able to learn an ABB rule, but not an AAB rule. This is consistent with results of studies that demonstrate lower levels of infant rule learning from a variety of other non-speech stimuli, and we discuss implications for accounts of speech-facilitation.</p> </div

Prisoners’ Families’ Research: Developments, Debates and Directions

After many years of relative obscurity, research on prisoners’ families has gained significant momentum. It has expanded from case-oriented descriptive analyses of family experiences to longitudinal studies of child and family development and even macro analyses of the effects on communities in societies of mass incarceration. Now the field engages multi-disciplinary and international interest although it arguably still remains on the periphery of mainstream criminological, psychological and sociological research agendas. This chapter discusses developments in prisoners’ families’ research and its positioning in academia and practice. It does not aim to provide an all-encompassing review of the literature rather it will offer some reflections on how and why the field has developed as it has and on its future directions. The chapter is divided into three parts. The first discusses reasons for the historically small body of research on prisoners’ families and for the growth in research interest over the past two decades. The second analyses patterns and shifts in the focus of research studies and considers how the field has been shaped by intersecting disciplinary interests of psychology, sociology, criminology and socio-legal studies. The final part reflects on substantive and ethical issues that are likely to shape the direction of prisoners’ families’ research in the future

Polioencefalomalacia experimental induzida por amprólio em bovinos

Para estabelecer um modelo experimental para o estudo da etiologia, patologia e patogênese da polioencefalomalacia (PEM) em bovinos, a condição foi induzida em quatro novilhos pela administração oral de amprólio nas doses diárias de 500 e 350mg/kg de peso vivo, respectivamente por 22 e 26-28 dias. Todos os bovinos morreram espontaneamente ou foram eutanasiados in extremis após um curso clínico de 4-7 dias. Três bovinos que receberam 1.000mg/kg de amprólio e dois que receberam 500mg/kg morreram espontaneamente com quadro clínico agudo a subagudo sem desenvolverem sinais e lesões de PEM. Nos novilhos que PEM foi reproduzida, os sinais neurológicos incluíram marcada apatia, incoordenação, posição de cavalete, quedas ocasionais, hiperexcitabilidade, tremores musculares, cegueira, bruxismo, estrabismo, nistagmo, midríase, opistótono, decúbito lateral e movimentos de pedalagem. Os principais achados de necropsia eram restritos ao encéfalo e consistiam de tumefação, achatamento, amolecimento e amarelamento das circunvoluções cerebrais. Histologicamente, havia necrose neuronal segmentar e laminar (neurônios vermelhos) associada a edema, tumefação endotelial, separação das lâminas de neurônios do córtex telencefálico ou entre as substâncias cinzenta e branca e infiltração moderada a acentuada de macrófagos espumosos. Essas alterações eram mais acentuadas nos lobos telencefálicos frontal, parietal e occipital. Adicionalmente, lesões similares e moderadas foram detectadas no mesencéfalo e hipocampo. A necrose neuronal e o edema afetaram uniformemente as camadas de neurônios da substância cinzenta dos lobos telencefálicos frontal, parietal e occipital. Esse modelo experimental de PEM com administração oral de amprólio parece ser útil para o estudo da doença em bovinos, conforme observado anteriormente em ovinos.In order to establish an experimental model for the study of the etiology, pathology, and pathogenesis of polioencephalomalacia (PEM) in cattle, the condition was induced into four steers by oral administration of amprolium at daily doses of 500 and 350mg per kg of body weight respectively for 22 and 26-28 days. All steers died spontaneously or were euthanized in extremis after being sick for 4-7 days. Three steers that received the drug at 1,000mg/kg and two that received 500mg/kg died spontaneously with acute or subacute clinical signs and without lesions and signs of PEM. In those steers in which PEM was reproduced, the neurological signs included marked apathy, incoordination, sawhorse stance, occasional falls, hyperexcitability, muscle tremors, blindness, grinding of teeth, strabismus, nystagmus, mydriasis, opisthotonus, and lateral recumbency with paddling movements. Main gross lesions were restricted to the brain and included swelling, flattening, softening and yellow discoloration of the cerebral circumvolutions. Histologically, there was segmental laminar neuronal necrosis (red neurons) associated with edema, swelling of endothelial cells, cleavage of laminar neuronal layers or between gray and white matter and moderate to severe infiltration by foamy macrophages (gitter cells). These changes were more marked in the frontal, parietal and occipital telencephalic lobes. Additionally, similar and moderate lesions were detected in the midbrain and hippocampus. Neuronal necrosis and edema affected uniformly the neurons layers of the grey matter of the frontal, parietal and occipital lobes. This experimental model of PEM with oral administration of amprolium may be useful for the study in cattle, as previously observed in sheep