Floral and Seed Variability Patterns among Ethiopian Mustard (B. carinata A. Braun) of East Africa

In East Africa, Ethiopian mustard (Brassica carinata A. Braun) is cultivated primarily for its leaves, but in Ethiopia preference is high for oil in the seed. Dual purpose importance of the seeds for planting and for oil suggests the need to improve seed production efficiency through understanding variation pattern for floral morphology and seed characters. We investigated genetic diversity and correlations for floral and seed characteristics among 14 accessions of Ethiopian mustard to improve seed set and yield. Field trials were conducted during 2008 and 2009; flowers were examined for short stamen height, long stamen height, pistil height, and silliqua for seed weight, seeds/silliqua and silliqua/plant. Results were largely consistent between years, indicating that the variation measured was mainly controlled by genetic factors. High genetic variation for seed characters and reproductive phenology among the accessions was noted. The number of days to appearance of flowers showed high discriminatory ability among the accessions. A wide continuous variation was observed among accessions for anther-stigma separation. Accessions 1, 3 and 14 were identified as early flowering. A significant and positive correlation coefficient between short stamen height and seed weight indicated a substantial complementation among these characters for seed yield improvement. The short stamen height is a good indicator for selection in favour of seed commercialization and indices for selection of pollen parent for seed yield improvement. Accessions 5, 7, 14, 16 and 22 are best for multiple characters and are recommended for seed production for any of the seasons in Arusha, Tanzania

Farmer's Knowledge of Horticultural Traits and Participatory Selection of African Eggplant Varieties (Solanum aethiopicum) in Tanzania

Participatory selection was conducted in 2008 through 2009 to identify farmers' preference for species and horticultural traits that may constitute future breeding objectives. Vegetable farmers were selected from Moshi and Arusha regions, test population comprised twenty-six accessions from four Solanum species (eggplant and relatives). Purposive sampling was used to select the farming communities with high African eggplant production activities; a multistage random sampling procedure was adopted to select farmers from three regions for participatory meeting. The focus group discussion sessions identified fruit shape, taste, earliness, medicinal properties, marketability and resistance to diseases as farmers' preferred traits in S. aethiopicum; taste and marketability for S. melongena, taste and medicinal properties among S. macrocarpon and S. anguivi. Fruits characterized by cream colour at commercial harvest are most preferred compared to green, to a lesser extent is purple. Interestingly high fruits per plant, fruits per cluster and fruit cluster per plant best described S. anguivi. Fruit yield was superior in Db3 (S. aethiopicum Gilo group), top five accessions for organoleptic properties are Db3, Ab2, MM 1619, S00052 and MM 1086. Characters indicated above may constitute breeding objectives and population identified may serve as pollen parents for development of new varieties in african eggplant. Intraspecific hybridization within S. aethiopicum Gilo cultigroup, hybridization among Gilo and Shum cultigroups and interspecific hybridization between S. aethiopicum and S. anguivi may evolve new population aimed at improving fruit yield

Aspiring Vice-Chancellors’ rhetoric and the challenges of building a 21st century Nigerian University

This study analyses the manifestos prepared by some candidates aspiring for the post of Vice-Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile- Ife, Nigeria, between 1999 and 2000. It examines the appropriation of rhetorical tactics by the aspirants to impress upon the target audience that they possess the ability to clearly decipher the problems of the university and determine the required antidote. The study focuses on two major issues that are recurrent in the discourse: the challenges facing the university at the turn of the twenty-first century and the kind of leadership that the university would desire to stem the tide. It adopts Aristotle’s model of rhetoric to analyse the discursive practices of the respective candidates relative to these key issues. It reveals that although the candidates address the same range of subjects, they still, at some point, employ varied rhetorical appeals to manipulate the target audience. Such appeals generally, however, still fall within the range of the rhetoric of political campaign, but they are strategically chosen to reflect the context of the discourse.Keywords: Manifesto, Nigeria, Political campaign, Rhetoric, University, Vice-Chancello

Effect of Substitution of Bovine Rumen Epithelial Tissue Scrapings for Fishmeal on the Growth Performance, Nutrient Utilization and Carcass Characteristics of Broiler Chickens

. An eight-week feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the performance, nutrient utilization and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens fed varied levels of bovine rumen epithelial tissue scrapings (BRETS) in replacement for fish meal at 0, 50 and 100% levels of substitution. Fifty four birds were used for the study and the birds were randomly distributed into three (3) dietary treatments which were randomly assigned to the rations. Feed and water were supplied ad libitum and data were collected on the feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio and nutrient utilization. Data were also collected on the carcass characteristics after some birds had been slaughtered at the end of the experiment. Data collected were subjected to one-way analysis of variance and significant differences were indicated using Duncan multiple range test to separate the means. Results indicated that there was significant difference (P0.05) in the weight gain, heart and lung weights. It was concluded that up to 50% BRETS inclusion as substitute for fish meal protein could be employed without any adverse effect, to maintain the quality of the broiler chicken while minimizing the high cost of whole fishmeal since BRETS is an abattoir by-product that is readily available locally

Improving Health Mention Classification Through Emphasising Literal Meanings: A Study Towards Diversity and Generalisation for Public Health Surveillance

People often use disease or symptom terms on social media and online forums in ways other than to describe their health. Thus the NLP health mention classification (HMC) task aims to identify posts where users are discussing health conditions literally, not figuratively. Existing computational research typically only studies health mentions within well-represented groups in developed nations. Developing countries with limited health surveillance abilities fail to benefit from such data to manage public health crises. To advance the HMC research and benefit more diverse populations, we present the Nairaland health mention dataset (NHMD), a new dataset collected from a dedicated web forum for Nigerians. NHMD consists of 7,763 manually labelled posts extracted based on four prevalent diseases (HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Stroke and Tuberculosis) in Nigeria. With NHMD, we conduct extensive experiments using current state-of-the-art models for HMC and identify that, compared to existing public datasets, NHMD contains out-of-distribution examples. Hence, it is well suited for domain adaptation studies. The introduction of the NHMD dataset imposes better diversity coverage of vulnerable populations and generalisation for HMC tasks in a global public health surveillance setting. Additionally, we present a novel multi-task learning approach for HMC tasks by combining literal word meaning prediction as an auxiliary task. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms state-of-the-art methods statistically significantly (p < 0.01, Wilcoxon test) in terms of F1 score over the state-of-the-art and shows that our new dataset poses a strong challenge to the existing HMC methods

Outbreak of Peste Des Petits Ruminants in West African Dwarf Goats in Eruwa, Southwestern Nigeria

In Nigeria, goats play a significant socioeconomic role in the life of rural people. Recently, there had been report of high mortality of goats especially the kids under one year with none of such among sheep reared together in Eruwa, Southwestern Nigeria. An investigation was conducted to ascertain the cause of the deaths. Clinical, pathological and serological findings were described. Serum samples of forty-two animals from affected goats of varied ages were tested for the presence of PPR antibodies by competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA).Post mortem examination of three of the carcasses and histopathology of the lungs, segments of the oral mucosa and intestine were also done. The clinical findings observed include loss of appetite, oculo-nasal mucopurulent discharges, dyspnoea, profuse diarrhea and death, the findings led to the tentative diagnosis of PPR. Serum samples from fifteen out of twenty affected,10 out of 10 recovered and 7 apparently healthy goats were tested positive for the presence of PPR antibodies using cELISA. It was also observed that PPRV antibodies were more in goats below one and half years. However, no PPR antibodies were detected in sheep reared together with the goats. At histopathology, there were thickening of the alveolar septa walls with mononuclear cells and presence of varying numbers of macrophages and characteristic giant cells within the alveoli. This is apparently another documented case of PPR after thirty one years of the first report in this community. This showed that obvious concerted efforts in the control of the disease should be harnessed. Enhanced awareness and sensitization campaign among the stockowners towards adoption of annual vaccination of goats before the` onset of rain was recommended.Keywords: Peste des petits ruminants, outbreak, WAD goats, Serology, cELISA, NigeriaNigerian Veterinary Journal, VOL:32 (4) 331-33

Shear bond strength of a self‑etched resin cement to an indirect composite: Effect of different surface treatments

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the shear bond strength of resin cement (Rely X‑U200) bonded to differently conditioned indirect composite samples.Materials and Methods: Sixty‑six composite resin specimens (5 mm in diameter and 3 mm in thickness) were prepared with an indirect composite resin (Grandia) and randomly divided into six groups. Surfaces of the samples were treated with one of the following treatments; %37 phosphoric acid etching, sandblasting, 1,5 W, 2 W and 3 W erbium, chromium: Yttrium‑scandium‑gallium‑garnet laser application. An untreated group was used as a control. In each group surface of the sample was analyzed with scanning electron microscopy. The remaining samples (n = 60) were built up with a self‑adhesive resin cement (Rely X‑U200) 3 mm in diameter and 2 mm height. After 24 h water storage at 37°C, the prepared specimens were submitted to shear bond strength test. One‑way analysis of variance was used to analyze the bond strength values of different groups.Results: Highest shear bond strength values were observed in sandblasting group however there were not statistical difference among the tested surface treatment methods.Conclusion: In Shear bond strength of resin, cement was independent of the surface conditioning methods applied on tested indirect resin composite.Key words: Composite resins, dental bonding, resin cements, surface propertie

Major upper limb amputation after Snake Bite Gangrene

Major lower limb amputations following snake bite gangrene have been reported from the savannah belt of Nigeria. In bites delivered to the upperlimb, amputations are often of the digits (minor amputations). We report the case of a male farmer who had an above elbow amputation after a snake bite to the hand. Explanation for the amputation is proposed and need for prevention highlighted

Penggunaan Media Film Untuk Meningkatkan Kemampuan Memahami Unsur Intrinsik Novel Siswa Kelas XI SMA Negeri I Langke Rembong

The title of this research is” The use of Film Media To Increase Ability In Undestanding Intrinsic Elements of Story At Grade XI Students of Senior High School Negeri 1 Langke Rembong Academic Year 2012/2013”. This Action Research Class used Kemmis and Tanggart model, which is consist of, planning, implementation, observation, and reflection. The data collection used interview, inquiry, test, documentation study and observation tecnhique. Its success indicator is 85 % of students get 75 as minimal standard. This research have two cycle and each result. The result of first cycle indicated there are 17,5 % students who passed the examination. Observation students value at first cycle indicated that 70 % passed the test. At the second cycle there are 97 % passed the test. The students have positive response in Indonesian subject. students participation during the class is improve of 23,5 % at pre-action to 42 % at first cycle and 76 %at second cycl