THE TOXICITY OF HEXANOLIC EXTRACT OF Xylopia aethiopica TO LARVAE OF CULEX P. quiuefasciatus

The hexanolic extract of Xylopia aethiopica (Ethiopian pepper) was tested for acute toxicity on the larva of Culex p. quiquefasciatus reared in the laboratory of the Department of Biological Science University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Nigeria. Five concentrations: (50ppm, 100ppm, 200ppm, 300ppm and 400ppm) were evaluated for acute toxicity on the larvae and total percentage mortalities recorded at intervals of 1,12,24,48 and 96 hours in each test. Effects of sunlight and ultra violet radiation on stability of the extract’s potency at 2,4, and 8 hours respectively were equally examined. The mean lethal concentration LC50 was 257ppm. Toxicity of Xylopia aethiopica on Culex p. quiquefasciatus larvae was gradual and persisted throughout the test period. Sunlight exposure has no significant effect on the potency of Xylopia oil while ultra-violet radiation activated its larvicidal properties.Â

Contribution of palm oil processing enterprise to household welfare in Odigbo Local Government Area Ondo State Nigeria

This study was carried out in Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo state to assess the contribution of palm oil processing enterprise to household welfare. A multistage sampling procedure was used for sample selection with a 30% purposive selection of wards from 11 wards in Odigbo LGA. Random sampling wasused to select 50% of palm oil processors from 240 processors from 10 communities in the 3 selected wards respectively making a total of 120 respondents. A well-structured questionnaire was used for data collection and data was analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings of the study revealed that most of the respondents (66.7%) were male, majority of respondents (38.3%) within the age range of 31 and 40, and 82.5% were married. Based on the findings, the result revealed that respondents’ involvement in palm oil enterprise does not correlate with household welfare (r = 0.390, p>0.05). The result further revealed that other livelihood activities have correlation with household welfare (r = 0.263, p<0.05). In conclusion, most of the respondents diversified into other livelihood activities which are invariably responsible for their household welfare. Also paucity of funds and credit facility were major challenges encountered by the processors. Therefore, the input of extension services is needed to motivate and encourage the palm oil entrepreneurs to visit relevant research institutes for latest innovation on processing methods and they should also be assisted in sourcing credits facility from relevant agencies to improve their production for better welfare system.Keywords: Contribution, Palm-oil, Enterprise, Household, Welfar

DEVELOPMENT OF PREDICTIVE MODELS FOR SOME ANTHROPOMETRIC DIMENSIONS OF NIGERIAN OCCUPATIONAL BUS OPERATORS

Movement of commodities, material and men from one place to another using various automated means remains a major activity of mankind. The operation of the transportation systems placed much demand on operators’ capabilities and limitations in relation to human body dimensions. A stratified sample size of 160 drivers were randomly selected among the operators of commercial buses in six (6) selected motor parks within the study area were considered and anthropometric variables relating to seated drivers’ workplace were collected using developed and calibrated anthropometric seat, stadiometer, vernier-calipers, tape rule and bathroom weighing scale. The collected data were analysed using STATA 11.0 and Microsoft excel 2010. Descriptive statistics which included; mean, standard deviation, range and percentiles (5th, 50th and 95th percentiles) were determined. The database developed were used to describe the drivers’anthropometry. Design-Expert 6.0.8 version was used in modelling the anthropometric equations. Models were developed for buttock popliteal length, anterior arm reach and thigh clearance height from data collected for statures, weight and popliteal height sitting. The resulting models exhibited quadratic property with coefficient of determination (R2) ranging between 0.88 and 0.94. These model provide significantly efficient and effective tool for predicting the studied anthropometric dimensions Automotive industries whose market is in Nigeria and other similar manufacturing companies would find this models useful in both design and manufacture of goods

Examining the moderating effect of entrepreneurs� demographic characteristics on strategic entrepreneurial orientations and competitiveness of SMEs

The focus of this study was to examine the moderating effects of entrepreneurs� demographic characteristics on strategic entrepreneurial orientation and competitiveness of SMEs. The theoretical underpinning of the study was based on existing literature to reflect the moderating effects of entrepreneurs� demographic characteristics on strategic entrepreneurial orientation and competitiveness of SMEs. The study adopted quantitative approach with a descriptive research design to describe the moderating effects of entrepreneurs� demographic characteristics on the relationship between strategic entrepreneurial orientation and competitiveness of SMEs based on the objective of the study. Data was gathered from 159 owners/managers of micro, small and medium agro-based firms that were randomly selected and surveyed through the use of structured questionnaire. Hierarchical multiple regression was adopted in analysing the research instrument. The findings from the statistical analysis suggest that analysis, future oriented strategies, proactive initiatives, risk-taking attitudes, defensive strategies over their niche and ensuring integration of their various functional units are significant strategic entrepreneurial orientations that enhance SMEs competitiveness. © 2018, Allied Business Academies. All rights reserved

Dynamic model of COVID-19 disease with exploratory data analysis

Novel Coronavirus is a highly infectious disease, with over one million confirmed cases and thousands of deaths recorded. The disease has become pandemic, affecting almost all nations of the world, and has caused enormous economic, social and psychological burden on countries. Hygiene and educational campaign programmes have been identified to be potent public health interventions that can curtail the spread of the highly infectious disease. In order to verify this claim quantitatively, we propose and analyze a nonlinear mathematical model to investigate the effect of healthy sanitation and awareness on the transmission dynamics of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) prevalence. Rigorous stability analysis of the model equilibrium points was performed to ascertain the basic reproduction number R 0 , a threshold that determines whether or not a disease dies out of the population. Our model assumes that education on the disease transmission and prevention induce behavioral changes in individuals to imbibe good hygiene, thereby reducing the basic reproduction number and disease burden. Numerical simulations are carried out using real life data to support the analytic results.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/sciafam2021Mathematics and Applied Mathematic

Stellar structure and compact objects before 1940: Towards relativistic astrophysics

Since the mid-1920s, different strands of research used stars as "physics laboratories" for investigating the nature of matter under extreme densities and pressures, impossible to realize on Earth. To trace this process this paper is following the evolution of the concept of a dense core in stars, which was important both for an understanding of stellar evolution and as a testing ground for the fast-evolving field of nuclear physics. In spite of the divide between physicists and astrophysicists, some key actors working in the cross-fertilized soil of overlapping but different scientific cultures formulated models and tentative theories that gradually evolved into more realistic and structured astrophysical objects. These investigations culminated in the first contact with general relativity in 1939, when J. Robert Oppenheimer and his students George Volkoff and Hartland Snyder systematically applied the theory to the dense core of a collapsing neutron star. This pioneering application of Einstein's theory to an astrophysical compact object can be regarded as a milestone in the path eventually leading to the emergence of relativistic astrophysics in the early 1960s.Comment: 83 pages, 4 figures, submitted to the European Physical Journal

Persistence of Ebola virus RNA in some body fluids of Ebola virus disease (EVD) survivors – the Nigerian experience

Introduction: Ebola virus (EBOV) has been shown to persist in some body fluids of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) survivors with implication for future transmission particularly in Nigeria where EVD was experienced for the first time in 2014. Thus, this paper was aimed at providing information on the duration of persistence of EBOV in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Ten consenting EVD survivors were enrolled. Baseline specimens; urine and semen (males), urine and high vaginal swab (HVS) (females) were obtained within one month after discharge from the Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC) and subsequently every fortnight. Samples were analyzed using quantitative Real-Star Filovirus Screen RT-PCR kit 1.0 at the National Reference Laboratory in Lagos.Results: Ten EVD survivors comprising 4 (40%) males and 6 (60%) females with age ranges of 28 to >33 years (mean age: 33.0 ± 6.9 years) were evaluated. EBOV RNA was not detected in the urine of all the participants and HVS from the females. However, EBOV RNA was detected in the semen of all 4 (100%) male participants at baseline, and at 2 months after discharge from the ETC. Two men were still positive for EBOV RNA 4 months after discharge from the ETC despite persistent negative vireamia. Conclusions: Our data confirm that a negative viremia in the convalescent period is not predictive of the absence of the virus in semen. Despite an early clearance of the virus from the urine and HVS, there was persistence of EBOV RNA in semen of male survivors 4 months after recovery

Magnetohydrodynamic micropolar nanofluid flow over a vertically elongating sheet containing gyrotactic microorganisms with temperature-dependent viscosity

Magnetohydrodynamic bioconvective micropolar nanofluid flow with migrating microorganisms opens up an intriguing new field in materials science. The distribution of particles during processing, such as metal casting, polymer extrusion, etc., can affect material characteristics and final product quality. So, the current research examines magnetohydrodynamic micropolar nanofluid flow over a vertically extending material in the presence of swimming microorganisms. The mathematical model also considers the temperature dependence of dynamic viscosity with thermal radiation using the Rosseland approximation, Brownian diffusion, and the thermo-migration of microscopic particles. Similarity variables are used to convert the partial derivatives to ordinary derivatives. Then the Runge-Kutta-Gill method is used with the shooting technique to obtain a numerical solution to the resulting set of equations. Various tables and graphs are included to illustrate the impact of the emerging parameters on the flow fields. Results show that an increase in the material parameter improves fluid mobility but decreases the skin friction coefficient, whereas the magnetic field term exhibits the opposite behaviour due to friction induced by the Lorentz force. The analysis shows that the thermal field significantly expands as the thermo-migration of tiny particles and Brownian motion get stronger

Marketing Analysis of Ducks in Akinyele Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria

The study assessed the marketing activities of ducks in Akinyele Local Government Area. The study was carried out in three selected main markets (Ojoo, Moniya, and Shasha). Information was generated from ninety-four (94) duck marketers in the study area using structured questionnaire to determine the socio-economic characteristics of duck sellers, profitability, market performance and problems militating against duck marketing. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Gini coefficient, budgetary analysis and marketing margin. The result showed that 52.1% of respondents were males while about 47.9% of respondents were females. Age range of 40-50 (38.3%) is the majority which means that adult dominate the duck business. Majority of them are married (63.8%), with no formal education (31.9%) and with marketing experience (40.4%) of less than five years. The result of the Gini coefficient was 0.52 which implied that the degree of income inequalities is high in sales revenue of the respondents and hence high level of concentration. Moniya market is more efficient among the other market visited. Duck selling business in Moniya is more profitable as sellers on the average realized gross revenue of ₦280,700; followed by Ojoo, ₦147,582; and Shasha, ₦116,640. The problems encountered include, low patronage, low price, disease infestation, mortality and theft. It was recommended that there should be general awareness of the business as a means of employment which would serve as poverty alleviation in the society. Key words: Market structure, Market performance, Profitability, Duck

Evaluation of wound healing potentials of neem (Azadirachtaindica) leaf extract on excision wounds in Wistar albino rats

This study was carried out to evaluate the wound healing ability of ethanoic leaf extract of Azadirachta indica, incorporated into the feed of albino rats. Twenty-four (24) albino rats of both sexes weighing between 90 to 125g were randomly selected and divided into three (3) groups of 8 rats each. Animals in each group were divided into four (4) replicates of two (2) rats per replicate. Group A had penicillin, group B had neem ointment and group C had Neem incorporated in the feed. The ethanoic leaf extract of Azadirachta indica showed a significantly higher (p<0.05) contraction rate and shortened wound closure time. The healing was 92% (p<0.05) on 10th day compared to 75% and 82% of healing with ground leaf of A. indica incorporated into the feed (neem + feed) and procaine penicillin, respectively. The complete wound closure took place on the 12th day in the case of ethanoic leaf extract of Azadirachta indica while, neem + feed and procaine penicillin the wounds persisted than12th day. The study concluded that the ethanoic leaf extract of A. indica had better potential wound healing activity for excision wounds; justifying its use in the traditional and orthodox medicine