Comparative evaluation of inhibitory activity of Epiphgram from albino and normal skinned giant African land snail (Archachatina marginata) against selected bacteria isolates

A study was conducted on evaluation of inhibitory activity of epiphgram from albino and normal skinned giant African land snail (Archachatina marginata). After aestivation, epiphgram were collected from twenty snails (10, albino and 10 normal skinned). The epiphgram were washed, air dried and ground into powder form. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of epiphgram from both albino and normal skinned species were determined by standard broth micro-dilution method using four (4) clinical bacteria Isolates which include: Eschericia coli, Pasteurella species, Salmonella species and Staphylococcus aureus. Ciproflaxacin antibiotic was used as control. Result showed that epiphgram from both albino and normal skinned snails had higher microbial activity for both Eschericia coli and Salmonella species as shown by minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC: 0.050 and 0.098 vs 0.098 and 0.049) compared to streptomycin (MIC: 78 and 1.95 vs 15.63 and 1.95) which is the control. However, normal skinned epiphgram had higher antimicrobial activity considering the MIC values for Salmonella species, Staphylococcus aureus and Pasteurella species. While MIC value recorded for Eschericia coli showed that albino snail epiphgram had higher antimicrobial activity in the elimination of this bacteria species better than the normal skinned. It can be concluded from this study that substance which eliminate bacteria especially the four bacteria isolates used in this study are present in the epiphgram of both normal and albino snails in varying proportion with the highest amount present in normal skinned snail’s epiphgram except for Eschericia coli.Keyword: Albino snail, Archachatina marginata, Inhibitory activity, Epiphgram, Bacteria isolat

Sex Comparison of White Fulani Cattle Blood Profile in Southwestern Nigeria

Sexual dimorphism has been established in the brain regions of farm animals and poultry, but for their blood, reports do not agree as to differences at the same age. While some reports show no differences except for pregnant and lactating females, others indicate otherwise. This study was carried out to investigate the blood of white Fulani breed of cattle in southwestern Nigeria if there could be differences at same mature age (4yr). A total of 100 cattle were used consisting of 50 bulls and 50 cows. Full haematology was investigated using the Vet AutoHaemoanalyser machine. Some serum metabolites were also investigated including total Protein, Albumin and total cholesterol. Data obtained were subjected to one-way analysis of variance (AOVA). The results show that white blood cell count (WBC) was significantly (P<0.05) higher in females (17.23±1.08) than in males (12.25±0.77). Mean Corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) also showed sex differences with females having higher and significant (P<0.05) average value (33.8±0.19) than males (32.6±0.24). The results from Serum analysis show that bulls (with 37.8±0.54) have higher and significant (P<0.05) Albumin values than cows (34.9±0.29). Though the results obtained in this study fall within normal ranges for this species, it however does not indicate any specific sex effect for this breed.Keywords: cattle, blood, se

Effect of Egg Weight on Hatching Weight and Incubation Period in Giant African Land Snail (Archachatina marginata)

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of egg weight on hatching weight and incubation period in Giant African land snail. A total of 30 Archachatina marginata eggs comprising of four weight range categories (1.24-1.55, 1.56-2.14, 2.15-2.83 and 2.84-3.20 g) were obtained from Dams of different body weight ranges ( 100g-150g, 151-200g, 201- 250g) from Snail Physiology Research Unit of the College of Animal Science and Livestock Production, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria. Eggs were incubated, after which both incubation period and hatching weight after hatching were monitored. Results obtained showed that egg weight group had significant effect (P<0.001) on hatching weight. Egg weight with weight range of 2.84-3.20 had the highest hatching weight, followed by 2.15-2.14 while other two (1.24-1.55 and 1.56-2.14 g) were not significantly different from each other. Furthermore, egg weight had no significant effect (P>0.05) on incubation period. Positive significant correlation was obtained between egg weight and hatching weight, and also dam weight and hatching weight. It was concluded that egg weight had effect on hatching weight of eggs. It was also discovered that egg weight had no meaningful effect on incubation period.Keywords: Egg weight, Incubation period, Hatching weight, Archachatina marginat

Egg fertility and hatchability in Avians broiler-breeder hens under humid tropical conditions

Impact of temperature and humidity in different month of lay was evaluated on fertility and hatchability in broiler breeder hens reared in Sapele, Nigeria. Six million, six hundred and nineteen thousand, seven hundred and forty six eggs from flocks of Avians broiler-breeder hens reared between 2005 and 2006 in a farm located in Sapele were used. Egg fertility and hatchability (P<0.001) were significantly affected by month of lay. The month of June recorded the highest egg fertility were the highest in hatchability of set eggs and fertile eggs was in May. However, fertility and hatchability for all months between May and October were not different from each other but significantly higher than the values obtained in January- April and November-December. Months of May-October were the rainy season in Sapele while dry spell covers November to April. Temperature had significant (P<0.05) but negative correlation with egg fertility (r = -0.31), hatchability of set eggs (r = -0.26) and fertile eggs (r = -0.12) respectively. Correlation of amount of rainfall with egg fertility (r = 0.29), hatchability of set eggs (r = 0.22) and of fertile eggs (r = 0.06) was positive (P<0.05). Relative humidity had positive (P<0.05) correlation with egg fertility (r = 0.25), hatchability of set eggs (r = 0.17) and fertile eggs (r = 0.48). Correlation of number of rainy day with egg fertility (r = 0.40), hatchability of set eggs (r = 0.34) and fertile eggs (r = 0.71) was positive and strong (P<0.05). It can be concluded that high pen temperature especially during dry season does adversely affect egg fertility and hatchability in Avians broiler-breeder hens under humid tropical conditions.Keywords: season, egg fertility, hatchability, broiler-breeder, Sapel

Impact of gamma irradiation on porosity and pore distribution of poly [ethylene-oxide] films: correlation with dielectric and microstructural properties

The structure and morphology of polymers are significantly altered upon exposure to high energy gamma irradiation either through bond breakage i.e. scission or cross-linkage. The present article reports the influence of gamma radiation (1–20 kGy) on the distribution of molecular weight and porosity of the films prepared using irradiated and unirradiated poly-[ethylene oxide] (PEO) powder. The PEO films exhibit pore dimension in the range of 20–500 nm. Selective irradiation is capable of tailoring the pore-size and reducing the multimodal trait to uni-or bimodal upon high energy perturbation. The porosity of PEO films is determined from both 2D-pore surface calculation from SEM images and compared with 3D-BET porosity. Correlation is established among dielectric constant (ε′) and porosity. The magnitude of ε′ increases sharply towards low frequency due to electrode polarization effects. Relaxation time is found to be highest and comparable for 1 and 10 KGy. With increase in irradiation dose, scission is predominant, owing to which smaller polymer fragments are produced which are able to follow fast frequency regime and thereby relax at lesser time.</p