Water Pollution and Quality Assessment of Lakes Gerio and Njuwa in Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria

The study focuses on water pollution and quality assessments of Lakes Gerio and Njuwa and its consequent effects on the water and the live that exist in and around the lakes basins. The effects of anthropogenic activities and particulate matter on water quality of the lakes were assessed. The objective is to analyse the physical properties of the water, conduct pH and coliform test in order to assess water quality. Water samples were subjected to microbial analysis in order to test for faecal contamination as well as pH test. Both waters turned out to contain coliforms and are acidic with Lake Gerio (pH of 6.5) and Lake Njuwa (pH of 6.0). The activities taking place around the lakes include; farming in which farm inputs like fertilizers, herbicides affect the water quality, fishing, washing, bathing, as well as deposition of human and animal urine and faeces due to open defaecation. Sedimentation and siltation of River Benue as well as the lakes also introduce more challenges that need particular attention. Conclusively, both lakes were unfit for human consumption. It is therefore recommended that there should be public enlightenment of the lake users about the dangers of inappropriate usage and consumption of the contaminated waters. Farmers around the lakes should be encouraged to minimise the use of chemicals through advocacy and incentives, for the application of sustainable conservation farming practices to conserve the ecosystem so as to improve on the quality of the water of the two lakes

RETRAINING NEEDS OF MOTOR VEHICLE MECHANIC TEACHERS AND INSTRUCTORS ON AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SYSTEM FOR TEACHING IN TECHNICAL COLLEGES IN BAUCHI STATE

The study was designed to identify the areas of retraining needed by the teachers and instructors of Motor Vehicle Mechanics (MVM) trade in the technical colleges in Bauchi State, Northeastern Nigeria. The objective of the research was to identify the pedagogical and practical skills at technical college level. The research questions were; What are the pedagogical skills needed by MVM teachers and instructors for teaching ATS at technical college level? and What are the practical skills needed by MVM teachers and instructors for teaching ATS at technical college level? were used to guide in the conduct of the study. The null hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. A 58 item questionnaire which was face validated by three experts from the Department of Vocational and Technology Education, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi State Nigeria and pilot-tested on twelve respondents from Government Technical College, Gombe, Gombe State that were not part of the study which yielded a Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.993 was used to determine the internal consistency was used to collect data for the study. The data was analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The data support the conclusion that teachers do not feel confidence of their pedagogical and practical skills. As a result of the above revelation, the following implications arise. Teachers of MVM program in the technical colleges needed training and retraining in pedagogical as well as practical skills to enable them to perform their professional responsibilities in their practice. The pre-service training received by the teachers was found to be rickety and completely defective, which might not perfectly prepare them for effective job performance. The MVM teachers need to be retrained in order to update their knowledge, skills and competencies with respect to pedagogical and practical skills to enable be able to teach the learners efficiently and effectively, so that the learners can graduate as competent craftsmen, technicians and technologist. &nbsp

Clinical observations and haematological changes following subchronic administration of methanolic leaf extract of Crotalaria lachnosema Stapf. (Fabaceae) in male Wistar rats

The aim of this study was to determine the Clinical observations (Visually and via Laboratory analysis) and haematological changes induced by subchronic administration of methanolic leaf extract of Crotalaria lachnosema (C. lachnosema) leaf (MLECL) on male Wistar rats. Four groups designated as Groups 1(control), 2, 3 and 4, of ten rats each, which were exposed to the extract in feed at dose levels of 0, 40, 200 and 1000 mg/kg for 42 days respectively. The clinical observations were recorded. At the end of the study period, the surviving rats were sacrificed following light ether anaesthesia and blood was collected from each rat via jugular venesection. The extract was found to cause impairment in both the body weight and relative organ weights of the exposed rats at termination of the experiment (P < 0.05) compared to the control group. The extract was found to affect the erythron only in group 2 with total red blood cell count (7.72 ± 0.25 × 1012/L), haemoglobin concentration (127.00 ± 2.66 g/L) and packed cell volume (48.44 ± 2.11 %) being significantly (P < 0.05 ) lower relative to those of the control (8.86 ± 0.32 × 1012/L, 150.80 ± 6.03 g/L and 48.44 ± 2.11 %, respectively). It was concluded from these studies that exposure to MLECL caused toxic effects in male Wistar rats (toxic effect like the decreased erythron; haematopoietic system is one of the most sensitive targets of toxic compounds, and thus considered an important index in pathophysiological status in man and animal). Human food or animal feed products contaminated with the plant C. lachnosema, even at very low concentrations, with the LD50 of 1300 mg/kg should be discouraged.Keywords: Crotalaria lachnosema, Haematology, LD50, Toxicity, Weight change

Socio-economic Impact of Flooding on the Riverine Communities of River Benue in Adamawa State, Nigeria

This paper examines the impact of floods on the socioeconomic lives of residents of the flood plain of River Benue in the Adamawa area. The specific objectives of the paper include examining people’s perception of the causes of flooding in the study area, assessing the impacts of flooding on the socioeconomic activities in the study area, analyzing the People’s Response/Adjustment to Flood in the study area. Three Riverine communities were purposively selected and data for the study was elicited through questionnaires administered to randomly selected respondents in the selected riverine communities in the area. The results obtained indicate that majority of the respondents over 80% are aware of the devastating effects of flooding but they fail to act because of their preference of occupying the location despite their experience. Thousands of hectares of farmlands and other properties have been destroyed by flood over the years. Another finding shows that the impact of flood on transportation is, perhaps, the most devastating such that agricultural productivity in the area is limited as a result of lack of effective means of mobility. Changes in modal split were also found to be associated with the flood regimes. Traditional responses to the menace of flooding have been on the increase due to the ad hoc manner of government participation in providing an enduring solution. The rescheduling of field crops planting and levee construction were among the common responses of the people. Keywords: Flood, River Benue, Transportation, Socio-economic, Environmen

Review on the contributions of some human cultural practices to plant disease epidemiology

An epidemy of a disease usually occurs when there is an interaction of the three (3) major factors of disease development popularly called disease triangle. The disease triangle consists of a susceptible host, virulent pathogen, and a suitable environment that favors the growth of the pathogen. When the two other factors interact with the pathogen, disease can reach epidemic condition referred to as epiphytotic stage. However, apart from these factors, many activities of human have a direct or indirect effect on plant disease epidemics, some of them favors and some reducing the frequency and the rate of epidemics. It has been established that some on-farm cultural practices such as selection of planting site, tillage, continues mono cropping and monoculture, inter cropping, spacing between plants/ plant density, weeding, crop rotation, fertilizer application and many others when misused or used carelessly may tend to allow or favor the development of epidemy by creating a suitable environment optimum for pathogen growth and development and sometimes making the host plant vulnerable to some peculiar diseases. This when human cultural practices are considered appropriately together with the disease triangle, could change the triangle shaped factors to a tetrahedral structure necessary for disease development. In this paper, major on-farm cultural practices that contribute to the epidemy of disease and the need to incorporate these factors as the fourth item in the disease factors are discussed

Gaussian beam divergence using paraxial approximation

Gaussian beam intensity follows a normal distribution curve in free space. As it propagates, the divergence and the width increase with distance. Using paraxial approximation, the effect of the distance on the intensity, width, radius of curvature and divergence was investigated. Matlab software was used for characteristics parameters calculation. The divergence angle range (26.67o≤ θ ≤35.85o) was obtained at a distance between 3mm and 4mm, and compared with the divergence angle range (43o≤ θ ≤53o) obtained experimentally for the distance between 3mm and 4.5mm. The result obtained in this work indicates smaller angles of divergence that can produce a better beam quality and intensity. Finally, this will serve as a great importance for application such as pointing, free space optical communication etc.Keyword: Gaussian beam, Paraxial approximation, Beam divergence, Normal distribution curve

Detection of Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii among Gram-Negative Bacteria Isolated from Clinical Samples

Acinetobacter baumannii is an aerobic, Gram -negative cocco-bacilli, non-fermentative, non-motile, and non-fastidious organism belonging to the genus Acinetobacter. The A. baumannii has emerged as a worldwide nosocomial pathogen causing about 80%25 of nosocomial infections comprising ventilator-acquired pneumonia, bacteremia, meningitis, urinary tract infections, skin and soft tissues infections associated with high mortality rate of approximately 63.3%25. Although literature shows sufficient information about the drug resistant A. baumannii, there has been inadequate reports on the antibiotic resistance level of this bacterium in the study area. The aim of this research was to detect Multidrug-resistant A. baumannii isolates among Gram-negative bacteria isolated from Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe, Nigeria. A total of 1008 clinical samples were collected and cultured on MacConkey agar and Blood agar plates at 37o C for 18-24 hours. Following the incubation period, discrete colonies obtained were subjected to Gram staining. The Gram-negative isolates were identified based on conventional biochemical tests with further use of VITEK 2 COMPACT (BioMérieux, France) for confirmation of A. baumannii amongst the Gram-negative organisms. The results obtained showed that 263 Gram-negative organisms were isolated. A. baumannii accounted for 8.5%25 prevalence. Most of the A. baumannii isolated were from the male patients (75%25) within the age range of 33-48 years. Antibiotic susceptibility test using Kirby Bauer method in accordance with CLSI guidelines was done on 20 A. baumannii isolates. The isolates were more sensitive to levofloxacin (60%25), followed by Gentamicin (55%25), then Ciprofloxacin and Tetracycline (50%25) respectively. High level of resistance to Ceftriaxone (80%25), Cefepime (75%25), Ceftazidime (65%25), Piperacillin-Tazobactam (55%25), Ampicillin%252FSulbactam (60%25), Tigecycline (60%25), Meropenem (55%25) and Amikacin (60%25). This study revealed that 15 (75%25) of the A. baumannii were found to be multidrug-resistant. Therefore, antibiotic stewardship is necessary to combat further dissemination of this organism

Email security issues, tools, and techniques used in investigation

The email system is a globally distributed communication infrastructure service that involves multiple actors playing different roles to ensure end-to-end mail delivery. It is an indispensable method of communicating that is changing how people share data and information. As a result, it facilitates effective and efficient communication, especially in business, as well as convenience, accessibility, and replication. Today, email can send more than just text files; it can also send audio, video, photos, and other files with extensions. With email becoming ubiquitous in all aspects of our lives, enhancing its security, operating procedures, and forensic investigation has become essential. The purpose of this paper is to review some real email forensic incidents and the tools and techniques that have been proposed. A discussion of the major threats to email as well as techniques to mitigate them will also be provided. A comparison study was made of several techniques and analysis tools used in email forensics. In addition, this paper compares the available software tools for email forensics based on factors such as language interface, user interface, programming language, creation of image files, calculation of hash value, cost, and advantages

Pharmacognostic and Acute Toxicity Study of Burkea Africana Root

Burkea africana is a plant that belongs to then family Fabaceae; it is widely spread in tropical Africa including Nigeria. It is of valuable in  ethnomedicine especially in the treatment of antidote for venomous stings and bites, cutaneous and sub cutaneous parasitic infection, convulsion and pulmonary troubles. Despite the fact that roots of Burkea africana have several medicinal properties, no standardization parameter has been  assessed. Due to lack of standard parameters, proper identification and ascertaining quality and purity in the events of adulteration has been thwarted. The objective of the study was to establish some important pharmacognostic profile and safety margin of Burkea africana root with the hope of assisting in its standardization for quality, purity and safety. Elemental analysis was carried out using acid digestion method and phytochemical composition of the plants was evaluated using standard method. Acute toxicity was achieved using Lorke method to determine the LD50. Chemomicroscopical evaluation revealed the presence of cellulose, tannins, starch, lignin, calcium oxalate, suberin, aleurone grain and mucilage with the exception of calcium carbonate. The average moisture contents, total ash, acid insoluble, water soluble ash, alcohol extractive value and water extractive values in the powdered plant material were 3.8%, 7.5%, 4.43%, 8.07%, 25.0% and 20.33% respectively. In addition, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Cd and Cu were found to be within the safety limit. Phytochemicals which include alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, carbohydrates and triterpenes were detected in both aqueous and methanolic extracts. The LD50 of Burkea africana was found to be greater than 5000 mg /kg and could be considered safe for consumption. Keywords: Elemental analysis, Burkea africana, Pharmacognostic, Phytochemica

A critical review of the impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy and ecosystems and opportunities for circular economy strategies

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on the 11th of March, 2020, but the world is still reeling from its aftermath. Originating from China, cases quickly spread across the globe, prompting the implementation of stringent measures by world governments in efforts to isolate cases and limit the transmission rate of the virus. These measures have however shattered the core sustaining pillars of the modern world economies as global trade and cooperation succumbed to nationalist focus and competition for scarce supplies. Against this backdrop, this paper presents a critical review of the catalogue of negative and positive impacts of the pandemic and proffers perspectives on how it can be leveraged to steer towards a better, more resilient low-carbon economy. The paper diagnosed the danger of relying on pandemic-driven benefits to achieving sustainable development goals and emphasizes a need for a decisive, fundamental structural change to the dynamics of how we live. It argues for a rethink of the present global economic growth model, shaped by a linear economy system and sustained by profiteering and energy-gulping manufacturing processes, in favour of a more sustainable model recalibrated on circular economy (CE) framework. Building on evidence in support of CE as a vehicle for balancing the complex equation of accomplishing profit with minimal environmental harms, the paper outlines concrete sector-specific recommendations on CE-related solutions as a catalyst for the global economic growth and development in a resilient post-COVID-19 world