Disruptive and Nondisruptive Selection for Bulk Oat Populations

A mixture of F3 seeds from 75 oat crosses was divided into four lots, with one being propagated in central Iowa for nine generations (i.e., stationary line of descent) and three being propagated in a rotational pattern in central, southern, and northern Iowa in successive generations (i.e., disruptively selected line of descent). An evaluation experiment was conducted to test whether any changes in genotypic frequencies were caused by the two propagation procedures. Increases in the means of yield traits occurred, but the magnitude and timing of the changes varied among lines of descent. The changes in the stationary and rotational lines of descent were indistinguishable. There was some trend for reduced genotypic variances for most traits with advancing generations. Probably the disruptive selection scheme did not cause differential results from the stationary one because the selection pressure due to differences in propagation sites was mild relative to the pressure due to differences in weather patterns during the years of the propagation period

EVALUATION OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES RELATING TO EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE (EVD) PREVENTION AND CONTROL IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

A cross sectional study was carried out from 1st June to 30th June, 2015, to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices related to the prevention and control of Ebola Virus Disease in Ogun State, Nigeria. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to gather data from 300 respondents selected by multistage sampling technique across four local governments in the state. The data collected included socio-demographics, awareness, knowledge, practices and misconceptions about EVD among the respondents. Knowledge of respondents about EVD was assessed on 20 items with a 3-points rating scale of good >14, fair 10-14 and poor <10. Of the 308 respondents that took part in the study, 111 (36%) were males and 127 (41.2%) rural dwellers and 43 (14%) of the respondents were between the ages of 9-18, 139 (45.1%) were between the ages of 19-25, 83 (26.9%) were between the ages of 26-35 and the remaining 43 (14%) were above 35 years of age. Five (1.6%) of the respondents had no formal education, 9 (2.9%) had primary education, 133 (43.2%) had secondary education and 161 (52.3%) had tertiary education. All the respondents (100%) have heard of Ebola.  Only 2.6% had poor knowledge of Ebola with 12% being able to identify four misconceptions surrounding Ebola transmission and prevention. Respondents in the study reported various changes in practices such as avoidance of physical contact (33.4%), regular hand washing with soap and water (69.2%) and hand cleaning with other disinfectants (61.7%), nevertheless 73.1% of the respondents will not report infected member of the family. Television was the major source of receiving information with the internet being the trusted source of receiving information on Ebola by the respondents. In Ogun State, awareness and comprehensive knowledge on Ebola Virus Disease transmission is high with good knowledge on misconceptions. There is need to emphasize importance of reporting suspected case(s) to the hospital 

Iris feature extraction: a survey

Biometric as a technology has been proved to be a reliable means of enforcing constraint in a security sensitiveenvironment. Among the biometric technologies, iris recognition system is highly accurate and reliable becauseof their stable characteristics throughout lifetime. Iris recognition is one of the biometric identification thatemploys pattern recognition technology with the use of high resolution camera. Iris recognition consist of manysections among which feature extraction is an important stage. Extraction of iris features is very important andmust be successfully carried out before iris signature is stored as a template. This paper gives a comprehensivereview of different fundamental iris feature extraction methods, and some other methods available in literatures.It also gives a summarised form of performance accuracy of available algorithms. This establishes a platform onwhich future research on iris feature extraction algorithm(s) as a component of iris recognition system can bebased.Keywords: biometric authentication, false acceptance rate (FAR), false rejection rate (FRR), feature extraction,iris recognition system

Vitamin A deficiency among under-five Nigerian children with diarrhoea

Background: Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) and diarrhoea are still important contributors to childhood deaths in Africa, and vitamin A deficient children are at increased risk as well as severity of diarrhoea.Objectives:To determine the prevalence of VAD and identify the associated factors among children with diarrhoea.Methods: The study was a hospital-based cross-sectional descriptive study. Consecutive children with diarrhoea were recruited, provided they met the inclusion criteria. Serum retinol levels were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in one hundred and seventy under-five children who presented with diarrhoea at the Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesa, Nigeria. Results: The serum retinol levels of the children ranged from 0.29 – 2.35 µmol/L with a mean ± SD of 1.07 ± 0.42 µmol/L. Twenty seven (15.9%) were vitamin A deficient with three (1.8%) of these having severe VAD. Wasting was significantly associated with a higher prevalence of VAD [p = 0.023, OR (95% CI) = 3.08 (1.21 - 7.79)]. A significantly greater proportion of the subjects who had VAD were hospitalized, compared with the non-deficient ones [p = 0.001, OR (95% CI) = 4.40 (1.82 - 10.66)]. The only subject who died was vitamin A deficient.Conclusion: Wasting and hospitalization are factors that may indicate the presence of VAD in a child with diarrhoea. Vitamin A supplements should therefore be given, as part of the treatment for diarrhoea, to children who have wasting, especially when they require hospitalization.Keywords: Vitamin A deficiency, Nigerian children, diarrhoea

Understanding the risk of emerging bacterial resistance to over the counter antibiotics in topical sore throat medicines

Aims The aims of this study were to explore the development of bacterial resistance and cross‐resistance in four common human pathogens following realistic exposure to antibiotics found in over‐the‐counter (OTC) sore throat medicines: gramicidin, neomycin, bacitracin and tyrothricin. Methods and Results Bacterial exposure to in‐use (concentration in the product before use) and diluted concentration (i.e. during use ) of antibiotic where conducted in broth for 24 h or until growth was visible. The changes in bacterial susceptibility profile before and after exposure was determined using standardized ISO microdilution broth. Antibiotic testing was performed according to EUCAST guidelines. We demonstrated that test bacteria were able to survive exposure to the in‐use concentrations of some antibiotics used in OTC medicines. Exposure to during use concentrations of bacitracin resulted in stable increase in minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) (>8‐fold) in Staphylococcus aureus and Acinetobacter baumannii . Exposure to tyrothricin resulted in a stable increase in MIC (2·4‐fold) in Klebsiella pneumoniae , and exposure to neomycin resulted in a stable increase MIC (5000‐fold higher than the baseline) in Streptococcus pyogenes . Clinical cross‐resistance to other antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, fusidic acid, gentamicin, cefpodoxime, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and cefotaxime) was also demonstrated following exposure to bacitracin or tyrothricin. Bacitracin exposure lead to a stable bacterial resistance after 10 passages. Conclusions Our results indicate that OTC antibiotic medicines have the potential to drive resistance and cross‐resistance in vitro . Significance and Impact of the Study Tackling antibiotic resistance is a high worldwide priority. It is widely accepted that the overuse and misuse of antibiotics increase the risk of the development and spread of antibiotic resistance within communities. A number of OTC sore throat products, widely available across the world for topical use in respiratory indications, contain locally delivered antibiotics. Our findings showed that these antibiotics in OTC medicines present a risk for emerging cross‐resistance in a number of bacterial respiratory pathogens

Impact of Irrigation on Midsummer Surface Fluxes and Temperature under Dry Synoptic Conditions: A Regional Atmospheric Model Study of the U.S. High Plains

The impact of irrigation on the surface energy budget in the U.S. high plains is investigated. Four 15-day simulations were conducted: one using a 1997 satellite-derived estimate of farmland acreage under irrigation in Nebraska (control run), two using the Olson Global Ecosystem (OGE) vegetation dataset (OGE wet run and OGE dry run), and the fourth with the Kuchler vegetation dataset (natural vegetation run) as lower boundary conditions in the Colorado State University Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS). In the control and OGE wet simulations, the topsoil in the irrigated locations, up to a depth of 0.2 m, was saturated at 0000 UTC each day for the duration of the experiment (1–15 July 1997). In the other two runs, the soil was allowed to dry out, except when replenished naturally by rainfall. Identical observed atmospheric conditions were used along the lateral boundary in all four cases. The area-averaged model-derived quantities for the grid centered over Nebraska indicate significant differences in the surface energy fluxes between the control (irrigated) and the ‘‘dry’’ simulations. For example, a 36% increase in the surface latent heat flux and a 2.68C elevation in dewpoint temperature between the control run and the OGE dry run is shown. Surface sensible heat flux of the control run was 15% less and the near-ground temperature was 1.28C less compared to the OGE dry run. The differences between the control run and the natural vegetation run were similar but amplified compared to the control run–OGE dry run comparisons. Results of statistical analyses of long-term(1921–2000) surface temperature data from two sites representing locations of extensive irrigated and nonirrigated land uses appear to support model results presented herein of an irrigationrelated cooling in surface temperature. Growing season monthly mean and monthly mean maximum temperature data for the irrigated site indicate a steady decreasing trend in contrast to an increasing trend at the nonirrigated site

An Assessment of the Factors Responsible for Flooding in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria

This study examined factors responsible for flooding in Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria. Data for the study were obtained through questionnaire administered on residents in flood prone areas of the metropolis. These were residential areas within less than 15m, between 16-30m and within 31-45m to major rivers in Ibadan metropolis. In each of these strata, there were 327,219 and 189, residential buildings. Twenty percent (20%) of the buildings was systematically selected for survey in each stratum out of which 11.7% of  buildings in less than 15m to the river had incidence of flooding, 8.8% and 1.4% of buildings within  15-30m and 31-45m respectively had been flooded at one time or the other. Residents attributed causes of flood in the metropolis to one or more factors. It was established that indiscriminate dumping of waste was the major cause of flooding in Ibadan metropolis (33.2%). Other causal factors were poor channelization (29.4%), flood plain encroachment (19%), and Pave surface (13.2%). Only excessive rainfall (5.3%) while clearing of drainage (36.4%) was the major actions of the residents toward reducing flooding in the area. The study concluded that various factors were responsible for flooding in Ibadan and strategies to reduce this menace must address each of the factors. Keywords: Flood, Disasters, Waste, Drainage, Environment.

Impact of Irrigation on Midsummer Surface Fluxes and Temperature under Dry Synoptic Conditions: A Regional Atmospheric Model Study of the U.S. High Plains

The impact of irrigation on the surface energy budget in the U.S. high plains is investigated. Four 15-day simulations were conducted: one using a 1997 satellite-derived estimate of farmland acreage under irrigation in Nebraska (control run), two using the Olson Global Ecosystem (OGE) vegetation dataset (OGE wet run and OGE dry run), and the fourth with the Kuchler vegetation dataset (natural vegetation run) as lower boundary conditions in the Colorado State University Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS). In the control and OGE wet simulations, the topsoil in the irrigated locations, up to a depth of 0.2 m, was saturated at 0000 UTC each day for the duration of the experiment (1–15 July 1997). In the other two runs, the soil was allowed to dry out, except when replenished naturally by rainfall. Identical observed atmospheric conditions were used along the lateral boundary in all four cases. The area-averaged model-derived quantities for the grid centered over Nebraska indicate significant differences in the surface energy fluxes between the control (irrigated) and the ‘‘dry’’ simulations. For example, a 36% increase in the surface latent heat flux and a 2.68C elevation in dewpoint temperature between the control run and the OGE dry run is shown. Surface sensible heat flux of the control run was 15% less and the near-ground temperature was 1.28C less compared to the OGE dry run. The differences between the control run and the natural vegetation run were similar but amplified compared to the control run–OGE dry run comparisons. Results of statistical analyses of long-term(1921–2000) surface temperature data from two sites representing locations of extensive irrigated and nonirrigated land uses appear to support model results presented herein of an irrigationrelated cooling in surface temperature. Growing season monthly mean and monthly mean maximum temperature data for the irrigated site indicate a steady decreasing trend in contrast to an increasing trend at the nonirrigated site

Hydrological Modeling of Aquifers and Their Ground Water Potentials: Implications for Water Resources Planning and Management in Parts of Obio/Akpor L.G.A, Rivers State

Abstract This study examined the hydrological modeling of aquifers and their ground water potentials for the purposes of water resources planning and management. This was done using the electrical resistivity method employing the schlumberger electrode configuration at randomly selected stations to obtain the thicknesses and resistivities of each layer and depth to the presumably conglomeratic sand stone and its resistivity. V. E. Weli et al. 37