Comparative Quality Evaluation of Oven-Roasted and Honey-Coated Cashew (Anarcadium occidentale, L.) Nut produced using Locally Fabricated Cashew Nut Processing Machine in Nigeria

— Raw cashew nuts were processed to obtain cashew kernels. Part of the kernels was roasted using mud oven while another part was honey coated and dried. The two samples were subjected to chemical, microbial and sensory analysis to compare their quality attributes. Differences were observed in some chemical compositions of the two samples; moisture content value of the oven roasted kernel was significantly (

PROJECTION OF CRITERIA AIR POLLUTANTS EMISSION FROM ON-ROAD VEHICLES IN THE MEGACITY OF LAGOS, NIGERIA

The increase in the mode of transportation has become a serious environmental threat that has resulted in the emission of criteria air pollutants (CAPs) into the atmosphere. These CAPs are sulphur oxides (SOx), particulate matter (PM), lead (Pb), carbon monoxide (CO), and nitrogen oxides (NOx). This study examined the emission of CAPs from road traffic use in Lagos State. Data for the inventories of the production of these five sources were taken from 1997–2011 and were used to forecast CAPs emissions from 2012–2030. The petroleum products consumption data were sourced from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Five categories of CAPs were studied and their corresponding emissions from 1997–2011 were computed as follows: SOx: 209–15,358t, NOx: 2,038–25,692t, CO: 24,996–186,202t, PM: 155–995t, Pb: 0.8 4.5t. Projection and forecasting of CAPs emissions from 2012 to 2030 were carried out using the Box Jenkins ARIMA method. There were close similarities between the observed and forecast values. The predicted CAPs emissions between 2012 to 2030 will be 309t for SOx, 22,600 – 41,300t for NOx, 100,000 – 300,000t for CO, 414t for PM, and 0.7t for Pb. The study concluded that there is tendency for these CAPs emissions to increase if the authorities and stakeholders do nothing. Several mitigation measures aimed towards reducing future CAPs emissions in Lagos State were recommended for the various sources

Effect of digitalization on the performance of commercial banks in Nigeria

This study investigates how digitalization enhances the performance of commercial banks adopting the purposive method and simple random sampling selecting 370 nonmanagerial employees from a commercial bank. A self-structured questionnaire was used as the major instrument for data collection and was analysed using SPSS version 25. From the result, it was discovered that there was a mild significant and positive relationship between the digitalization process and commercial bank performance (r = 0.114*; p< .05). Also, there is a positive significant relationship between product innovation and performance of commercial banks in Nigeria (r = 0.186; p< 0.001). The study recommends that digitalization processes if adequately and correctly implemented, will have a significant positive relationship on the performance of commercial banks in Nigeria ceteris paribus

EFFECTS OF PALM KERNEL CAKE SUPPLEMENT ON FATTY ACID PROFILE AND MILK COMPOSITION OF LACTATING WAD GOATS FED GRASS SILAGE

The scarcity of quality feed and cost-effective supplements necessitates verifiable concentrate as a supplement for goat milk production. Palm Kernel Cake (PKC), an oil palm by-product rich in protein and energy, gradually replaced Prepared Concentrate (PC) in this study. This replacement's impact on milk composition and fatty acid profile in lactating WAD goats fed grass silage basal diet was assessed. Five supplement concentrates with varying PC: PKC ratios (100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, 0:100) were fed to 25 lactating WAD goats in a randomized setting of 5 animals per group. The replacement significantly affected (p<0.05) milk fat, protein, specific gravity, ash, and fat-corrected milk. The highest milk fat (2.17%) came from 100%PKC supplementation, while the lowest (0.77%) came from 25% PKC. Total solid fat values were not significantly affected. Fat Corrected Milk results mirrored the milk fat trend. The 100%PKC group had the highest crude protein (8.22%), while 25% and 75%PKC were not different (p<0.05). Fatty acid profile, expressed as total Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAMEs) g/kg, showed increased medium and long-chain fatty acids as PC was replaced. In conclusion, 100% PKC supplementation enhanced milk fat, while 50% PC replacement increased long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in goat mil

Effects of palm kernel cake supplement on fatty acid profile and milk composition of lactating wad goats fed grass silage

The scarcity of quality feed and cost-effective supplements necessitates verifiable concentrate as a supplement for goat milk production. Palm Kernel Cake (PKC), an oil palm by-product rich in protein and energy, gradually replaced Prepared Concentrate (PC) in this study. This replacement's impact on milk composition and fatty acid profile in lactating WAD goats fed grass silage basal diet was assessed. Five supplement concentrates with varying PC: PKC ratios (100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, 0:100) were fed to 25 lactating WAD goats in a randomized setting of 5 animals per group. The replacement significantly affected (p<0.05) milk fat, protein, specific gravity, ash, and fat-corrected milk. The highest milk fat (2.17%) came from 100% PKC supplementation, while the lowest (0.77%) came from 25% PKC. Total solid fat values were not significantly affected. Fat Corrected Milk results mirrored the milk fat trend. The 100% PKC group had the highest crude protein (8.22%), while 25% and 75%PKC were not different (p<0.05). Fatty acid profile, expressed as total Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAMEs) g/kg, showed increased medium and long-chain fatty acids as PC was replaced. In conclusion, 100% PKC supplementation enhanced milk fat, while 50% PC replacement increased long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in goat mil

Antioxidant status, hematology, performance, organ and carcass evaluation of heat_stressed broiler chickens fed with dietary Bambusa vulgaris leaf meal

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the inclusion of bamboo leaf meal (BLM) in broiler chicken feed to alleviate heat stress. Materials and Methods: This investigation was conducted following institutional policies guiding the handling of animals as approved for scientific research. 150 heat-stressed Arbor Acres broiler chickens were divided randomly into five dietary treatments, T1–T5, of 30 per treatment and 10 per replicate, to determine the consequence of feeding BLM on health and performance. Birds in T1–T4 were fed 0%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2% BLM-included diets, respectively, while T5 had a 0.2% vitamin C-included diet. Results: Increasing dietary BLM positively impacted body weight gain, feed intake, feed conver�sion rate (FCR), and stress indices levels. Broiler chickens had better feed intake (267 gm), weight gain (1,504 gm), and FCR (3.64) in T4. Serum glutathione peroxidase and malondialdehyde levels were not statistically different with increasing dietary BLM, while corticosterone levels were lower for chickens fed with dietary BLM. The superoxide dismutase index levels did not follow a particu�lar pattern as dietary BLM increased. The hematology, carcass, and organ quality were unaffected by dietary BLM inclusion. Conclusion: BLM inclusions up to 2% in the broiler diet ameliorate heat stress conditions and improve performance without imposing any detrimental impact on the birds

3D finite element electrical model of larval zebrafish ECG signals

Assessment of heart function in zebrafish larvae using electrocardiography (ECG) is a potentially useful tool in developing cardiac treatments and the assessment of drug therapies. In order to better understand how a measured ECG waveform is related to the structure of the heart, its position within the larva and the position of the electrodes, a 3D model of a 3 days post fertilisation (dpf) larval zebrafish was developed to simulate cardiac electrical activity and investigate the voltage distribution throughout the body. The geometry consisted of two main components; the zebrafish body was modelled as a homogeneous volume, while the heart was split into five distinct regions (sinoatrial region, atrial wall, atrioventricular band, ventricular wall and heart chambers). Similarly, the electrical model consisted of two parts with the body described by Laplace’s equation and the heart using a bidomain ionic model based upon the Fitzhugh-Nagumo equations. Each region of the heart was differentiated by action potential (AP) parameters and activation wave conduction velocities, which were fitted and scaled based on previously published experimental results. ECG measurements in vivo at different electrode recording positions were then compared to the model results. The model was able to simulate action potentials, wave propagation and all the major features (P wave, R wave, T wave) of the ECG, as well as polarity of the peaks observed at each position. This model was based upon our current understanding of the structure of the normal zebrafish larval heart. Further development would enable us to incorporate features associated with the diseased heart and hence assist in the interpretation of larval zebrafish ECGs in these conditions