Characteristics of Concrete Produced with Lagoon and Atlantic Ocean Water

Dwellers along the coastline area of Lagos state, Nigeria are exposed to abrmdant supply of the natural resources of Atlantic ocean and Lagoon water and may not have the privilege of having potable drinking water at their disposal for producing concrete. This study evaluates the characteristics of concrete produced with Atlantic ocean and Lagoon water. Concrete produced with tap water (regarded as potable drinking water) serves as the control experiment. Compressive strength, workability and density were used to evaluate the characteristics of concrete specimens. All the concrete samples have true shnnp with Lagoon water concrete having low workability and both tap and Atlantic ocean water concrete having medilllll workability. The concrete specimens produced with the three types of water fall into the category of normal weight concrete as their densities lie within the range of 2200-2600 kg m-3 specified. The 28th day compressive strength of concrete specimens produced with Atlantic ocean, tap and Lagoon water are 25.0 and 33.5 N mm-2 , 17.9 and 28.6 N mm-2 as well as 15.1 and 19.4 N mm-2 for mix ratios 1:3:6 and 1:2:4, respectively. It was concluded that tap water should be used in mixing concrete where strength is of major concern, Atlantic ocean water could be used where early strength is required and Lagoon water should only be used for general concrete works where strength is of less importance such as in mass concrete, floor screed and mortar

Effect of poultry manure and cow dung on the growth of Entandrophragma Angolense (WELW) C.DC

This study examined the effect of poultry manure and cow dung on the growth of Entandrophragma angolense. The experiment was carried out at Federal College of Forestry, Ibadan. The experiment lasted for 12 weeks. Three weeks old seedlings at two-leaf stage were transplanted into  polythene pots thoroughly mixed with varying levels of poultry manure and cow dung manure with 2 kg of top soil in each pot. Plants in control experiment had no treatment of organic fertilizer. The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with seven treatments  which were replicated three times. Plant height, number of leaves, stem girth, and leaf area were assessed weekly. The result obtained from the study shows that the seedlings treated with 10 g of cow dung performed best in all the parameters assessed with 11.73 cm for stem height, 30.58 cm2 for leaf area, 0.29 mm for stem girth and 6 for number of leaves produced and this is followed by seedlings treated with 10 g of poultry  dropping which had 11.52 cm for stem height, 26.48 cm2 for leaf area, 0.27 mm as stem girth and 5 leaves produced during the course of the study. It is thus concluded that cow dung is best used as organic manure for raising seedlings of Entandrophragma angolense during its early growth stage in the nursery. Keywords: Entandrophragma angolense, poultry manure, cow-dung, growth rate, mahogan

Information System Usage and Risk Management among Arable Crop Farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria

Farmers need to be adequately informed in employing economic strategies to tackle risk situations in agriculture. This study sought to examine the risk management coping strategy employed by the farmers, explore determinants of risk management strategies, and to establish the relationship between information systems and risk management strategy employed. Primary data were used from 141 randomly selected farmers. Pre-tested interview schedule was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics, Likert-type scale, Multinomial logistic regression, and Bivariate correlation analysis were used for data analyses. The results revealed that the majority of the farmers were riskaverse. Gender of household head, the highest level of education attained, household size, farming experience and membership of association had a significant effect on the choice of coping strategies employed by the farmers. Correlation results showed that the more access to information the farmers had to the different risks they encountered, the higher the management strategies they were likely to use. The study concludes that there is a significant relationship between information systems and risk management strategies employed. It was recommended that extension agents should be adequately sensitized on the various sources of information systems available to the farmers so that they can, in turn, pass the information to the farmers

Towards the specification of windows sizes for natural ventilation in classrooms in a warn climate, Nigeria

The paper presents a fundamental approach to the establishment of window sizes, essentially to facilitate (achieve) the promotion air movement in classrooms. A procedure that entailed the analysis of prevailing climatic conditions in relation to the thermal comfort requirement of classroom users has been used to establish some design parameters for windows. The parameters, which are areas of openings and orientation of windows, are basic to the design of classrooms for which adequate air movement is an essential requirement for achieving thermal comfort of pupils. The procedure and results can find relevance as aids or input in the design of classrooms and for policy makers charged with the responsibility of providing space facilities for basic education in the country. On another application, the procedure and results can also be sued to estimate the likely average air speeds in existing classrooms, or classroom on the drawing board, when the relevant parameters of outdoor wind speed, wind direction, areas of window openings window orientation are known

Labour composition for maintenance works in Public Hospital built environment in South-West, Nigeria

The study examined the labour composition for maintenance works in the public hospital buildings in South-West, Nigeria, and in the process identified if there are any significant differences in the execution of maintenance works using outsourcing and in-house labour. In achieving the objective, the study adopted research survey technique with a total of 552 questionnaires comprising 206 for maintenance staff and 346 for users of public hospital collected and used for the study. The survey covered 46 public hospitals representing 40% of the total number of public hospitals existing in South-West, Nigeria. It comprises all the 11 federal owned hospitals and 35 selected states owned based on stratified random sampling technique. Data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings of the study revealed that there is no variation in the work performed by the use of in-source and outsourced labour. However, maintenance staff rated the use of in-source better than outsource in that it is found to produce higher quality and better quality control of services, reduction in cost while outsourced gives an understanding of latest technologies with better access to special skills. Based on the above findings, the study recommends that maintenance staff should be well motivated. For optimum results, maintenance departments need to adopt sound policies, as this will provide appropriate basis for preparing budgets that will meet the actual maintenance needs of the hospital buildings and services. Maintenance managers are to do their best to prepare realistic need-based budgets while the government should make efforts to improve funding for hospital maintenance. Inefficiencies and inflexibility through the imposition of bureaucratic impediments to operational effectiveness should be avoided in hospital environment due to the sensitivity of the services being rendered. Maintenance staff and users of hospital buildings should be given opportunities for further training on their jobs also on effective use of hospital facilities

Effective maintenance policy as a tool for sustaining housing stock in downturn economy

The study considered how effective maintenance strategies could serve as a tool for sustaining housing delivery in periods of economic recession. It identified the causes of neglect of maintenance responsibilities in some selected government institutions, ministries, parastatals and public estates within Lagos metropolis and to develop adequate maintenance implementation strategies for these buildings. In achieving these objectives, opinions of (30) randomly sampled maintenance officers of selected government institutions, ministries, parastatals, and occupiers of selected public estates were collected using structured questionnaires and personal interviews. Data analysis indicated that lack of discernible maintenance culture in the country; lack of emphasis on training, retraining and continuing education on effective maintenance by establishment are the major reasons for neglect of maintenance responsibilities. The study also revealed that majority of the population studied provides budgets for maintenance operation but this was found to be inadequate. The study recommended proactive approaches to maintenance by providing guidelines for maintenance checklist operations on key building elements, frequencies for maintenance operations, and operatives required for effective implementation

Medicinal plants used for diarrhoea treatment in sheep and goats among smallholders in farm settlements of Ogun state, Nigeria

The use of traditional remedies in the treatment of diarrhoea in ruminants is a common form of therapy among poor resource smallholder farmers in Nigeria with restricted access to veterinary healthcare services. The medicinal plants of antidiarrheal importance in smallholder sheep and goat production systems were studied in farm settlements namely Ado-Odo, Ikenne and Ibiade, located in Ogun state, Nigeria. Techniques includinginterviews, observations and guided field walks were used to collect data from 150 farmers across the farm settlements. Results showed that all respondents owned either sheep or goats with goats more preferred, while diarrhea was also observed to be a major disease problem in goats compared to sheep. About 92% of the farmers admitted using anti-diarrhoea herbs and about 80% agreed to their effectiveness in the treatment of diarrhoea in sheep and goats. The study identified 11 plant species used to treat diarrhoea with varied recipe and the route of  administration was orally. Less than 12% of these plant parts were  administered solely, preparing as a single-component while the majority of the identified plants were used in combination with other plant parts. Phytochemical components were analyzed for tannin, saponin, flavonoid and alkaloid which were observed in different plant parts showing their potential as antidiarrheal agents.The usage of these plants could therefore be an indispensable component of traditional medicine practice which can serve as safe alternative and complementary medicines to various  allopathic drugs that could help safeguard health and obtain optimum production from animals.Keywords: Sheep, goats, diarrhoea, medicinal plants, phytochemical, Ogun state Nigeri

Ground magnetic survey for the investigation of magnetic minerals at Iboro Village, Abeokuta, south-western Nigeria

The geological map of the old western region of Nigeria indicates the presence of iron ore deposit at Iboro village Ogun state (7.9983o - 7.99933o N, 3.5790o - 3.5890o E). Hence a ground magnetic survey was carried out at a location at Iboro village so as to delineate the subsurface magnetic anomalies and to know whether the anomalies favour accumulation of magnetic minerals. The survey was carried out using high resolution proton precession magnetometer model G-856X. Eight traverses were run at 5m separations and earth magnetic intensity values were measured at 10m intervals along each traverse; the acquired data were corrected for drift. The residual anomalies obtained by removal of regional gradient from observed data using trend analysis were presented as profiles and maps. The treated data were qualitatively and quantitatively interpreted and the results gave values for the total ground magnetic anomalies that varied between a minimum and maximum peak values of about -33.0 and 30.6nT respectively. Depth to the basement rock was estimated using Peter’s half slope method which gave a maximum depth of about 13m. The contour maps and the total relative graphs present the subsurface picture of the geological structure that is assumed to harbour the metallic minerals through the action of the field towards the concentration of anomalies. It was suspected that the overburden was relatively thin in the study area and the minerals were at a shallow depth

Economics and Technical Efficiency of Dry Season Tomato Production in Selected Areas in Kwara State, Nigeria

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) is one of the major fruit vegetables in Nigeria. In view of its seasonal availability and the need to make it available all-year round, effort must be made to increase efficiency of its production especially during the dry season. A study was therefore carried out to examine the economics of dry season tomato production in Kwara state, Nigeria. It estimated the costs and returns and assessed the technical efficiency of dry season tomato production. A two-stage random sampling technique was used to select 105 respondents for the study. A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. Major tools of analysis used for the study were the gross margin analysis and the stochastic frontiers model. Results of the study showed that a gross margin of N 18,956.75/ha (US$ 120.74/ha) was realized from dry season tomato production. Furthermore, the result of the stochastic frontier model shows that age, education status of the farmers and access to credit had significant effect on the efficiency of dry season tomato production. This study therefore highlights the need for government to invest in public education and to make credit available to farmers as a way of reducing the burden of high cost of production