Small-scale fisheries development in Nigeria: Status, prospects, constraints/recommended solutions

The small-scale fisheries sector has been contributing immensely towards domestic fish production in Nigeria. Despite considerable contributions by the small-scale fisherman of Nigeria, with few exceptions, they continue to live at the margin of subsistence. This paper attempts to review the sector and propose strategies of integrated approach towards small-scale fisheries development in order to ensure that efforts at improving the rural fisheries succeed in over-coming identified constraints which include socio-cultural, political, economic, technological and other barrier

Lightweight Agents, Intelligent Mobile Agent and RPC Schemes: A Comparative Analysis

This paper presents the performance comparison of Lightweight Agents, Single Mobile Intelligent Agents and Remote Procedure Call which are tools for implementing communication in a distributed computing environment. Routing algorithms for each scheme is modeled based on TSP. The performance comparison among the three schemes is based on bandwidth overhead with retransmission, system throughput and system latency. The mathematical model for each performance metric is presented, from which mathematical model is derived for each scheme for comparison. The simulation results show that the LWAs has better performance than the other two schemes in terms of small bandwidth retransmission overhead, high system throughput and low system latency. The Bernoulli random variable is used to model the failure rate of the simulated network which is assumed to have probability of success p = 85% and the probability of failure q = 15%. The network availability is realized by multiplicative pseudorandom number generator during the simulation. The results of simulation are presented

Clinical Volunteering through the Pandemic: An Experience from Final Year Medical Students in Nigeria

First reported in Wuhan, China, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread globally causing it to be declared a pandemic. Its widespread nature necessitated lockdown measures in world nations including Nigeria. Instituted lockdown measures led to the closure of tertiary institutions in the country. Medical schools were designated as high-risk institutions due to possible exposure to COVID-19. With no measures for virtual learning, academic activities were put on hold, thus posing a challenge for medical students. The author in this article discovered an opportunity to learn in the midst of the lockdown by volunteering at a healthcare institution. In the course of volunteering, the author had symptoms highly suggestive of COVID-19. However, it was not confirmed by a Polymerase Chain Reaction test due to obstacles surrounding COVID-19 testing in the country. Following recovery, the author participated in risk communication to members of his community to curtail the spread and dispel the myths concerning COVID-19. While the volunteering experience provided an opportunity to continue medical education, it is vital that there be a shift in the Nigerian educational system to one where academic activities are not disrupted by pandemics or other situations that might not permit on-site learning

Cestodes in fish from a pond at Ile-Ife, Nigeria

The Farm Pond, University of Ife, was impounded by the construction of a dam, below the confluence of two small streams, between March and July, 1967. The pond is located at an altitude of 122.4 m. 0.D., its outline is an indented trapezium occupying 445 dkrn' at maximum fill. Natural food is fed into the pond by its two inlets, and the pond is often coloured a darkish brown due to the abundance of plankton. In 1969, on the recommendation by the Fishery Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Ibadan, about four standard head-pans of poultry droppings per 40 dkm2 per month were spread uniformly over the pond during 1969 and 1970. Also four pounds of triple superphosphate per acre per month were spread for a period of six months. The pond was drained a number of times in 1970. However, the lowest average level of 1.37 m was recorded in April, 1970, before drainage began; and the maximum depth of 5.7 m was recorded in September and October, 1970

A fuzzy semantic information retrieval system for transactional applications

In this paper, we present an information retrieval system based on the concept of fuzzy logic to relate vague and uncertain objects with un-sharp boundaries. The simple but comprehensive user interface of the system permits the entering of uncertain specifications in query forms. The system was modelled and simulated in a Matlab environment; its implementation was carried out using Borland C++ Builder. The result of the performance measure of the system using precision and recall rates is encouraging. Similarly, the smaller amount of more precise information retrieved by the system will positively impact the response time perceived by the users

Determinants of Gender Income Inequality in Selected Sub- Saharan African Countries

While there has been a reduction in the global gender wage gap in the last few decades, considerable income gaps biased against women still exist and several causal factors have been identified. However, previous studies have been concentrated mostly on developed countries. This study analysed the factors responsible for gender income inequality in seven selected sub-Saharan African countries. The analysis of the result showed that gender income inequality was significantly influenced by tertiary education (t=7.85, p<0.05), population growth (t=-3.98, p<0.05), and government expenditure (t=6.29, p<0.05) in the selected sub-Saharan African countries. There has been slow decline in gender gap in education and occupation while gender income inequality is stalled. Keywords: Gender, Income Inequality, Panel Data

Influence of Vermicast on Early Growth of Black Afara (Terminaliaivorensis A. Chev.) Seedlings

This study assessed the effect of vermicast on the early growth of Terminalia ivorensis A.Chev. (Black Afara) seedlings which belongs to the family Combretaceae. Seedlings were raised on Vermicast (100%), Vermicast + Topsoil (1:1,) and topsoil media. There were three (3) treatments, replicated four (4) times and laid in Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The experiment was monitored for 12 weeks and the following variables were assessed, plant height (cm), stem diameter (mm), leaf production and the leaf area (cm2 ). Data collected were subjected to descriptive statistics and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results revealed that the seedling growth parameters measured were not significantly affected by the vermicast treatments at 5% probability level, except plant height. The best performance was observed in the seedlings raised with T2 (Vermicast + Topsoil) in plant height, stem diameter, leaf production and leaf area with mean values of 28.55cm, 0.55mm, 18.25 and 38.87cm2 respectively while the least performance was recorded in T3 (100% top soil) in plant height, stem diameter, leaf production and leaf area with mean values of 22.06cm, 0.49mm, 15.25 and 49.72cm2 respectively. It is therefore recommended that 50% vermicast should be used to improve the growth media in order to enhance the early growth of Terminalia ivorensis seedlings at the nursery stage.Keywords: Vermicast, Terminalia ivorensis, Early Growth, Seedling

Multi-Agent System Approach for Trustworthy Cloud Service Discovery

Accessing the advantages of cloud computing requires that a prospective user has proper access to trustworthy cloud services. It is a strenuous and laborious task to find resources and services in a heterogeneous network such as cloud environment. The cloud computing paradigm being a form of distributed system with a complex collection of computing resources from different domains with different regulatory policies but having a lot of values could enhance the mode of computing. However, a monolithic approach to cloud service discovery cannot help the necessities of cloud environment efficiently. This study put forward a distributive approach for finding sincere cloud services with the use of Multi-Agents System for ensuring intelligent cloud service discovery from trusted providers. Experiments were carried out in the study using CloudAnalyst and the results indicated that extending the frontiers MAS approach into cloud service discovery by way of integrating trust into the process improves the quality of service in respect of response time and scalability. A further comparative analysis of the Multi-Agents System approach for cloud service discovery to monolithic approach showed that Multi-Agents System approach is highly efficient, and highly flexible for trustworthy cloud service discovery

Charging for Computer Networks at Higher Educational Institutions in Developing Countries

The advantage of the Internet to academia and research cannot be underestimated; nevertheless in developing countries the ability to support this important resource, as a viable tool for teaching and research, is undermined by lack of funding. This makes it necessary to apply a charging mechanism that will make it possible to render this facility available to the higher education system, while encouraging its use primarily for teaching and research. In this paper we present a proposal for a charging system that can be applied to achieve this aim. Our proposal discourages the use of the Academic Network for purposes other than teaching and research

Contribution of locust bean seed processing to the household of Rural Women in Oyo State, Nigeria

This study was carried out to assess the contribution of locust bean seed processing to the household of rural women in Oyo State Nigeria. Means of livelihood, existing processing techniques, level of income, contribution of locust bean and constraints hindering locust bean processing by women in the study area were examined. Multi stage sampling technique was used to select 12l women processors as respondents. Questionnaires were administered to the sampled respondents of which 120 were retrieved. The data were subjected to descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean) and inferential statistics. The results revealed that 33.3%% of processors were between the ages of 51 years and above. Majority (76.7%) of the respondents relied on locust bean processing as means of livelihood. All the respondents used traditional method of processing. The result revealed that there is no significant (p>0.05) relationship between the selected socioeconomic characteristic variables and contributions of locust bean seed processing. The result also showed positive and significant (p<0.05) relationship between livelihood income, perceived constraints and contributions of locust bean seed processing to the household of rural women. Difficult in locust bean processing (35.8%), scarcity of water/flowing river (18.3%) and inadequate capital (11.7%) were reported as most important constraints to locust lean processing in the study area. It was concluded that locust bean processing has the potential to improve the processors’ household economy thus allowing agricultural development and sustainability provided the constraints are adequately addressed.Keywords: Locust bean, Processing, Rural Women, Oyo State, Livelihoo