WATER RESOURCES USE, ABUSE AND REGULATIONS IN NIGERIA

The evolvement processes of water laws in Nigeria, as well as their efficiency in the sustenance of surface water resources, were studied. A cursory look was also taken into the mode of access to water resources by households in Nigeria. This was done vis-à-vis the governmental effort at providing potable water for its teeming population as well as the Land Use Act of 1978, which vests absolute control and ownership of all water resources, ground and surface, in the land owner. About 47 million Nigerians still rely, exclusively, on surface water sources to meet their domestic needs. Yet, pollution discharge into the surface water by individuals and industries go on unmitigated, unregulated, and unpunished due to weaknesses in the existing laws. The involvement of the scientific community in the regular calibration and monitoring of surface water quality as a tool for managing the surface and groundwater resources, among other things, would be an advantageous tool for curbing the pollution menace

Study of Auto Purification Capacity of River Atuwara in Nigeria

The aim of this paper was to study and predict the self-purification capacity of River Atuwara. This was done primarily by measuring the Dissolved Oxygen (DO) downstream of a pre-selected pollution discharge point on River Atuwara and then predicting the same using the modified Streeter-Phelps equations. Other data gathered from each of the 17 sampling stations on River Atuwara and used in the analysis included Biochemical Oxygen Demand, (BOD), pH, stream velocity, stream depth and distance. Predicted DO deficit trend lines were first fitted by retaining the original re-aeration coefficient component, k2, of the modified Streeter-Phelps equation (USGS equation) and subsequently by substituting it with Atuwara reaeration coefficient model. It was found that the latter displayed better predictive capacity. Results also demonstrated that the auto-purification capacity of the river which is already limited by the relatively low DO saturation level is further threatened by the wastes being discharged into it at varying intervals. Some of the wastes which are non-biodegradable and acidic were also found to be interrupting the auto-purification processes of the river. Water from River Atuwara requires treatment before it can be considered safe for consumption by its current users

Lime and Mango Juice as Coagulants for Soft Cheese Made from Fresh or Reconstituted Milk

In order to simplify the cheese-making process and find suitable alternatives to sodom apple as coagulant, cheese was prepared from fresh and reconstituted milk using lime and mango juice as coagulants. Treatments correspond to fresh milk coagulated with lime (FML), reconstituted milk coagulated with lime (RML), fresh milk coagulated with mango (FMM), reconstituted milk coagulated with mango (RMM). Chemical composition of cheese varied significantly across the treatments. Total solids was 49.9, 43.4, 49.6 and 42.1%; protein was 20.6, 18.1, 21.6 and18.9%; while fat content was 22.4, 19.7, 21.6 and 17.9% for FML, RML, FMM and RMM respectively. Protein and fat content of cheese made from fresh milk was higher than that from reconstituted milk. Mango-precipitated cheese had higher protein than lime-precipitated cheese while lime-precipitated cheese had higher fat content than mango-precipitated cheese. Cheese yield varied from 11- 16% with lime-precipitated cheese having higher yields than mango-precipitated cheese, and fresh milk yielding more cheese than reconstituted milk. Acceptability scores were 7.1, 7.1, 7.1 and 6.6 for FML, RML, FMM and RMM respectively on a scale of 1-9. Except for RMM which had a significantly lower score, there were no significant differences in acceptability for FML, RML and FMM. When compared with wara cheese purchased from the open market, lime and mango-precipitated cheese generally had better consumer acceptance than wara (acceptability score of 6.7).   These results show that lime and mango juice can serve as suitable alternatives to sodom apple juice as coagulants for fresh cheese. Reconstituted milk can also be used for making cheese where availability of fresh milk is limited. Keywords: fresh cheese, coagulants, lime, mango, mil

Solving Dynamic Traveling Salesman Problem Using Dynamic Gaussian Process Regression

This paper solves the dynamic traveling salesman problem (DTSP) using dynamic Gaussian Process Regression (DGPR) method. The problem of varying correlation tour is alleviated by the nonstationary covariance function interleaved with DGPR to generate a predictive distribution for DTSP tour. This approach is conjoined with Nearest Neighbor (NN) method and the iterated local search to track dynamic optima. Experimental results were obtained on DTSP instances. The comparisons were performed with Genetic Algorithm and Simulated Annealing. The proposed approach demonstrates superiority in finding good traveling salesman problem (TSP) tour and less computational time in nonstationary conditions

DEVELOPMENT OF A VIBRATORY HONEY EXTRACTOR

Extraction of honey from honey comb is extracted predominantly using either traditional method or the mechanical screw press method which generates a problem of crushing the comb along with the extract. This creates an additional cost of separating unwanted materials in the extract. To solve this problem for stakeholders in the honey business worldwide, a vibratory honey extractor was conceived, designed and fabricate. The machine was made of stainless, mild steel and plastic materials. The machine has a capacity of 2.5 Kw and operates at speed and frequency of 483 rpm and 50 Hz respectively. The machine was able to attain an extract of 98.9% a value far better than the centrifugal method within 40 minutes of operation. A reduction to 0.21 of the initial weight of honey extraction was obtained at an average extraction rate of 7.36g /min. The honey extracted was good quality given the best acceptable value for all stakeholders in the honey business industries

Prevalence and type of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance in an apparently healthy Nigerian population: a cross sectional study

Background The prevalence of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), a premalignant plasma-cell disorder has not been determined in our geographic area Nigeria. Methods A cross sectional survey was carried on apparently healthy Nigerians selected by multistage sampling technique from the cosmopolitan city of Lagos, Nigeria. Subjects enrolled into the study had 2-step screening for the presence, type and concentration of monoclonal band. Agarose-gel electrophoresis was performed on all serum samples, and any serum sample with a discrete band of monoclonal protein or thought to have a localized band was subjected to Immunofixation. Subjects were also evaluated for Bence jones proteinuria, haematological and biochemical parameters. Results Four hundred and ten subjects with a mean age of 45.68 ± 10.3 years, a median of 45.00 years and a range of 20 to 80 years were enrolled into the study. MGUS was identified in only one (0.24 percent) of the 410 study subject. This subject was demonstrated to have a double monoclonal gammopathy; IgGλ at 16.9 g/L and IgAκ at 8.5 g/L. None of them including the sole subject with MGUS had a monoclonal urinary light chain. Conclusion Among residents of Lagos, Nigeria, MGUS was found in only 0.24% percent of apparently normal persons with a median age of 45 years. This suggests that MGUS which represents the earliest stage of monoclonal plasma/lymphoid cell proliferation is not a common finding in the relatively young population of Nigeria. Future epidemiologic studies dealing with plasma cell disorders in older people are required to carefully examine the relationship between environmental factors and prevalence of MGUS and its ultimate progression to MM

Effect of industrial effluents on water quality of River Atuwara in Ota, Nigeria. In Adeyemo

The impacts of industrial wastewaters discharged into River Atuwara were estimated from the physical and chemical characteristics of the samples using standard methods. The quality of the effluent before and after dilution in the receiving water and impact on the use of the water for irrigation was studied using QUAL2K software for hydrodynamic analysis of streams and rivers. From the inputted data into the QUAL2K software, the average (and range) of the stream depth, velocity of flow and flow rates of the reaches studied were respectively 0.915m (0.49-2.59 m), 0.336 m/s (0.21-0.4 m/s) and 14.66 m3/s (3.48-59.36 m3/s). Majority of the water quality parameters exceeded the maximum concentration permissible: BOD: ≥ 31 mg/L; COD: ≥ 181 mg/L; Alkalinity: ≥ 138.4 mg/L; TSS: ≥ 826 mg/L; TDS: ≥ 501 mg/L; Chloride: ≥ 9.95 mg/L; Nitrates ≥ 11.3 mg/L and Phosphates ≥ 2.92 mg/L. High concentration of heavy metals such as Cadmium (≥ 0.017 ppm), Pb (≥ 0.29 ppm), Zn (≥ 0.001 ppm), Fe (≥ 7.04 ppm) and Mn (≥ 0.127 ppm) portends environmental hazard to riparian users. Although the water in the river could be used for irrigation to encourage urban agriculture as practiced along the river, the gross pollution of the river underscores the need for pre-treatment of the industrial effluents before discharge into the receiving water body

Design of an Intelligent Poultry Feed and Water Dispensing System Using Fuzzy Logic Control Technique

Prohibitive cost of production and laborious human involvement in poultry farms in the tropics could lead to low profit yield and low return on investment. Unfortunately, over-involvement of humans in the feeding system of poultry could lead to disease outbreak, undue fatigue and malnutrition of birds. These flaws in the poor feeding system of birds prompted this research work by developing an intelligent fuzzy logic based system that could mimic the roles of the poultry attendants in delivering water and feed dispensing for birds at specified time intervals. Water and feed level in the trough would be sensed by the designed system and dispense intelligently with respect to the variations in water and feed level as birds consume the feed and water. This system reduces workload of the poultry attendants, increases cost benefits and generates better return on investment in a deep litter poultry farming system Keywords: Microcontroller, Fuzzy Logic, Artificial Intelligence, Poultry Control System, Intelligent Water Dispensing, Deep Litter Syste