Nitrogen and weed management in transplanted tomato in the Nigerian forest-savanna transition zone

Weed infestation and inherent low soil fertility are among primary reasons for low yields of tomato in Nigeria. Field trials were carried out during the wet season of 2015 and 2016 to evaluate yield response of tomato to nitrogen (N) application and weed control methods in the forest-savanna transition zone of Abeokuta, Nigeria. Positive relationship exists between growth of weed species and increase in N application. Across the years of study, increase in N up to 90 kg/ha increased weed density by 11–25%, however, the increased N gave the transplanted tomato competitive advantage and thus enhanced weed smothering. Pre-transplant application of butachlor (50% w/v) or probaben® (metolachlor 20% w/v+prometryn 20% w/v) each at 2.0 kg a.i/ha followed by supplementary hoe weeding at 6 weeks after transplanting (WAT) significantly reduced weed density by at least 15% and increased fruit yield of tomato by at least 32%, compared to use of the pre-transplant herbicides alone, across both years of study. The greatest tomato fruit yield of 12.2 t/ha was obtained with pre-transplant application of butachlor at 2.0 kg a.i/ha followed by supplementary hoe weeding at 6 WAT, averaged for both years. In general, this study suggests that increased application of N up to 90 kg/ha, and complementary weed control by pre-transplant herbicide and hoe weeding at 6 WAT would improve yield of tomato in the forestsavanna transition zone of Nigeria

Website and Television Broadcasting of National Parks: A Perceived Possibility of Promoting and Marketing National Parks in Nigeria

The current coronavirus outbreak has made several organizations such as schools churches real estate consultants tourist attraction centres begin to exploit the benefits of information technology to ensure the continuous running of their operation through website and television broadcast The need for National Park in the developing countries to showcase their flora fauna and environment through website and television broadcast intervention WTBI are not farfetched It is believed WTBI could market and promote national parks in developing countries to potential tourists because through website and television broadcast intervention WTBI the developed countries have achieved high operational efficiency and income to increase National Park Visitation Intention NPVI of tourists As such they have generated so much income through tourism to their national parks The study utilized online survey to evaluate the adequacy of current WTB intervention puts in place by management of national parks in Nigeria and the consequent effects of improving on current WTBI to market and promote national parks in Nigeri

INFLUENCE OF INTER-ROW SPACING AND WEED CONTROL METHODS IN GROUNDNUT (Arachis hypogeal (L.)

Weed competition has been identified as one of the major obstacles in crop production. The produc-tion of groundnut is limited by high weed infestation resulting in yield losses ranging from 50 - 80% in Nigeria. Hence, the need to evaluate integrated weed control in its production. Field trials were there-fore conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (7o 20’ N, 30 23’ E) to evaluate the influence of inter-row spacing and weed control methods on growth and yield of groundnut during the wet seasons in 2009 and 2010. The experiment was a Randomised Complete Design (RCBD) laid out in a split plot with three replications. The main plot treatment con-sisted of three inter-row spacings of 60 cm, 75 cm and 90 cm while the subplots included five weed control treatments of commercial formulation of metolachlor plus promethyne mixture (codal) at 1.0 kg a.i/ha, codal at 1.0 kg a.i./ha followed by supplementary hoe weeding at 6 weeks after sowing (WAS), codal at 2 kg a.i./ha, hoe weeding at 3, 6 and 9 WAS and a weedy check. Inter-row spacings of 60 cm and 75 cm reduced weed growth with consequent higher yields compared to the inter-row spacings of 90 cm in the early season of 2009. Application of codal at 1.0 kg a.i./ha followed by supplementary hoe weeding at 6 WAS combined with 60cm inter-row spacing gave effective weed control and higher groundnut pod yield than hoe-weeded control in both years of experimentation

Physical restraint in older people: A statement from the early career network of the international psychogeriatric association

The International Psychogeriatric Association (IPA) has expressed significant concerns over the use of physical restraints in older people across diverse aged care settings. Following an extensive analysis of the available literature, the IPA\u27s Early Career Network (ECN) has formulated a collection of evidence-based recommendations aimed at guiding the use of physical restraints within various care contexts and demographic groups. Physical restraints not only infringe upon human rights but also raise significant safety concerns that adversely impact the physical, psychological, social, and functional well-being of older adults. Furthermore, their effectiveness in geriatric settings remains inadequate. Given these considerations, the IPA and its ECN firmly assert that the use of physical restraints should only be considered as a final recourse in the care of older people

High Incidence of Forest Fires and Preventive Measures in Cocoa Research Institute Plantations Ibadan, Oyo State

This study was carried out to ascertain the high incidence of forest fire and its preventive measures in Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria(CRIN) plantations Ibadan, Oyo state. Fire is used as work tool by rural population, it serves as land clearing method for agricultural land, flushes management for livestock, wastes disposal, honey gathering, animal tracking and hunting. A multistage sampling approach was used to select 120 respondents. Data were collected using interview schedule on socioeconomics characteristics, perceived causes of forest fire, effect of forest fire and preventive measures to forest fire. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistic. The result revealed that the mean age was 44.9 years and majority (72.7%) were male, 83.0% of them were married. Also a very good number of respondents (97.7%) has various level of education. Bush burning to eradicate weed as a perceived cause of forest fire was ranked 1st with the mean value of 1.36. Destruction of CRIN mandate crops parent materials as the effect of forest fire was ranked 1st with the mean value of 1.42 and controlled bush burning was ranked 1st with mean value of 1.64 among the preventive measure of forest fire. It was revealed that significant relationships were observed between sex (?2= 6.000, p = 0.014), Religion (?2= 8.693, p= 0.013) on the preventive measures of forest in CRIN plantations

Anti-Black racism in clinical supervision:asynchronous simulated encounters facilitate reflective practice

Background: Racist interactions in clinical practice remain a pervasive reality for Black healthcare providers. We sought to develop a framework to inform supervisors' actions when confronting racism in clinical practice and protecting trainees under their oversight.Methods: We conducted a qualitative study in which experienced supervisors responded to seven short, videotaped interactions between: 1) Black trainees and a simulated patient (SP) in a racist role; 2) the trainees and their respective supervisors; and 3) the trainees and their supervisors together with the SP. The clinical exchanges exemplified different types of racist (entrenching) or antiracist (uprooting) behaviors by the supervisors. After viewing each clip, participants wrote their reflections confidentially; they later joined a structured debriefing together. We used thematic analysis to identify supervisors' behavioral patterns when confronting racist interactions.Results: Based on the input of 52 participants recruited into five two-hour-long sessions, we categorized the behaviors of supervisors facing anti-Black racial injuries involving learners under their oversight. We organized supervisor behaviors into five interlocking domains, each with a range of possible themes: 1) Joining: from conciliatory to confrontational in communicating with the aggressor; 2) Explicitness: from avoiding to naming racism; 3) Ownership: from individual to shared responsibility of the event and the response to it; 4) Involving: from excusing to including the aggrieved party when confronting the aggressor; and 5) Stance: from protective to paternalistic in supporting the learner's autonomy.Conclusions: Our qualitative findings can provide a framework for facilitated discussion toward reflective practice among healthcare providers who may have experienced, witnessed, or intervened in anti-Black racist interactions. They can also help medical educators to inform faculty development to fight anti-Black racism in clinical practice. The video materials we developed are available for viewing and download and can be used or adapted as springboards for reflective discussion or faculty development activities. </p

Potentials of microorganisms associated with plantain peels in the Lagos metropolis for biodegradation and bioconversion.

The role of microbes in the degradation of plantain derived-wastes and their potential to produce cellulolytic enzymes was assessed. Soil samples of decomposing waste piles were collected from two major plantain markets in the Lagos metropolis and analyzed for physicochemical properties, toxic heavy metal content and microbial populations. Findings revealed that the values of moisture content of the two soils varied between 7.27±0.04 and 8.06±0.19 %. M-12 site had the highest organic matter content of 6.89±0.14 %. A similar pattern was observed for nitrate, phosphate and chloride levels while some heavy metals were also detected in varying and high amounts. The highest viable bacterial counts was 58.0±2.9 x 104 cfu/g at MU and there were no fungi at the site whereas M-12 had a fungal count of 40.0±3.3 x 103 cfu/g. Out of the total of 34 isolates encountered, 8 isolates having maximum cellulase activities were selected for further studies by the primary screening technique. These test organisms were then evaluated by secondary screening for enzyme production. The test organisms were phenotypically and biochemically characterized and identified as Klebsiella pneumoniae spp pneumoniae (2 strains), Klebsiella pneumoniae spp ozaenae, Enterobacter aerogenes, Providencia alcalifaciens, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus niger respectively. Both the bacteria and moulds were found to be capable of utilizing lignin and cellulosic substrates for growth and for production of cellulolytic enzymes. It is suggested that such microorganisms could be useful in bioconversion of cellulosic substrates like plantain-derived wastes for biotechnological application

Multi-proxy speleothem-based reconstruction of mid-MIS 3 climate in South Africa

The southern coast of South Africa displays a highly dynamical climate as it is at the convergence of the Atlantic and Indian oceans, and it is located near the subtropical/temperate zone boundary with seasonal influence of easterlies and westerlies. The region hosts some key archeological sites with records of significant cognitive, technological and social developments. Reconstructions of the state and variability of past climate and environmental conditions around sites of archeological significance can provide crucial context for understanding the evolution of early humans. Here we present a short but high-resolution record of hydroclimate and temperature in South Africa. Our reconstructions are based on trace elements, calcite and fluid inclusion stable isotopes, as well as fluid inclusion microthermometry, from a speleothem collected in Bloukrantz cave, in the De Hoop Nature Reserve in the southern Cape region of South Africa. Our record covers the time period from 48.3 to 45.2 ka during marine isotope stage 3. Both δ18Oc and δ13Cc show strong variability and covary with Sr/Ca. This correlation suggests that the control on these proxies originates from internal cave processes such as prior carbonate precipitation, which we infer to be related to precipitation amount. The hydroclimate indicators furthermore suggest a shift towards overall drier conditions after 46 ka, coincident with cooling in Antarctica and drier conditions in the eastern part of South Africa corresponding to the summer rainfall zone (SRZ). Fluid inclusion-based temperature reconstructions show good agreement between the oxygen isotope and microthermometry methods, and results from the latter display little variation throughout the record, with reconstructed temperatures close to the present-day cave temperature of 17.5 ∘C. Overall, the BL3 speleothem record thus suggests relatively stable temperature from 48.3 to 45.2 ka, whereas precipitation was variable with marked drier episodes on sub-millennial timescales.</p

Biological sample donation and informed consent for neurobiobanking: Evidence from a community survey in Ghana and Nigeria

Copyright: \ua9 2022 Singh et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Introduction Genomic research and neurobiobanking are expanding globally. Empirical evidence on the level of awareness and willingness to donate/share biological samples towards the expansion of neurobiobanking in sub-Saharan Africa is lacking. Aims To ascertain the awareness, perspectives and predictors regarding biological sample donation, sharing and informed consent preferences among community members in Ghana and Nigeria. Methods A questionnaire cross-sectional survey was conducted among randomly selected community members from seven communities in Ghana and Nigeria. Results Of the 1015 respondents with mean age 39.3 years (SD 19.5), about a third had heard of blood donation (37.2%, M: 42.4%, F: 32.0%, p = 0.001) and a quarter were aware of blood sample storage for research (24.5%; M: 29.7%, F: 19.4%, p = 0.151). Two out of ten were willing to donate brain after death (18.8%, M: 22.6%, F: 15.0%, p&lt;0.001). Main reasons for unwillingness to donate brain were; to go back to God complete (46.6%) and lack of knowledge related to brain donation (32.7%). Only a third of the participants were aware of informed consent (31.7%; M: 35.9%, F: 27.5%, p&lt;0.001). Predictors of positive attitude towards biobanking and informed consent were being married, tertiary level education, student status, and belonging to select ethnic groups. Conclusion There is a greater need for research attention in the area of brain banking and informed consent. Improved context-sensitive public education on neurobiobanking and informed consent, in line with the sociocultural diversities, is recommended within the African sub region