AN INVESTIGATIVE STUDY OF INFORMATION LITERACY INSTRUCTION AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN A FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, NIGERIA

Information is a very useful asset that is indispensable in the day-to-day operations of human beings. There is the need for people to be aware of the importance of information and how to make use of it in all their endeavours. Thus, inability of students to identify, locate, evaluate and make use of information whenever the need arises for it has necessitated the need to conduct a study on information literacy instruction and undergraduate learning activities. The study was carried out among the undergraduate students of Federal University of Technology, Akure and a descriptive survey technique was employed as research method. A random sampling technique was adopted to select only three departments from the school of sciences which were purposively picked because of its being the largest school in Federal University of Technology, Akure. A random sampling method was equally employed to choose thirty students from each of the departments. A structured questionnaire which was validated and reliably tested at 0.68 was distributed to 90 students. Data was analysed using counts and percentages and it was discovered that information literacy truly exists in the institution though it assumes different forms and has impact on students’ learning activities. It was concluded that information literacy instruction is very important for learning activities of undergraduate students in the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State

SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA RESOURCES AVAILABILITY AS A PREDICTOR OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN SOCIAL STUDIES IN ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

The poor performance of Junior Secondary school students in Social Studies has been a source of concern for government and other stakeholders in education in Nigeria. This is occasioned partly by lack of relevant media resources needed for teaching and learning in Social Studies. This is why this study intended to investigate the extent of availability of school library media resources in the school library media centre and how that has contributed to students’ achievement in Social Studies in JSS in Ondo State. A questionnaire titled “School Library Media Resources Questionnaire” was used to gather information on availability of school library media resources and students’ achievement in Social Studies. A descriptive survey method was employed to analyse the results. The findings indicate that availability of school library media resources was above grand mean of 2.50 taken together for students, teachers and media specialists respectively (availability = 2.64) while there was a correlation between students media resources availability and students’ achievement in Social Studies (r=.87*,df=1259, p\u3c.01). It was, therefore, concluded that school library media resources availability correlated significantly with students’ achievement in Social Studies. It was recommended that establishment of school media centre with relevant media resources be established by government to improve teaching and learning activities

Incidence of porcine circovirus type 2 and porcine parvoviruses in swine herds of some communities in Eastern Cape, South Africa

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is one of the swine pathogens of global economic importance. Since its first detection in early 1990s as the main etiologic agent of porcine multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) and many other porcine circovirus-associated diseases (PCVAD), the virus has been extensively studied and has been found to be present in virtually all the pig producing countries of the world. As a viral pathogen that brings about clinical diseases aided by co-infecting pathogens, the involvement of many other viral agents including porcine parvoviruses (PPVs) have caught the attention of stakeholders worldwide. However, no surveillance study of the viral pathogens has been carried out in South Africa as there are little or no information on their prevalence in the swine herds of the country. This present study therefore aimed at detection and molecular characterization of PCV2 and PPVs in swine herds of some selected communities in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. A total of 375 field samples were collected from seven commercial and communal farms from three District Municipalities of Eastern Cape, South Africa between 2015 and 2016. Structured questionnaires were also administered to each farm at the time of sample collection to obtain some important information relating to health status and farm management practices in the sampled farms. With the aid of conventional PCR method, 339 samples were initially screened for the presence of PCV2; positive amplicons were sequenced and obtained partial genomes of the virus were preliminarily analyzed. In order to obtain the complete genomes of the virus, four overlapping primer pairs were used to amplify the full-genome of PCV2 from the initial positive samples; amplified genomes were sequenced using the Sanger methods, sequenced PCV2 genomes were assembled and characterized. Furthermore, the prevalences of some designated PPVs in the sampled farms were obtained using 110 samples randomly selected from the previously archived samples and screened with 6 different primer pairs specific for the detection of 7 PPVs. All the amplified parvoviruses’ genomes were sequenced; their sequenced partial genomes were subsequently base-culled and analysed. The data obtained revealed that 54/339 (15.93 percent) samples from the swine herds were positive for PCV2; whereas the degree of occurrence of the viral pathogen as observed at farm level ranges from approximately 5.6 to 60 percent. The majority 15/17 (88 percent) of the analyzed partial sequences were found clustering with other PCV2b strains in the phylogenetic analysis. More interestingly, two other sequences obtained were also found clustering within PCV2d genotype in the initial screening and analysis. Furthermore, 15 complete PCV2 genomes were successfully amplified, sequenced and assembled. NJ and ML phylogenetic analysis of the complete ORF2 gene and full genomes unanimously showed 11 of the assembled genomes belonging to genotype PCV2b. Another 3 of the characterized sequences formed clade with other reference mutant PCV2b and PCV2b subtype 1C (PCV2d) strains from different parts of the world. The last sequence however, clustered with other reference strains belonging to PCV2 intermediate clade 2 (PCV2-IM2) recently identified in a global PCV2 strains phylogenetic analysis. Other genetic analyses including multiple sequence alignment and p-distance analysis also confirmed the outcomes of the phylogenetic analyses of the complete capsid gene and fullgenomes of the virus. On the other hand, the findings of the molecular profiling for PPVs showed that all the screened parvoviruses were present in the study area, having prevalence of 29.1 percent (PPV1), 21.8 percent (PPV2), 5.5 percent (PPV3), 43.6 percent (PPV4), 21.8 percent (PBo-likeV) and 44.6 percent for PBoV1 and PBoV2. Double infection of the screened PPVs was observed to be very rampant among the pigs as high as 20/110 (18.2 percent) for PPV2/PPV4 and PPV4/PBoV; followed by 19/110 (17.3 percent) of the samples for PPV1/PPV4 and PPV1/PBoV. Three of the viruses were found simultaneously in 19 of the screened samples representing 17.3 percent, whereas 8 (7.3 percent) samples were positive for four of the viruses. Phylogenetic analyses of PPV1, PPV2 and PBoVs 1 and 2 were conducted with two major clades homologous for each of them. This is the first report of PCV2 in swine herds of the Province and the first detection of PCV2b, PCV2d and PCV2-IM2 strains in South African swine herds. It follows the first reported case of PCV2a in an outbreak of porcine multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) in Gauteng Province, South Africa over two decades ago. Also, this is the first major epidemiologic study on PPVs in the country following the initial case study of 1975. These findings confirmed the presence of the allimportant viral pathogens among pigs and also give preliminary insights into the possibility of co-infections of the pathogens in the studied area. This could however result in a serious large scale outbreak of devastating disease(s) associated with the viral pathogens, thereby ultimately resulting in huge economic losses if no appropriate measures are taken to effectively curb their spread across the country

Monetary Policy and Bank Credit in Nigeria: A Toda-Yamamoto Approach

 The importance of money in economic life has made policy makers and other relevant stakeholders to accord special recognition to the conduct of monetary policy. This study investigated the relationship that exists between monetary policy instruments and Deposit Money Banks Loans and Advances in Nigeria. An annual time series data covering a period of 36years from 1981-2016 were sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria and used for the study. The relationship between monetary policy and credit creation of Deposit Money Banks was captured by monetary policy variables and structural changes in monetary policy. The study employed Toda and Yamamoto granger non-causality model to examine the relationship existing between Deposit Money Banks loan and advances and monetary policy variables in Nigeria. The findings revealed that structural changes in monetary policy system exerted positive significant impact on loan and advances of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria findings also revealed bidirectional relationship existing between MPR and loan and advances of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria. Precisely, MPR proved to be a significant variable which causes Deposit Money Bank loans and advances in Nigeria. The other explanatory variables; broad money supply (LM2),liquidity ratio (LR), inflation rate (IFR) and cash reserve ratio (CRR) does not granger cause loan and advances of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria within the study period. The study concluded that the structural change in monetary policy system  and monetary policy rate have significant impact on loan and advances of deposit money banks in Nigeria .Hence, the study recommended that monetary authority should formulate policies that will stabilize interest rate so as to boost the investors’ confidence

Histopathological study and audit of the spleen in Nigerians

Studies on the spleen in Nigerians are rare. This study reviewed retrospectively the gross and histopathological findings in spleens received at the histopathology laboratory of the Obafemi Awolowo University Hospital (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife, Nigeria. 119 consecutive splenectomy specimens received within a period of 18 years were analysed with respect to age, sex, pathological diagnoses and indication for splenectomy. There were 76 males and 43 females with a mean age of 34.8 years (STD 19.6 years). Spleen weight, size, the presence of malarial parasite as well as fibrosis was not documented in many cases. The most frequent finding both grossly and microscopically was haemorrhagic necrosis from laceration of the spleen arising from trauma (62.7% of all cases). Road traffic accident (RTA) accounted for 86% of all trauma cases and was the predominant finding in both sexes up to the age of 50 years. Thereafter, haematological malignancy was the predominant finding in the spleen. Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) was the most common haematological malignancy in the spleen. The indications for splenectomy correlated well with the histological findings (kappa=0.81). Pathological description of spleen specimens is inadequate. Trauma is the major reason for splenectomy. In elderly Nigerians, splenectomy specimen would likely show CLL

The Saint-Louis Equation Rebirth: Re-Accessing Fiscal and Monetary Policy Mix in Nigeria

This study restates the Saint-Louis equation to reinvestigates the relative effectiveness of fiscal and monetary policies on the Nigerian economy. This study made use of annual data that spanned 1981-2015. The unit root test revealed that the variables employed contained a unit root. An Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique was used. Cointegration test among the variables was passed using the ARDL bound test technique. The ARDL parameter estimates are not sufficient enough to convince hence we compute impulse response function for the estimated ARDL model. The impulse responses show that GDP responses to fiscal and monetary policy shocks are mixed in signs. Ultimately, the impulse responses allow us to find out that the very long run responses of GDP to fiscal and monetary policies shocks are negative and positive. This study helps to shed light on fiscal-monetary impacts’ puzzle in the existing literature. Conclusively from our findings, monetary policy is effective than fiscal policy in Nigeria. Based on our findings, we suggest that the government and the policymakers should try to simultaneously make fiscal and monetary policies formulation in such a way that their temporal and cumulative effects on the economy for growth and sustainability motive would be positiv

Efficacy of Piperonyl Butoxide (PBO) synergist on Pyrethroid and Dichlorodiphenyl Trichloroethane (DDT) resistant mosquitoes in Lekki, Lagos State, Nigeria

Vector control using insecticide is an integral part of the global strategy for management of mosquito-borne diseases.. The development of  insecticides resistance is a major concern in mosquito control. We evaluated the effect of piperonyl butoxide (PBO) synergist on dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT) and pyrethroids resistant Anopheles gambiae s.l., Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes aegypti in Lekki peninsula area of LagosState, Nigeria. Mosquito larval collected from breeding sites in Lekki peninsula were allowed to emerge in the insectary and identified using  appropriate morphological keys. Two-three days old female adults were subjected to susceptibility assays using WHO kits and insecticides impregnated test papers. Twenty (20) female adult mosquitoes of each genus were exposed to DDT (4 %) and permethrin (0.75 %) alone.  Subsequently, another set of 20 of each genus were pre-exposed to PBO (4 %) for 1 hour before exposing them to permethrin and DDT, all assays were carried out in four biological replicates. The knockdown time was recorded as the time intervals for 60 minutes and mortality at 24 hour. Resistance to DDT was detected with percentages mortality of 55, 60 and 87.5 % for An. gambiae, Cx. quinquefasciatus and Ae. aegypti species respectively. Pre-exposure of mosquitoes to PBO significantly suppressed (p<0.05) resistance to both DDT and permethrin in all the mosquito  species indicating the activities of P450 monooxygenase as a detoxifying enzymes mediating resistance to DDT and pyrethroids. Therefore, PBO should be incorporated in insecticide resistance management strategies in this area and others with similar mosquitos’ resistance profile. Keywords: Mosquitoes, Dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane, Pyrethroids, Piperonyl butoxide, Insecticides resistanc

Impaired lipid levels and inflammatory response in rats exposed to cadmium

To investigate the subchronic effect of cadmium intoxication on lipid metabolism and the inflammatory responses accompanying it, rats were administered 50 and 100 ppm cadmium through their drinking water for 7 weeks. At both concentrations, cadmium exposure resulted in significant elevation (p < 0.05) of total cholesterol and gave rise to hypertriglyceridemia in the plasma of the animals. The proinflammatory cytokines, IL-2, IL-6 and TNF-α, were highly expressed in the animals. At the 50 ppm dose level, plasma IL-2, IL-6 and TNF-α levels were increased by 20 %, 87 % and 336 % respectively, while the 100 ppm dose yielded 32 %, 57 % and 470 % increases, respectively. A drastic build-up of MDA in the liver elicited by the metal led to an 85 % increase in lipid peroxidation at high dose. A 3-fold increase of lipid hydroperoxidation (LOOH) products was obtained on exposure to cadmium at 100 ppm. Cadmium caused more than a 2-fold increase in oxLDL levels at both doses tested. Paraoxonase activity was also significantly repressed, culminating in a 43 % reduction in activity at 100 ppm dose. Disruption of lipid metabolism, increased lipid peroxidation as well as imbalance in proinflammatory cytokine levels may thus, be means by which cadmium induces its toxicity