Performance of Weaned Rabbits Raised in Cages or Pens in Northern Guinea Savannah Zone of Nigeria

Abstract. Management system in rabbit production has been reported to affect the performance of rabbits. In view of this, an eight week study was conducted to evaluate the effects of two different management systems (cage-housed and pen-housed) on the growth performance indices of weaned rabbits in Northern Guinea Savannah zone of Nigeria. Twenty four (24) weaned rabbits of heterogeneous breeds in equal sexes, aged between 5-6 weeks, with live weight of 612±14.72 g were used for the study. The rabbits were randomly divided into two groups (cage-housed and pen-housed) consisting of 12 rabbits per group. They were fed commercial diet (concentrate) supplemented with Tridax procumbens and given access to clean fresh water adlibitum. The experiment lasted for 8 weeks. Results from the study showed a significant difference (P<0.05) in daily body weight gain, feed intake and final body weight. Caged-housed Rabbits recorded higher daily weight gain, daily feed intake 72.24±0.07 g/day and final body weight of 1373±41.57 g as against 9.92±0.38 g/day, 63.58±0.88 g/day and 1168±23.36 g, respectively for the pen-housed rabbits. It is concluded that rabbits raised in cages had better growth performance indices than those raised in pens. It is however, recommended that further studies be conducted to assess the welfare of rabbits raised under the two management systems. Key words: Growth performance, weaned rabbits, management systems. Abstrak. Sistem pemeliharaan ternak kelinci mempengaruhi performan kelinci. Penelitian telah dilakukan selama 8 minggu untuk mengevaluasi pengaruh dua sistem pemeliharan yang berbeda  terhadap index pertumbuhan kelinci lepas sapih di area Northern Guinea Savannah, Nigeria. Dua puluh empat (24) kelinci lepas sapih dengan jenis kelamin sama, umur 5-6 minggu dengan bobot hidup 612±14,72 g digunakan dalam penelitian ini. Kelinci dibagi secara acak ke dalam dua kelompok (kandang terkurung dan pen), setiap kelompok 12 kelinci.  Kelinci diberi pakan konsentrat disuplementasi dengan Tridax procumbens dan air diberikan secara adlibitum. Eksperimen berlangsung selama 8 minggu. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan perbedaan nyata pada kenaikan bobot harian, asupan pakan dan bobot akhir. Kelinci yang dikandang terkurung memiliki pertambahan bobot badan harian 13,62±0,70 g/hari, asupan pakan harian 72,24±0,07 g/hari, dan bobot badan akhir 1373±41,57 g yang lebih tinggi daripada kelinci dalam kandang pen, secara berturut-turut yaitu  9,92±0,38 g/hari, 63,58±0,88 g/hari dan 1168±23,36 g. Disimpulkan bahwa kelinci yang dipelihara dalam kandang terkurung memiliki indeks pertumbuhan yang lebih baik daripada yang di dalam pen.  Penelitian lebih lanjut disarankan guna mengukur kenyamanan kelinci yang dipelihara dengan dua sistem pemeliharaan tersebut. Kata kunci: Performan pertumbuhan, kelinci lepas sapih, sistem pemeliharaa

Al-Qaṣāʾid al-ʿAjamiyya (Ajami Poems)

The entire manuscript is available for download as a single PDF file. Higher-resolution images may be available upon request. For technical assistance, please contact [email protected]. Fieldwork Team: Dr. Mustapha Hashim Kurfi (Principal Investigator), Mohammed Bara’u Musa & Hauwa Usman (Local Project Managers), Adamu Mohammed, Abacha Kachalla, Abdrra’uf Abdullahi & Falmaa Madu Ibrahim (General Field Facilitators), and Haladu Mamman (Photographer). Technical Team: Prof. Fallou Ngom (Director African Studies Center), and Eleni Castro (Technical Lead, BU Libraries). These Collections of Fulfulde & Kanuri Ajami materials are copied as part of the African Studies Center’s African Ajami Library. Access Condition and Copyright: These materials are subject to copyright. All rights reserved to the author. For use, distribution or reproduction contact Professor Fallou Ngom ([email protected]). Citation: Materials in this web edition should be cited as: Kurfi, Mustapha Hashim, Ngom, Fallou, and Castro, Eleni (2019). African Ajami Library: Digital Preservation of Fulfulde & Kanuri Ajami Materials of Northeastern Nigeria. Boston: Boston University Libraries: http://hdl.handle.net/2144/38242. For Inquiries: Please contact Professor Fallou Ngom ([email protected]).Provenance / Custodial history: The owner is Al-Ḥājj ʿUthmān Nguru (aka El-Fullaty). The condition of the manuscript is intact, though old, but well-preserved. The owner, El-Fullaty is a very old man (probably in his early 90s). He had sung some of the poems and translated them in Hausa. The owner is also the distributor of the manuscript published in 1970.This manuscript is a collection of poems written by the triumvirate: Shehu ʿUthmān b. Fodio, Shehu ʿAbdullāhi b. Fodio (his brother), and Sultan Muhammad Bello (Shehu b. Fodio’s son and Shehu ʿAbdullāhi’s nephew). The majority of the poems were written by Shehu ʿUthmān and are at the beginning of the manuscript. The poems are predominantly about Islamic jurisprudence, including purification, ablution, ritual prayers, obligatory showers, menstruation, alms giving, and how to fix mistakes in ritual prayers. The second set of poems are on the Quran. They discuss the importance of reciting the Quran and sticking to its injunctions. The subsequent set of poems are written by Amir Sultan Muhammad Bello. The scribe has indicated that the set of poems on the Quran and the subsequent ones on fiqh were all written by the Sultan. Finally, there is one last poem on the oneness of Allāh and His attributes. This is the only poem that has glosses. The manuscript is written in Fulfulde Ajami but there are a few comments using Arabic phrases to explain some points.The contents of this collection were developed with support of the Title VI National Resource Center grant # P015A180164 from the U.S. Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government

Incidence of Fungal flora and Aflatoxin content of millet and maize cereal grains sold in Guinea savanna zones of Kebbi State

Cereal grains get contaminated with fungi and aflatoxin due to poor agricultural, displayed in market and storage practices. A total of three local governments in Guinea savanna zone of Kebbi State were selected for samples collection namely; Zuru, Yauri and Danko/Wasgu. Five heads of millet and five heads of maize were collected in each site, marked total of Thirty (30) head of both millet and maize in all. Fungi were isolated on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) using Agar plate method. Eight (8) fugal species were isolated and identified as Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigates, Fusarium spp., Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus stolonifer, Mucor hiemalis, Eurotium harvarium and Penicillium spp. The highest incidence of fungi were obtained in Aspergillus flavus with (30.9%) and lowest were obtained in Eurotium harvarium (4.4%). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) were used for the determination of Aflatoxin. From the results obtained Zuru had the highest level of aflatoxin 58.00±3.65a μg/kg in millet while Danko/Wsagu with less 12.72±2.99bμg/kg in maize. Implication of this findings showed that both millet and maize had aflatoxin levels above maximum acceptable limit of 10μg/kg set EU and NAFDAC. Therefore, adequate and rapid drying of grains to water content level may be employed as this could reduce the growth of aflatoxingenic fungi to the minimum possible level

Phytochemical, High Performance Liquid Chromatography and Antimicrobial Evaluations of the Ethanolic Root Extract of Phoenix dactylifera L.

Bioactive compounds from plants have received a great deal of interest from scientists all over the globe for development of drugs. This study was aimed at evaluating phytochemicals, High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and antibacterial activities of ethanolic root extract of Phoenix dactylifera L. (date plant) against some clinical isolates. Roots of date plant were dried and extracted with ethanol using the cold maceration method before concentrating it with water bath at 45 oC. The phytochemicals were identified using HPLC based on their individual retention time. Antibacterial activities of the methanolic root extract were assessed against some clinical isolates including Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa utilizing agar disc diffusion method. The percentage yield of ethanol extract was 0.3892%. The result of the phytochemical screening revealed the presence of carbohydrate, phenols, tannins, saponins, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, steroids, alkaloids and terpenes at various retention time of 2.853, 3.235, 4.129, 4.713, 6.722, 8.954, 11.228 and 22.912 min. Compounds identified include phenolic acid (caffeic acid) and two flavonoids (rutin and quercetin). The zone of inhibition diameter ranged from 15 to 19 mm. The maximum zone of inhibition was detected against Streptococcus pyogenes, (19 mm). Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae were inhibited with 17 mm and 16 mm zone of inhibition respectively, followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa which had the least zone of inhibition (15 mm). The result of the present study suggests that the root of Phoenix dactylifera L. possesses important phytochemical components with antibacterial activity that could be possibly exploited for pharmaceutical development

Did the Benue Trough connect the Gulf of Guinea with the Tethys Ocean in the Cenomanian? : New evidence from the Palynostratigraphy of the Yola Sub-basin

Acknowledgements: M.B. Usman gratefully acknowledges the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) for the award of a scholarship to study at the University of Aberdeen. The anonymous reviewers and the editor Eduardo Koutsoukos are thanked for their suggestions and corrections of the manuscript. We also acknowledge Roger David Burgess and Kelly Rebecca Snow for their technical assistance at the palynological laboratory of the University of Aberdeen.Peer reviewedPostprin

Purification characterization and inhibition studies on Phospholipase C from Opisthacanthus capensis (Black Scorpion) venom

Phospholipase C from Opisthacanthus capensis venom was partially purified and characterized. The enzyme was purified 105.2 fold with an overall yield of 13% using various purification steps involving ammonium sulphate precipitation, protamine sulphate treatment, sephadex G-75  fractionation and DE-52 anion exchange chromatography. The purified enzyme was  homogeneous with a molecular weight of 29 kDa. The  phospholipase C has pH and temperature optima of 7.2 and 600C, respectively with activation energy of 25KJ/mol and t1/2 of 1.50 hr. Initial velocity studies on O. capensis venom phospholipase C revealed a KM of 0.02 mM and Vmax of 0.015 μmol/min. Studies on the effect of pH on KM and Vmax gave PKa1 of 6.9 and PKa2 of 7.4 with enthalpy of ionization of 20 KJ/mol suggesting  histidine in the active site. The enzyme was positively modulated by Mg2+, Zn2+ and Ca2+ and negatively by Fe2+. While Hg2+ produced complete inhibition. Various concentrations of leaf aqueous extract of Momordica charantia also inhibited the activity of O. capensis venom phospholipase C in vitro with a competitive pattern. This study revealed the presence of phospholipase C in O. capensis venom and gave some scientific basis for the use of theplant in the treatment of scorpion envenomation.Keywords: Phospholipase C; Opisthacanthus capensis;  Momordica charantia; Veno