Resource Use Efficiency In Poultry Egg Production In Maiduguri And Environs Of Borno State, Nigeria

Poultry enterprise is significant to Borno State and the Nigerian economy as whole because it provides a good source of animal protein in form of meat and eggs. The study estimated resources use efficiency in poultry egg production in Maiduguri and Environs of Borno State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to: examine the socio-economic characteristic of poultry farmers; examine the poultry egg production system practiced by farmers; and estimate the efficiency of resource used in poultry egg production. Purposive sampling technique was employed for the study. Ten (10) wards were purposively selected out of the existing fifteen (15) wards in the area. These are areas where poultry egg producers are predominantly found. From each of the ten (10) wards, five (5) poultry egg producers were randomly selected, giving a total sample size of fifty (50) respondents for the study. Data were obtained with the aid of structured questionnaire administered to fifty (50) poultry egg producers. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression model were used as analytical technique. The finding shows that majority (82%) of the respondents were male, 68% were married, 62% were within the age group of 31-35 years, while 42% had between 11-20 persons in their households in the study area. The result also indicates that 46% of the respondents had secondary education, 58% of the respondent had between N51, 000- N100, 000, while 52% of the respondents had flock sizes ranging from 101-200. The finding shows that 26% of the respondent practised free range system, about 40% practised battery cage system while, 34% practised deep litter system of poultry production in the study area. The total sum of the elasticties of poultry egg production of the resources was 1.748. The finding also reveals that the ratios of the MVP to the MFC were less than unity (1) for all the inputs. It was recommended among others that: poultry egg producers should reduce the quantities of farm inputs such as family labour, hired labour, flock size, feed, depreciating cost of equipment and operating expenses to ensure increase in poultry egg production; and extension agents in the state should be properly trained and provided with all necessary technological packages required to teach and guide farmers on improved poultry egg production. Keywords: Resource Use,  Efficiency, Poultry Egg, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeri

Analysis of Marketing Channel and Market Structure of Dried Fish in Maiduguri Metropolis of Borno State, Nigeria

The study examined channel and market structure of dried fish in Maiduguri Metropolis of Borno State, Nigeria. Data were obtained using structured questionnaire. Three (3) major dried fish markets were purposely selected out of the seven (7) markets in the study area to reflect areas where dried fish sellers are predominantly found. A total of 100 respondents from the three (3) markets were randomly selected for the study. Descriptive statistics, Ginni coefficient, least square simple regression and budgetary techniques were used as analytical tools. The result reveals that marketing channel is divided into wholesalers and retailers of fresh and processed fish (dried fish). The finding also indicates that the values of Ginni coefficient were (0.5478) and (0.5252) for wholesalers and retailers, respectively. And the dried fish market had non competitive behaviour with monopolistic nature. The finding also reveals that (82%) of the marketers engaged in marketing Grade C dried fish products. The result of economies of scale reveals that the coefficient of wholesalers was (-0.005) while that of retailers was (-0.741) and are all negative but, statistically significant at 1% and 5%, respectively. It was recommended that local dried fish marketers should be organized into cooperative groups and government should provide adequate infrastructural facilities such as good road net work and market facilities. Keywords: Marketing channel, Market Structure, Dried fish, Borno State, Nigeria

Analysis of Conduct and Performance of Dried Fish Market in Maiduguri Metropolis of Borno State, Nigeria

The study analyzed conduct and performance of dried fish markets in Maiduguri Metropolis of Borno State, Nigeria. Data were obtained using structured questionnaire. Three (3) major dried fish markets were purposely selected out of the seven (7) markets in the study area to reflect areas where dried fish is predominantly sold. A total of 100 respondents from the three (3) markets were randomly selected for the study. Descriptive statistics and budgetary techniques were used as analytical tools. The finding of the study reveals that (44.82%) and (33.33%) were obtained as market margin from sales of Grade C and Grade A dried fish respectively. The result of marketing cost and returns also reveals that capital invested constitutes (96.08%) of the total fixed cost, while transportation accounts for (30.55%) of the total variable cost. The result of market return (net returns) reveals that N25, 013,440.04 was obtained as net returns per week. The finding on marketing efficiency reveals (67.33%) was obtained per cartoons of dried fish sold. The result further indicates the efficiency ratio of 95.54 which is positive. The result of the market conduct reveals that about (40%) of the marketers get information on market situation through personal contact, (72%) price haggling, while (56%) said prices were set by both the sellers and the agents. It was recommended that local fish marketers should be organized into cooperative groups and government should adequately provide infrastructural facilities such as good roads and market facilities to dried fish marketers in the study area. Key words: Market Conduct, Market Performance, Dried Fish Market, Borno State,  Nigeri

A matlab-based low-cost autopilot for autonomous helicopter development

The challenges associated with the software and hardware integration activities in development of flight autopilot system for autonomous helicopter have called for a change of tactics. The resulting effect is for example, a long time delay in autopilot system design, testing and deployment coupled with the fact that several other autonomous helicopter development tasks depend largely on availability of the autopilot system. Though, the use of off-the-shelf autopilot for a flight control system may ease these challenges, they are generally characterized with limited functionalities, and restrict the user’s design authority. As alternative approach, this paper presents the development of a MATLAB-based autopilot system for autonomous helicopter development. This approach provides an integrated design environment for rapid-prototyping of a low-cost autopilot system. The results of real-time application of the autopilot for flight data logging are presented. The performance shows the effectiveness of the developed autopilot system in small scale autonomous helicopter design and implementation. This is hope to reduce the design cycle time involves in the deployment of small scale autonomous helicopter in various civil low-cost, small payload applications

Hybrid algorithm for NARX network parameters' determination using differential evolution and genetic algorithm

A hybrid optimization algorithm using Differential Evolution (DE) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) is proposed in this study to address the problem of network parameters determination associated with the Nonlinear Autoregressive with eXogenous inputs Network (NARX-network). The proposed algorithm involves a two level optimization scheme to search for both optimal network architecture and weights. The DE at the upper level is formulated as combinatorial optimization to search for the network architecture while the associated network weights that minimize the prediction error is provided by the GA at the lower level. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated on identification of a laboratory rotary motion system. The system identification results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm for nonparametric model development

Acute administration of co-artesiane induces oxidative stress in the testes of adult male Wistar rats

Co-artesiane is an artemether-lumefantrine combination therapy that is used in the treatment of malaria. In this work we studied the toxicological effect of this drug with reference to seminal and biochemical parameters of the male reproductive system of wistar rats. Twenty (20) adult male rats were divided into four groups of five rats per group. Group A was administered a single dose (4 mg/kg/bw) of Co-artesiane, Group B was administered double dose (8 mg/kg/bw) of Co-artesiane and Group C received 10 mg/kg/bw of the drug for a period of 3 days. Group D served as control and received physiologic saline. In each group body weight, testicular weight, sperm count, motility and viability as well as oxidative stress status were assessed by evaluating the activities of reduced glutathione, Glutathione S-transferase, catalase, super oxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA). The mean sperm count, motility and viability in rats treated with Co-artesiane were reduced when compared with controls. Biochemical analyses showed increase in the activities of oxidative stress markers in a dose-dependent manner. The results suggest that the graded dose of Co-artesiane® elicit depletion of antioxidant defense system and induced oxidative stress in the rats

Co-administeration of Ethanolic Leaf Extract of Moringa oleifera and Metformin Improves Glucose, Lipid and Protein Profiles of Diabetic Wistar rats

Herbs are often co-administered with orthodox drugs, raising the potential for herb-drug interactions. This study investigated the pharmacological interaction between ethanol extract of Moringa oleifera (MOE) leaves and metformin co administered to diabetic Wistar rats. Diabetes was induced in rats by administration of 150 mg alloxan/kg body weight intraperitoneally. A dose response study for MOE at doses of 100-2000 mg/kg body wt. was carried out. A plot of percentage glycaemic reduction at 4h post-treatment versus log dose was used to estimate the median effective dose (ED50). Nine (9) groups of rats were used for the interaction study. Groups I and II served as normoglycaemic and diabetic controls respectively and received 1ml Normal saline. Diabetic Groups III-V received 375, 750 and 1500 mg/kg MOE respectively. Groups VI-VIII also diabetic received the same doses of MOE respectively but co-administered with a fixed dose of metformin (150 mg/kg). Group IX received metformin (150 mg/kg) alone. Fasting blood sugar (FBS) was monitored weekly and blood samples collected on day 28 for protein and lipid profile assay. The MOE/metformin co administered groups showed greater antihyperglycaemic activity (p<0.001) than the MOE and metformin alone groups. Significant increases in serum levels of cholesterol, TG and LDLC with the decrease in HDLC levels in the alloxan induced diabetic rats were reversed in MOE (p<0.01) and MOE/metformin (p<0.001) administered groups. These findings indicate that MOE/Metformin co-administration produced additive anti-hyperglycaemic and hypolipidaemic effects compared to either MOE or Metformin alone and may be useful in the therapeutic management of diabetes mellitus that is associated with dyslipidaemia.Keywords: Diabetes, Hyperglycaemia, Pharmacological interaction, Moringa oleifera, Metformi

Detection of vascular intersection in retina fundus image using modified cross point number and neural network technique

Vascular intersection can be used as one of the symptoms for monitoring and diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy from fundus images. In this work we apply the knowledge of digital image processing, fuzzy logic and neural network technique to detect bifurcation and vein-artery cross-over points in fundus images. The acquired images undergo preprocessing stage for illumination equalization and noise removal. Segmentation stage clusters the image into two distinct classes by the use of fuzzy c-means technique, neural network technique and modified cross-point number (MCN) methods were employed for the detection of bifurcation and cross-over points. MCN uses a 5x5 window with 16 neighboring pixels for efficient detection of bifurcation and cross over points in fundus images. Result obtained from applying this hybrid method on both real and simulated vascular points shows that this method perform better than the existing simple cross-point number (SCN) method, thus an improvement to the vascular point detection and a good tool in the monitoring and diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy

Genistein Precipitated Hypothyroidism, Altered Leptin and C-Reactive Protein Synthesis in Pregnant Rats

Summary: Genistein is an isoflavone constituent of soya. This study examined the mechanism by which genistein produced adverse effects in pregnant laboratory rats. Pregnant rats were divided into control (Con) and genistein (Gen) force fed (2 mg/kg) groups. At terminal gestation day (GD) ranging from 0-20, the rats were sacrificed, and blood samples and amniotic fluids were collected. Thyroid hormone, C-reactive protein (CRP) and leptin assay was carried using the blood samples. Leptin was also assayed in the placenta and amniotic fluid supernatant. Oral exposure of pregnant rats to genistein significantly altered maternal T3, (GD18; Con 1.65 ± 0.01, Gen 1.03 ± 0.04 nmol/L), T4 (GD6; Con 29.60 ± 0.00, Gen 36.04 ± 1.29 nmol/L), Leptin (Placenta GD20; Con 0.08 ± 0.01, Gen 0.31 ± 0.02 ng/ml, amniotic fluid ;GD 20; Con 0.02 ± 0.00, Gen 0.35 ± 0.05 ng/ml) in genistein group. These changes were accompanied with loss of embryonic implants and a decrease in fetal and placental weights. The CRP level was significantly decreased and increased at the onset and toward late pregnancy respectively. Oral exposure of pregnant rats to genistein precipitated hypothyroidism, altered some metabolic hormones with a reduction in fetal and placental growth and increased resorption of embryonic implants.Keywords: Genistein, embryonic implants, pregnancy, thyroid hormone, leptin, C - reactive protein

Influence of membership of cooperative society on farmers’ income in rural areas of Kwara State

: Smallholder farmers with small farm sizes, low input utilization, and poor access to effective post-harvest technology are known for low income. These challenges led to the emergence of special programs and social organizations, the most common of which is cooperative society. Yet, little is known about the effect of membership of cooperative society on farmers’ income. Hence, this study examined the influence of membership of cooperative society on farmers’ income in Kwara State, Nigeria. Primary data collected between February and March, 2015 from 191 household heads were used for this study and were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed that the mean income of farmers who were members of cooperative society, non-members of cooperative society and control group were ₦15,090±₦3,828, ₦17,686±₦18,306 and ₦11,020±₦2,378 respectively. The results of Kruskal Wallis statistic and the asymptotic significant probability, JonckeereTerpstra test for significance of the mean incomes for the various categories of farmers were significant at 1% level. The results of ANOVA test also indicated the existence of significant difference between the means of the income levels of the three categories of farmers at the 1% level. The results of the Post Hoc test for differences/equality among the various categories revealed that the average income of the control category differs greatly from those of the non-cooperative and cooperative groups but there is no significant difference between the mean income of the cooperative farmers and that of the non�cooperative farmers. Thus, membership of cooperative society had positive effect on farmers’ income in the study area. Based on this, increasing awareness and information about cooperative societies among farmers in the study area becomes imperativ