Nature and effects of cattle rustling on rural community well-being in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Despite the role of the government to improve the well-being of its citizenry, there are agitations from many quarters on the deteriorating nature of their well-being due to cattle rustlers’ activities in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Cattle rustlers’ continuous activities had become an existential threat in the State and significantly affected the people’s well-being, particularly in rural populace. Thus, this study aims to investigate the nature of cattle rustling within the rural populace of Kaduna State and its effects on their well-being, as well as analyzing preventive measures taken by them against cattle rustling. Eco-violence theory, Queer Ladder theory of mobility, and Securitization theory have been selected and utilized in this study. This study adopts qualitative research methods by conducting in-depth interviews, focus group discussion (FGD) and observation for data collection. Three local government areas are purposively selected with twenty (20) respondents are selected for IDI using snowballing sampling method. Two FGD sessions are also conducted with a group of herdsmen and farmers, while relevant facilities are thoroughly observed. Four themes have later been developed and thematic data analysis has been completed by using Nnvivo 11. The result shows that violent conflicts between herdsmen and farmers occurred in the study area. The findings reveal that cattle rustling always involved specific group like an organized crime, which mostly occurred at night and dominated by aggressive herdsmen youths. The study also discovers that cattle rustling has significantly affected the economy, education, health, lives, property, and psychology of the rural populace. This study divulges that few preventive approaches like border security, disarmament, security agents and vigilante groups have been initiated in Kaduna State. However, those approaches seem ineffective to deal with cattle rustling activities there. Therefore, this study recommends that the securitization of cattle rustling, rural community policing have to be improved alongside with the improvement on the facilities and activities of security agents

DNA barcoding and chemical analysis for evaluation of authenticity of selected herbal medicinal products in Malaysia

The increasingly demand of Ficus deltoidea (Mas Cotek) and Eurycoma longifolia (Tongkat Ali) medicinal plants due to antidiabetic and aphrosidiac therapeutic properties respectively have resulted in an increase in demand for their herbal medicinal products (HMPs) in Malaysia. The safety and efficacy of such HMPs which are in the form of tea, capsules or tablets relies on the authenticity of the plant raw material used as most of them are exclusively sourced from wild population. Consequently, commercial HMPs claiming to be authentic may be adulterated or contaminated with other plants species. Current identification methods such as organoleptic, microscopic and macroscopic examinations cannot identify plant species in a processed herbal product form due to lacking of indicative morphological features and plants taxonomy. Evaluation of DNA analysis such as the direct DNA sequence analysis (BLASTn and Neighbour-Joining) of the chloroplastic (rbcL and psbA-trnH) and nuclear (ITS2) regions for rapid detection of F. deltoidea and E. longifolia was evaluated. A standard reference materials (SRM) from all barcode regions were successfully cloned into p-Easy-T3. The sequence analysis of these 3 barcode regions showed that same species or closely related species shared high percentage of DNA identity. The phylogenetic analysis showed that rbcL had high discriminatory power in F. deltoidea var. kunstleri and ITS2 for E. longifolia. Identification of F. deltoidea HMPs using DNA barcoding showed that 67% were authentic, 11% were substituted while the identity of 22% could not be conclusively determined. For E.longifolia HMPs, 36% of the tested HMPs were authentic, 27% were substituted and the identity of 37% could not be conclusively determined. Further analysis using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) revealed that 100% of the tested F. deltoidea HMPs were authentic as all samples contained the expected vitexin marker. This include 14% of tested HMPs identified as substitutions using DNA barcoding. Eurycomanone was detected in 43% of E. longifolia HMPs but at lower concentration than root extract In contrast, 14% of the tested HMPs which were authentic using DNA barcoding were found not to contain the expected marker. The ITS2 proved to be the ideal marker for the authentication of both plants HMPs. Using DNA barcoding, the overall study showed that there was fraudulence activities occurred in the HMPs tested. Even though HPLC of herbal compounds require different protocol and different standards for each biomarker, DNA sequence methods were the same for all HMPs. Hence, DNA barcoding should be utilised in authenticating other HMPs available in the Malaysia market. ABSTRAC

The Occurence of Gastrointestinal Helminths in Slaughtered Cattle in Azare, North-East Nigeria

A Cross-sectional Study was carried out to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal (G.I.) helminths parasites in slaughtered cattle at Azare abattoir, Katagum Local Government Area, Bauchi State, North-Eastern Nigeria. One hundred and twenty faecal samples were examined using the floatation and sedimentation method. Out of the total samples tested, G.I.helminths infections were detected in 62 samples tested, giving an overall prevalence of 51.6%. Class nematodes are the most diverse class (56.5%), followed by trematodes (35.5%), while cestodes are the least prevalent (8.1%). There was a statistically significant difference in G.I. helminths’ prevalence among different classes (p 0.05). The Red Bororo breeds had the highest prevalence of 75%, while the least was recorded in White Fulani and Sokoto Gudali, 40% each. There was a statistically significant difference in G.I helminth infection’s prevalence rate to breed (p < 0.05).This study revealed that Fasciola spp. (15%) is the most prevalent G.I.helminths parasites detected, followed by Oesophagostomum spp (11.7%);Haemonchus spp. (9.2%); Strongyloides spp. (8.3%), Schistosoma spp.(3.3%); and Moniezia spp. (1.67%). Our findings from the present study revealed a high prevalence of G.I. helminths species affecting cattle in Azare, North-East Nigeria. Therefore, there is a great need for proper advocacy on appropriate management, regular deworming practices, and improved cattle hygiene to boost animal production. This will help in curbing significant loss to Nigeria’s economy and the world in general

Centralized Database: A Prerequisite for Security and Sustainable Development in Nigeria

Abstract-The volume of data organizations and government agencies usually collect and store are increasing rapidly. Centralized database according to Elmasri and Navathe [1] stores data or information in a particular location within a network. It allows data from existing database to be collected and stored in a single database for sharing, analysis or updating in an organisation. In Nigeria, organizations and government agencies usually operates distributed databases and do not have a centralised database in a central location for sharing and other policy making. Therefore, this paper highlights the need for centralised database that can be adopted by government to control data redundancy and inconsistency for security and sustainable development. The paper is a survey paper that explored the use of research schedules for data collection. Enumeratorwas picked from each of the four agencies that constitutes the population and samples of the study. The data collected were categorised and presented based on the research schedules retrieved. The results show the common fields used on personal information of individuals as ID, names, Date of Birth, Gender, address, phone no, finger print, and photograph. The results also show that data sharing among agencies are rarely done using the distributed databases, but plans are on the way to actualize that especially with the yet-to-be implemented model of National Identity Management Commission known as National Identity Management System (NIMS). Finally, the paper recommends that government should explore the possibility of adopting centralised database that can harmonise records of organisations and agencieswhich will help in ensuring security and sustainable development in the country; a model of centralised database should be designed to ascertain the feasibility of implementing a centralised database in Nigeria; thorough research should also be made to ensure the compatibility between organisations and agencies with the centralised database for data sharing and other accessibility issues

An Investigative Study on Impact of Frequency Dynamics in Load Modeling

Load modeling plays a significant impact in assessing power system stability margin, control, and protection. Frequency in the power system is desired to be kept constant, but in a real sense, it is not constant as loads continually change with time. In much literature, frequency dynamics are ignored in the formulation of load models for the basic assumption that it does not affect the models.&nbsp; In this paper, the composite load model was formulated with Voltage-Frequency Dependency (V-FD) on real and reactive powers and applied to estimate the load model. 2- Area network 4- machines Kundur test network was used for testing the developed model.&nbsp; The model was trained with measurements from a low voltage distribution network supplying the Electrical Engineering department at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Both training and testing data were captured under normal system operation (dynamics). To evaluate the V-FD model performance, Voltage-Dependent (VD) model was examined on the same measured data. The work makes use of the Feed Forward Neural Network (FFNN) as a nonlinear estimator. Results obtained indicate that including frequency dynamics in modeling active power reduces the accuracy of the model. While in modeling reactive power the model performance improves. Hence, it can be said that including frequency dynamics in load modeling depends on the intended application of the model

Cattle Rustling and Insecurity in Rural Communities of Kaduna State, Nigeria: An Empirical Study

Existing data on the level and magnitudes of insecurity in rural communities, Nigeria discloses an increase over time, which creates serious threat to lives and properties, hampers business activities. This rising upsurge of insecurity led by cattle rustling has remained unabated nonetheless has assumed a dangerous dimension which is threatening the corporate being of the country as one geographical entity. This study is on the nature of cattle rustling and its consequences on security in the rural communities of Kaduna State. The study was empirical in nature, qualitative data were collected using in-depth interviews. Findings shows that cattle rustling has caused serious havoc in the rural communities in terms of loss of lives, psychological fear migration, and organised crime which culminated to insecurity. The study recommends that government responsiveness and co-opting community members in the security of the area will go a long way in solving the lingering insecurity in the study area

Chemical composition of eurycoma longifolia (Tongkat Ali) and the quality control of its herbal medicinal products

Eurycoma longifolia which is known as Tongkat Ali is commonly found in Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia. This plant is famously known for its various pharmacological activities. The plant is also reported to consist of various types of important bioactive compounds such as quassinoids, canthine-6-one alkaloids, triterpenes, squalene derivatives, $-carboline alkaloids etc which are mostly found in the root part. The presence of these important phytochemicals contributes to their different types of therapeutic effects more especially in terms of aphrodisiac properties which have resulted in a massive increase in demand and production of their Herbal Medicinal Products (HMP). These situations have resulted in the production of E. longifolia HMPs whose quality are questionable, which might be as a result of restricted of sources that might lead to some unethical activities carried out by suppliers and manufacturers in order to gain more profit. Therefore, this review focused on adulteration issues such as contamination and substitution of E. longifolia HMP. The review also includes the possible solutions on how to improve the quality of these HMP so as they can be safe for consumption. Embracing pharmacovigilance in the preparation of the HMP, proper implementation of agricultural practices such as Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) together with the establishment of effective regulatory bodies would undoubtedly improve the quality of E. longifolia HMP sold in the market. The detailed knowledge about the main composition of the E. longifolia HMP will help to ascertain their quality, efficacy and safety as these are very important toward quality control

A Hybrid Fuzzy Time Series Technique for Forecasting Univariate Data

In this paper a hybrid forecasting technique that integrates Cat Swarm optimization Clustering (CSO-C) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) with Fuzzy Time Series (FTS) forecasting is presented. In the three stages of FTS, CSO-C found application at the fuzzification module where its efficient capability in terms of data classification was utilized to neutrally divide the universe of discourse into unequal parts. Then, disambiguated fuzzy relationships were obtained using Fuzzy Set Group (FSG). In the final stage, PSO was adopted for optimization; by tuning weights assigned to fuzzy sets in a rule. This rule is a fuzzy logical relationship induced from FSG. The forecasting results showed that the proposed method outperformed other existing methods; using RMSE and MAPE as performance metrics.            

Efficacy of Detarium microcarpum extracts and synergistic effect of combine extract and ivermectin against Caenorhabditis elegans

This work tested the efficacy of crude methanol and aqueous extracts from the stem bark of Detarium microcarpum and the effect of combined extract and ivermectin in vitro against the motility of C. elegans Bristol N2 and C. elegans DA1316 L4 larvae. Series of concentrations (0.2, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, and 2.0 mg/ml) of aqueous and methanolic extracts of D. microcarpum was used for the test. Counting of the motile larvae was carried out after 24 hours and 48 hours. A further test was carried out using a combination of plant extract and ivermectin. Both the aqueous and the methanolic extracts exhibited good anthelmintic activity in the inhibition of larval motility of C. elegans Bristol N2 as well of C. elegans DA1316 with a significant difference at P &lt; 0.05 when compared to the negative control. However, a significant difference occurred between treatment with aqueous and methanolic extract at P &lt; 0.05. The performance of the extracts was concentration and time-dependent. A combination of plant extract and ivermectin prove more potent than the pure extract against both strains of C. elegans. These extracts may be used to control parasitic nematodes including ivermectin resistant type. Treatment using combined plant anthelmintic and synthetic drugs should be encouraged as the combination was more promising. Further studies should be carried on the identification of active compounds in the extracts and studying the mode of action of the drugs on the nematodes and in vivo tests of the extract. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.448809

Bacterial contaminants of new disposable ready-to-use plastic cups sold within Gombe Metropolis, Gombe State, Nigeria

Background:&nbsp;Disposable cups are usually used for drinking without any form of pre-cleaning, this has the potential to expose individuals to pathogenic microorganisms, and unfortunately this issue has not been investigated in Gombe metropolis, hence, this study aimed to investigate the bacteriological aspect of the problem and to reduce the existing knowledge gap regarding this problem.&nbsp;Methods:&nbsp;Thirty samples were collected using simple random sampling from two different markets, then swab sticks pre-moistened with peptone water were used to swab the inner portions of the cups, put in sterile distilled water, serially diluted, inoculated on nutrient agar, and incubated. Identification of the isolates were done using their physical and biochemical characteristics, antibiotic susceptibility tests were done using disc diffusion method and interpreted using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines.&nbsp;Results:&nbsp;The total mesophilic bacterial counts ranged from 3.0×105&nbsp;to 9.9×105&nbsp;CFU/ml. These isolates were identified and tested for their sensitivity to some antibiotics which revealed that&nbsp;Escherichia coli &nbsp;(E.coli )&nbsp;were sensitive to augmentin, ampicillin, and ciprofloxacin, but intermediately resistant to chloramphenicol,&nbsp;Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)&nbsp;&nbsp;were sensitive to ciprofloxacin and augmentin, intermediately resistant to chloramphenicol, and resistant to ampicillin.&nbsp;Bacillus&nbsp;spp were sensitive to augmentin, ciprofloxacin, chloramphenicol and ampicillin, while&nbsp;Pseudomonas aeruginosa&nbsp;(P.aeruginosa) were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, augmentin, and chloramphenicol, but intermediately resistant to ampicillin.&nbsp;Conclusion:&nbsp;These new disposable ready-to-use cups harbored some potentially pathogenic bacteria which were resistant to some antibiotics. It is therefore recommended that pre-use hygiene practices should be done on these cups prior to use to avert the health effects of consuming these bacteria