Studies on the Distribution of Plant-parasitic Nematodes Associated with Pineapple in Delta, Imo and Cross River states of Nigeria

Background: Plant-parasitic nematodes are important pests of horticultural crops causing damage and significant reduction in the crop yield of pineapple. A survey was conducted to determine the types, frequency and population distribution of plantparasitic nematodes associated with pineapple in some pineapple-producing states in Nigeria. A total of 30 farms were sampled from Delta, Imo, and Cross-River States using the Agricultural Development Project in each state as a pilot to locate representative farmlands in the States. Soil samples for the survey with were collected from the rhizosphere of the pineapple plants with the aid of a soil auger to a depth of about 15 cm and within a 25 cm radius from the base of the pineapple plants. Vermiform nematodes were extracted from 200g each of the composite samples using a modified Baermann extraction tray set-up. Objective: To provide an update on the diversity and population distribution of plant-parasitic nematodes associated with pineapple in Delta, Cross River and Imo states of Nigeria. Result: Fourteen species of Plant-Parasitic Nematodes (PPN) were found associated with pineapple from the fields surveyed as follow: Pratylenchus brachyurus, Meloidogyne incognita, Rotylenchulus reniformis, Helicotylenchus dihystera, Scutellonema brachyurum, Tylenchus sp., Hoplolaimus pararobustus, Criconemoides limitaneum, Paratylenchus minutus, Gracilacus sp., Hemicycliophora sp., Aphelenchus sp., Aphelenchoides sp. and Xiphinema nigeriense. The most prominent phytophagus nematode found in association with pineapple on all the fields was P. brachyurus with frequency ratings of 100%, 92% and 87% from Delta, Imo and Cross-river states respectively. Meloidogyne sp., Pratylenchus reniformis and Rotylenchulus reniformis were also frequently encountered in the three states. Grasilacus sp. was recorded on pineapple for the first time in Nigeria. Conclusion: The study indicated a widespread distribution of PPN on pineapple in south-south and south-east Nigeria which could be a factor responsible for low yields recorded in some pineapple fields. Therefore, there is an obvious need for pineapple farmers to control plant-parasitic nematodes for improved crop yield

Estimating An Optimal Backpropagation Algorithm for Training An ANN with the EGFR Exon 19 Nucleotide Sequence: An Electronic Diagnostic Basis for Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer(NSCLC)

One of the most common forms of medical malpractices globally is an error in diagnosis. An improper diagnosis occurs when a doctor fails to identify a disease or report a disease when the patient is actually healthy. A disease that is commonly misdiagnosed is lung cancer. This cancer type is a major health problem internationally because it is responsible for 15% of all cancer diagnosis and 29% of all cancer deaths. The two major sub-types of lung cancer are; small cell lung cancer (about 13%) and non-small cell lung cancer (%SCLC- about 87%). The chance of surviving lung cancer depends on its correct diagnosis and/or the stage at the time it is diagnosed. However, recent studies have identified somatic mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene in a subset of non-small cell lung cancer (%SCLC) tumors. These mutations occur in the tyrosine kinase domain of the gene. The most predominant of the mutations in all %SCLC patients examined is deletion mutation in exon 19 and it accounts for approximately 90% of the EGFR-activating mutations. This makes EGFR genomic sequence a good candidate for implementing an electronic diagnostic system for %SCLC. In this study aimed at estimating an optimum backpropagation training algorithm for a genomic based A%% system for %SCLC diagnosis, the nucleotide sequences of EGFR’s exon 19 of a noncancerous cell were used to train an artificial neural network (A%%). Several A%% back propagation training algorithms were tested in MATLAB R2008a to obtain an optimal algorithm for training the network. Of the nine different algorithms tested, we achieved the best performance (i.e. the least mean square error) with the minimum epoch (training iterations) and training time using the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm

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

Screen House and Field Investigations of Arbuscular mycorrhiza and organic fertilizer for The Control of the Root - knot Nematode, Meloidogyne incognita Infecting Cowpea in South Western, Nigeria

This study was undertaken to determine the potential of individual and combined effects of Glomus mosseae, a mycorrhiza fungus and organic fertilizer for the management of Meloidogyne incognita, a root knot nematode infection of cowpea (IT90K-277-2) under Screen house and field conditions. The standardised method of evaluating crop germplasm for resistance to M. incognita including crop yield was employed. M. incognita caused significant reduction in the yield components of the cowpea variety both in the screen house and under field conditions. Single and combined treatments of Glomus mosseae and organic fertilizer significantly increased the pod weight, grain yield and number of pods per plant of cowpea plants as compared to nematode infected plants. Single treatments of Glomus mosseae and organic fertilizer significantly suppressed root galling; inhibited nematode reproduction and nematode population both in the screen house and under field conditions. The mixture of G. mosseae and organic fertilizer as a treatment was more effective than individual treatments in suppression of M. incognita. This study shows that G. mosseae has potential in the management of Root knot nematodes of cowpea and should be exploited with organic fertilizer serving as a viable carrier in Nigeria

EVALUATION OF Tithonia diversifolia AND Chromolaena odorata RESIDUES AS POTENTIAL ORGANIC COMPOST MATERIALS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF Meloidogyne incognita ON COWPEA (Vigna unguiculata L. WALP)

Screen house studies were conducted to assess the efficacy of Tithonia diversifolia and Chromolaenaodorata powder as alternative organic fertilizer materials in comparison with the local commercialneem organic fertilizer in the management of Meloidogyne incognita infection on cowpea (Vigna unguiculatavar. Ife Brown). The experiments were laid out in completely randomized design with six replications.Cowpea seedlings were raised in sterilized soils in plastic pots and inoculated with 5000 eggs ofM. incognita at two weeks after emergence. At 60 days after emergence, destructive sampling ofplants was done to assess nematode indices: root galls, nematode population and reproduction factor.Results obtained show that growth and yield of cowpea was significantly(p<0.05) improved by Tithoniaand Chromolaena soil amendments effectively as the neem fertilizer. It also show that, M. incognitainfectivity (number of galls, nematode population, reproduction) were significantly(p<0.05) reduced byTithonia and Chromolaena soil amendments as the neem fertilizer. The findings of this study recommendthe residues of these common weeds for evaluation in organic composting with potential forplant parasitic nematode management combined with release of nutrient to plants as organic fertilizer.

SCREEN HOUSE AND FIELD INVESTIGATIONS OF Arbuscular mycorrhiza AND ORGANIC FERTILIZER FOR THE CONTROL OF THE ROOT – KNOT NEMATODE, Meloidogyne incognita INFECTING COWPEA IN SOUTH WESTERN, NIGERIA

This study was undertaken to determine the potential of individual and combined effects of Glomusmosseae, a mycorrhiza fungus and organic fertilizer for the management of Meloidogyne incognita, aroot knot nematode infection of cowpea (IT90K-277-2) under Screen house and field conditions. Thestandardised method of evaluating crop germplasm for resistance to M. incognita including crop yieldwas employed. M. incognita caused significant reduction in the yield components of the cowpea varietyboth in the screen house and under field conditions. Single and combined treatments of Glomusmosseae and organic fertilizer significantly increased the pod weight, grain yield and number of podsper plant of cowpea plants as compared to nematode infected plants. Single treatments of Glomusmosseae and organic fertilizer significantly suppressed root galling; inhibited nematode reproductionand nematode population both in the screen house and under field conditions. The mixture of G.mosseae and organic fertilizer as a treatment was more effective than individual treatments in suppressionof M. incognita. This study shows that G. mosseae has potential in the management of Rootknot nematodes of cowpea and should be exploited with organic fertilizer serving as a viable carrier inNigeria

Effects of poultry manure and carbofuran soil amendments on soil nematode population and yield of pineapple

Two field experiments were conducted at the National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan and the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta to assess the efficacy of poultry manure and carbofuran in suppressing nematode populations and promoting pineapple yield. Three rates of poultry manure (0, 20 and 25 tonnes per hectare) and carbofuran (0, 3.0 kg a.i/ha and 3.4 kg a.i/ha) were applied to pineapple plants in a Randomized Complete Block Design replicated three times in each of the two locations. Soil samples were collected from the rhizosphere of plants at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 months after planting to monitor soil nematode populations. Plant growth data were obtained by measuring the length and breadth of ‘D’ leaves for five randomly selected plants per plot. Flowering was induced at the 18th month by spraying with 0.5 kg ethephon in 2000L of water/ha. Results showed that Poultry manure and carbofuran treatments significantly (P < 0.05) suppressed plant-parasitic nematode populations in both locations. At harvest, significantly bigger fruit sizes, higher fruiting percentage and number of fruits were recorded on both poultry manure- and carbofuran-treated plots. It was concluded that appropriate management of plant-parasitic nematodes will promote higher fruit yields in pineapple farms in Nigeria

Modeling Distribution Component Deterioration: An application to Transformer Insulation.

The two most critical components in a typical Power System are the circuit breakers and transformers. Failure of any of these components will result in high cost due to component replacement and associated load loss. Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) may reduce this cost in the long run by extending the component lifetime and increasing availability. This will be possible, since the adopted RCM will balance carrying out too much maintenance which will increase maintenance cost or too little maintenance that will result in catastrophic failure and hence increases the cost of maintenance and repair. A Markov model that relates probability of failure to maintenance activity is developed for distribution transformers. This model incorporates various levels of insulation deterioration and minor maintenance state. It was applied to one of the distribution transformers in Abule-Egba Business unit network of Power Holding Company of Nigeria. The result obtained from model simulation agrees with the one obtained from the mathematical analysis of the developed model. With an adjustment in the inspection parameter, this probabilistic deterioration model for a distribution transformer can also be applied to predict the performance of circuit breakers

Phytochemical Screening and in vitro Antioxidant Activity of Hydro-Ethanolic Extract of Blighia sapida Stem Bark

Blighia sapida is a plant belonging to the family of Sapindaceae. In this study we aimed to carry out the phytochemical screening of hydro-ethanolic (15%) extract of Blighia sapida stem bark and evaluate its in vitro antioxidant activity. It was found that the hydro-ethanolic extract of Blighia sapida stem bark showed the presence of saponin, flavonoid, alkaloid, phenols and ascorbic acid. It also contains trace elements zinc and selenium. Furthermore it showed some scavenging activity but not as such could be compared with the various standards used except for nitric oxide scavenging activity. Keywords: Blighia sapida, phytochemicals, antioxidant, trace elements DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/9-16-04 Publication date: August 31st 201