Talus Caves: Geotourist Attractions Formed by Spheroidal and Exfoliation Weathering on Akure-Ado Inselbergs, Southwestern Nigeria.

Spheroidal weathering of granites in Akure-Ado axis have resulted in the formation of talus caves as well as smooth rock boulders which are dramatically arranged, thereby giving the formation an overall aesthetic value to the observer. Unique talus boulders exist in Akure inselbergs, southern margin of the Ikere-Ado batholith. This paper looks at the uniqueness of these formations as well as their economic potentials for leisure and recreation purposes. Much attention has been given to Olumo Rock in Abeokuta, Riyom Rock and the Shere Hills both in Jos Plateau. With the clamour for developing other sources of revenue beside oil, the Akure-Ado inselbergs require attention toward proper development and packaging as potential tourist sites with the aim of enlarging the nation’s reserve of tourism products as they will draw local as well as international tourist traffic.Keywords: Sustainable tourism, Talus Cave, Spheroidal weathering, Exfoliation, Granite pluton, Basement complex, Akure area, Ikere Batholith

Assessment Of The Prevalence Of Suicide Among Young Adults Using Machine Learning

Due to the high rate of suicide all over the world resulting in about 800,000 people dying by suicide each year. The instances where suicide victims constantly publish suicide messages deliberately to express their feelings on social media, there is need to address suicide issues, and how suicide can be prevented. Therefore, as a solution to this, there is need to create a model that classifies these users" social media posts and identify users with suicidal ideations, so as to prevent future suicide cases by getting the identified users the necessary help needed. The study adopted a binary classification of a suicide-related tweet with respect to age 15 up till 29 years, on a document-level basis. A machine learning approach was employed to solve the problem of tweet classification and predictions. The dataset was generated from a Twitter API. It was observed that suicidal issues are rampant among the young adult, which need urgent attention. The paper recommended that timely intervention should be provided so as to reduce suicidal victims and preserve the future of young adults

Post-acute COVID-19 neuropsychiatric symptoms are not associated with ongoing nervous system injury

A proportion of patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 experience a range of neuropsychiatric symptoms months after infection, including cognitive deficits, depression and anxiety. The mechanisms underpinning such symptoms remain elusive. Recent research has demonstrated that nervous system injury can occur during COVID-19. Whether ongoing neural injury in the months after COVID-19 accounts for the ongoing or emergent neuropsychiatric symptoms is unclear. Within a large prospective cohort study of adult survivors who were hospitalized for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection, we analysed plasma markers of nervous system injury and astrocytic activation, measured 6 months post-infection: neurofilament light, glial fibrillary acidic protein and total tau protein. We assessed whether these markers were associated with the severity of the acute COVID-19 illness and with post-acute neuropsychiatric symptoms (as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire for depression, the General Anxiety Disorder assessment for anxiety, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment for objective cognitive deficit and the cognitive items of the Patient Symptom Questionnaire for subjective cognitive deficit) at 6 months and 1 year post-hospital discharge from COVID-19. No robust associations were found between markers of nervous system injury and severity of acute COVID-19 (except for an association of small effect size between duration of admission and neurofilament light) nor with post-acute neuropsychiatric symptoms. These results suggest that ongoing neuropsychiatric symptoms are not due to ongoing neural injury

Hydrogeochemical Characterization and Vulnerability Assessment of Shallow Groundwater in Basement Complex Area, Southwest Nigeria

Thirty-five (35) groundwater samples from Owo area were analyzed for physicochemical parameters. Results show that the mean value of pH is 6.32, TDS is 208.92 mg/l, temperature is 28.77oC, EC is 545.16 μs/cm; TH is 111.09 mg/l, SO4 is 71.73 mg/l, Cl is 0.07 mg/l, HCO3 is 14.09 mg/l, Na is 25.06 mg/l, Ca is 37.07 mg/l, K is 24.36 mg/l and Mg is 4.41 mg/l. The results were compared to the WHO and NDSQW standards. All parameters were within the permissible limit except EC in well OW6 and K is above the stipulated standards in 69% of the total samples. The high concentration of K is linked to the use of NPK fertilizer in the area for agricultural purposes. The groundwater belongs to Ca-Na-K-SO4 and Na-Ca-SO4 water type respectively. The ionic concentration in the groundwater is due to the dissolution of the rock that makes up the aquifer. Plagioclase and silicate-bearing rocks are the sources of major ions in the water. SAR, PI, RSBC and KR reveals that groundwater in the area is good for irrigation purpose. DRASTIC model further revealed that groundwater in the area is less vulnerable to contamination under the current environmental conditions

Bioconversion of Aspergillus niger KM treated Rice and Wheat Bran for Experimental Rat Feed Formulation

This study investigated the nutritional value of pre-treated rice and wheat bran wastes as feed formulation in experimental rats. Aspergillus niger KM isolated from decomposing organic matter was tested for cellulase assay. The lignocellulosic agricultural residues (wheat bran and rice bran) were pretreated with ammonia and diluted sulfuric acid after which solid substrate fermentation with Aspergillus niger KM was carried out. Determination of reducing sugar was carried out and the fermented residues were included as components in feed formulation and were fed to different groups of rats for four weeks. The proximate analysis of the feed formulation showed that the NH3 pretreated feeds gave higher protein content of 21.94%, relative to the control or other groups. Growth performances of animals fed with NH3 pretreated wheat bran significantly increased from 158.25 to 201.66 g throughout the feeding periods. Evaluation of the various feeds’ effect on tissue marker enzymes revealed inconsistent alterations relative to the control. Bioconverted wheat or rice bran has nutritive value to support animal growth and could be explored in animal feed preparation