ASSESSMENT OF NOISE POLLUTION IN HIGH DENSITY AREA OF ILORIN METROPOLIS

Noise is an environmental pollutant that has continue to increase with an increase in population, Urbanization, and the general desire of man to acquire advanced technologies in transportation, construction, recreation and entertainment among others. In an attempt to provide solutions that will ameliorate pollution problem in urban centres of developing nations especially, the present study investigated the sources of noise pollution in very busy areas. Four very busy areas of Ilorin metropolis, Nigeria were randomly selected and used as case studies of a typical noise polluted city of a developing nation. Noise assessment quantities such as LAeq, L10, L90 TNI, LNP LD LN and LDN were used to assess and establish the background noise, peak noise and dominant noise sources at these locations. Results of this study shows that the major source of noise pollution in Ilorin metropolis can be attributed to traffic, where the TNI ranged between 88 - 120 dB (A), and LNP  from 86 – 107 dB (A). Other intrusive sources of noise pollution at the studied locations could be attributed to the noise from business transactions, roadside media operators, individual electricity, hawkers advertising their wares and indiscriminate use of public address systems (PBS) for business promo and religious activities. Results show that the areas under study were noise polluted as they exceeded the standard provided by the world health organization (WHO)

Productivity and technical efficiency of aquaculture production in Nigeria- a stochastic frontier production function approach

Nigerian aquaculture industry is fairly well developed and ranks second in Africa. It has low production levels compared with the country's aquaculture production potentials. Aquaculture production in 2001 was 47,000 tonnes contributing 9.92% of total fisheries production. If aquaculture production is to play its expected role in economic development of the country, new ways of expanding the sub-sector in an economically viable and environmentally sustainable manner need to be defined. In this respect, increasing productivity and technical efficiency (TE) at the farm level represents an attractive option because they have the potential to generate output growth without increasing the quantities of scarce inputs. This paper therefore determines the productivities of factors involved in aquaculture production and the TE of its operators. Primary data were collected using a set of structured questionnaire administered on 100 freshwater fish farmers selected using a multistage sampling technique, and were analyzed using the stochastic frontier production function. The productivity analysis showed that the allocation and utilization of the technical and economic factors involved in aquaculture production are in the rational stage (stage II) of the production region and thus their usage is efficient but the returns to scale (RTS) was > 1. This implies that output needs to be enlarged by allocating more of the productive factors involved in the production process that is, enlarging the scale of operation. The TE of the farmers varied between 0.633 and 0.998 with a mean TE of 0.830 with the proportion of farmers having TE≥ 0.70 being about 90%. This implies that aquaculture should be enlarged by cost effective technological change.Keywords: Technical efficiency, Nigeria, stochastic frontier production function, Aquaculture Economics and Management, Fisheries Economics, Productivit

The first-line antituberculosis drugs, and their fixed-dose combination induced abnormal sperm morphology and histological lesions in the testicular cells of male mice

Rifampicin (RIF), Isoniazid (INH), Ethambutol (EMB), Pyrazinamide (PZA), and/or their fixed-dose combination (FDC) are extensively prescribed in the cure of Tuberculosis (TB) globally. In spite of the beneficial effect, these drugs are capable of inducing cellular toxicity. Existing information on the genotoxic effects of the first-line anti-TB drugs is limited and contentious. Herein, we evaluated the reproductive genotoxicity of RIF, INH, EMB, PZA, and their FDC utilizing the mouse sperm morphology assay. Histological examination of the testes of exposed mice was also performed. Male Swiss albino mice (11–13 weeks old) were intraperitoneally exposed for 5 consecutive days to each of the anti-TB drugs at four different doses of 6.25, 12.5, 25, and 50 mg/kg bw of PZA; 2.5, 5.0, 10, and 20 mg/kg bw of RIF; 1.25, 2.5, 5.0 and 10 mg/kg bw of INH; 3.75, 7.5, 15 and 30 mg/kg bw of EMB; and 7, 14, 28 and 56 mg/kg bw of FDC corresponding respectively to ×0.25, ×0.5, ×1 and ×2.0 of the standard daily dose. In comparison with the negative control (normal saline), there was no significant difference in the testicular weight and organo-somatic index of exposed mice. There was an increase (p > 0.05) in the frequency of abnormal spermatozoa at most of the tested doses of each drug and a dose-dependent decrease with the FDC. Each of the anti-TB drugs except the FDC induced pathological lesions in the testes. These findings suggest that the individual first-line anti-TB drug unlike the FDC has the potential to provoke testicular anomalies in male mice

Identification and Characterization of Microsporidia from Fecal Samples of HIV-Positive Patients from Lagos, Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Microsporidia are obligate intracellular parasites that infect a broad range of vertebrates and invertebrates. They have been increasingly recognized as human pathogens in AIDS patients, mainly associated with a life-threatening chronic diarrhea and systemic disease. However, to date the global epidemiology of human microsporidiosis is poorly understood, and recent data suggest that the incidence of these pathogens is much higher than previously reported and may represent a neglected etiological agent of more common diseases indeed in immunocompetent individuals. To contribute to the knowledge of microsporidia molecular epidemiology in HIV-positive patients in Nigeria, the authors tested stool samples proceeding from patients with and without diarrhea. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Stool samples from 193 HIV-positive patients with and without diarrhea (67 and 126 respectively) from Lagos (Nigeria) were investigated for the presence of microsporidia and Cryptosporidium using Weber's Chromotrope-based stain, Kinyoun stain, IFAT and PCR. The Weber stain showed 45 fecal samples (23.3%) with characteristic microsporidia spores, and a significant association of microsporidia with diarrhea was observed (O.R. = 18.2; CI: 95%). A similar result was obtained using Kinyoun stain, showing 44 (31,8%) positive samples with structures morphologically compatible with Cryptosporidium sp, 14 (31.8%) of them with infection mixed with microsporidia. The characterization of microsporidia species by IFAT and PCR allowed identification of Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Encephalitozoon intestinalis and E. cuniculi in 5, 2 and 1 samples respectively. The partial sequencing of the ITS region of the rRNA genes showed that the three isolates of E.bieneusi studied are included in Group I, one of which bears the genotype B. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: To our knowledge, this is the first report of microsporidia characterization in fecal samples from HIV-positive patients from Lagos, Nigeria. These results focus attention on the need to include microsporidial diagnosis in the management of HIV/AIDS infection in Nigeria, at the very least when other more common pathogens have not been detected

An evaluation of the suitability of selected waste products in feeds for three fish species

Five types of aquatic food industry waste products (carp offal, carp roe, fish frames, trout offal and surimi processing waste) together with fish meal were evaluated for their suitability as potential fish meal replacements, partially or wholly, in diets for three species (rainbow trout, Murray cod and shortfin eel) cultured in Australia, using a number of criteria.The proximate composition of the ingredients on a dry matter basis including protein content, lipid and ash, varied considerably. The essential amino acid (EAA) contents of the waste products and fish meal decreased in the order: carp roe &gt; fish meal &gt; carp offal &gt; \u27surimi\u27 processing waste &gt; fish frames &gt; trout offal. The results of cluster analysis of A/E ratios of waste products and fish whole body fell within three clusters. The EAAI of whole body tissue of Murray cod, rainbow trout and Australian shortfin eel however, were closest to fish meal, followed by fish frame waste and/or \u27surimi\u27 waste. The results on A/E ratios and EAAI did not conform to the raw data on TAA and EAA. Therefore, the study emphasizes the need to have a multi-prong approach to determine the suitability of ingredients for incorporation into fish feeds.<br /

Quality of Family Life and Workplace Deviant Behaviour with Perceived Competence as a Mediator among University Staff

Several studies have found a variety of factors as antecedents of deviant behaviour but the role of family life on workplace deviant behaviour, as well as the mediating role of perceived competence in the quality of family life-deviant behaviour relationship, have received little study. This study examines the mediating effect of perceived competence on the relationship between the quality of family life and work-deviant behaviour. The study adopted the wellness model and self-determination theory as theoretical standpoints. Three hundred and eight-four (384) university staff in Nigeria participated in the study. Results revealed that there was a significant negative relationship between the quality of family life and workplace deviant behaviour. The result of the hierarchical multiple regression also revealed that perceived competence mediates the link between the quality of family life and workplace deviant behaviour. These findings suggest that psychologists should design training programmes aimed at improving the sense of competence and quality of family life, which invariably will reduce workplace deviant behaviour