Delineation of Saline Water Intrusion Lateral Extent Using Hydro-chemically and Geo-electrically Derived CRS - Model Parameters - A Case Study of Eastern Dahomey Basin, Nigeria

This study was another attempt to map the subsurface lateral extent of saline water intrusions into aquifers at the eastern part of Dahomey basin, Nigeria. The study comprised geo-electric sounding method consisting of 108 vertical electrical soundings (VES) data acquired using Schlumberger array technique and hydro-chemical analysis of 61 water samples. The geoelectric survey results were presented as average longitudinal Conductance and average longitudinal Resistivity maps. The longitudinal conductance values vary from moderate to high (20 - 180 mhos) in the coastal areas, while lower values (lesser than 10 mhos) were recorded in the mainlands. Conversely the average longitudinal resistivity values were low to moderate (0.26 - 41.7 ohm-m) in the coastal areas and in few places such as Agbabu, Legbogbo and Sabomi in the mainland, while higher values (more than 60 ohm-m) were obtained from the mainlands. The hydro-chemical analysis results was presented as equivalent Salinity map; its values range from 25.8 mg/l (Ode-Irele) to 2808 mg/l (Asisa), high values were obtained from Ugbo, Ugbonla, Odonla, Idogun and Ayetoro area in the southeastern part of the study area and likewise at Agbabu in the north central part of the study area. The results were synthesized using CRS-model. The final CRS-model map showed that the saline water intrusion extended to 35 % of the total area which covers; most part of the coastal area and Agbabu in the mainland.Keywords: Saline water intrusion, saline-freshwater boundary, vertical electrical sounding (VES), hydrochemical analysis, synthesis and CRS-model

Carcass traits of broiler chickens as influenced by stocking density, calorie: protein ratio and season

This study was carried out to assess the effect of stocking density, protein and energy levels, and season on the carcass traits of broiler chickens. In a 6x3x2 factorial arrangement using completely randomized design, six diets with three metabolisable energy(ME kcal;/kg) and two crude  protein(%) levels combination: 3106.00 and 23.00(control, diet 1); 3112.00 and 21.70(Diet 2); 2928.00 and 23.40(Diet 3); 2933.00 and 21.90(Diet 4); 3227.00 and 23.10(Diet 5); 3230.00 and 21.80(Diet6),were formulated. Three stocking densities(birds per m2):10,Low SD(LSD);12,Recommended SD(RSD); and 14,High SD(HSD),were used in Late Wet Season(LWS),August-November) and Late Dry Season(LDS,February-April). In a seven-week feeding trial, 576 one-week old broilers were assigned to the respective diets and stocking densities. The percentage prima cuts(Dressed  weight(DW),Breast(BR), Drum Stick(DS), Thigh(TH),Wing(WG), Back(BK), and abdominal fat(AF) was determined.Season significantly affects  percentage BR, DS, WG, and BK with LDS having higher values for BR, WG and BK. Stocking density had significant effect on % DW, WG and BK with HSD and RSD having higher and similar DW and BK. Diets 1-5 had higher and similar %DS while diets 5 and 6 had higher and similar %AF. Late dry season, stocking 14birds/m2 and diet with 3045ME/kg and 20.24% crude protein optimised the prima cuts and abdominal fat. Key Words: Broiler chickens, Stocking density, Season, Protein: Energy, Carcass traits

A PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF AN ONTOLOGY-BASED DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC SYSTEM FOR YORUBA TRADITIONAL MEDICINE.

Traditional Medicine (TM) has an important place in health care delivery among developed and developin g nations of the world. It is a first point of call before western m edicine and a last resort when all orthodox efforts fail. The objective of this study was to provide a way to share knowledge of Yo ruba Traditional Medicine (YTM) in a machine-readab le form and to use this method to build a treatment system base on Traditional Medicine. The treatment system constru cted in this study is an ontology-based application that can be used for treatment. Description Logics formalism is used to model YTM knowledge with visual reasoning capabilities and pr ocesses. Ontological approach is used to express fo rmal specification of YTM domain knowledge and this is implemented using Web Protégé application. In order to ensure the kno wledge model and ontology view is well defined, a prototype of k nowledge based system is developed based on the ont ology classes or concepts and relationships defined which require co nversion of OWL ontology into the relational datab ase system at first hand

Haematological and serum biochemical response of broiler chicks fed diets containing ginger (Zingiber officinale) from different processing methods

An experiment was conducted with 300 one day old (arbor acre) broilers to assess their haematological and serum biochemical response when fed ad-libitum varying levels of dietary ginger from different processing methods. Ten dietary treatments were formulated such that diet 1 was the basal diet (BD) without ginger, diets 2, 3 and 4 were BD+ sundried ginger at 1, 1.5, 2% inclusion levels respectively, diets 5, 6 and 7 were BD+ air-dried ginger at 1, 1.5 and 2% inclusion levels respectively, diets 8, 9 and 10 were BD+ oven-dried ginger at 1, 1.5 and 2% inclusion level respectively. On day 52 of the experiment, blood samples were collected from the wing vein of the birds for haematological and serum biochemical evaluation. Dietary treatments had no  significant differences on haematological parameters, except for the packed cell volume (PCV) and monocytes which were significantly P<0.05 influenced by the dietary treatment. Broilers fed with diet containing sun-dried ginger at 1.5% inclusion level had the highest PCV value and monocyte value. The serum biochemical indices were not significantly P>0.05 affected by the dietary treatments. However, the total cholesterol was reduced across the diets that contained ginger when compared with the control.Keywords: Haematological, Ginger, Processing methods and Serum biochemica