Evaluation of Growth Performance of Tomato in Response to Biochar and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (Amf) Inoculation

Field experiment was conducted in 2013 and 2014 to evaluate growth performance of two tomato genotypes in response to biochar application and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) inoculation at the Teaching and Research Farm, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. The experiment was laid out in a split-split plot design with two tomato genotypes in the main plots, five levels of biochar application in the sub plots and two levels of AMF inoculation in the sub-sub plots. Data on plant height number of leaves and dry matter yields were generated and subjected to analysis of variance and significant means separated using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test at 5 % level of significance. The result shows that mycorrhizal inoculation significantly increased (p< 0.05) the shoot dry matter yield (2935.8 kg ha-1) when compared with non-mycorrhizal plants, there is no significant difference in number of leaves, height and root dry matter yield. Application of 20 t ha-1 of biochar significantly increased (p< 0.05) the shoot dry matter yields and plant height while no significant differences were observed in number of leaves and root dry matter yield. From the results obtained it can be concluded that AMF can successfully be inoculated into biochar amended soil to improve the performance of tomato plant.Keywords: Biochar; AMF; inoculation; tomato; growth performance

POLA PERTUMBUHAN DAN UKURAN PERTAMA KALI TERTANGKAP IKAN CAKALANG YANG DIDARATKAN DI PELABUHAN PERIKANAN NUSANTARA (PPN) AMBON

Tujuan penelitian untuk mendiskripsikan dan menganalisis produksi, distribusi ukuran, pola pertumbuhan dan ukuran pertama kali tertangkap Ikan cakalang (Katsuwonus pelamis) yang didaratkan di pelabuhan perikanan nusantara PPN Ambon. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa produksi hasil tangkapan armada pancing tonda dan pukat cincin yang menangkap ikan cakalang dan didaratkan di PPN Ambon selama penelitian berfluktuasi. Ukuran Gross Ton untuk kapal pancing tonda berkisar antara 16-28 GT dan kapal pukat cincin masing-masing berukuran 28 GT dan 99 GT. Distribusi ukuran panjang ikan cakalang antara 28,9-71,5 cmFL dengan bobot 0,108-8,255 kg. Kisaran ukuran panjang ikan yang dominan berada pada kisaran pada 37,0-41,0 cmFL dan 47,0 - 51,0 cmFL. Pola pertumbuhan ikan cakalang di tiga bulan penelitian november, desember, dan januari bersifat allometrik negatif, sedangkan bulan pebruari bersifat allometrik positif. Ukuran panjang pertama kali tertangkap oleh alat tangkap pancing tonda 45,3 cm dan purse seine 51,9 cm

Optimization of Crystal Violet dye removal from aqueous solution using agro wastes

Batch adsorption process involving use of groundnut shell (GS) and orange peel (OP) as adsorbents was employed for the removal of carcinogenic Crystal Violet dye from aqueous solution. Studies were carried out as function of contact time, sorbent dosage, initial dye concentration and pΗ of the dye solution with a view of optimizing adsorption conditions. The results obtained showed high efficiency of ≈ 98.3% and 97% using 4.5g of GS and OP respectively, showing a promising performance of the agro wastes as filters for the dye removal.Keywords: Crystal violet, Groundnut shell, Orange peel, % Removal, Adsorptio

Economics of Groundnut Production among Smallholder Farmers in Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria

This study assessed economics of groundnut production among smallholder farmers in Michika local government area of Adamawa State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique which involves purposive selection of Michika and simple random selection of farmers from eight wards was embraced in collecting primary data from 172 farmers using structured questionnaire. The analytical tools used were mainly descriptive, gross margin and regression analysis. The analysis found that groundnut production is profitable with an average gross margin of N97,477.80, total revenue of N167,160, and net farm income of N 94,540.64 per hectare. The regression analysis indicated that Cobb-Douglas production function gave the best fit with R2 value of 0.748, implying that the specified factor inputs in the regression equation explained up to 74.8% of the variation in groundnut output and only 25.2% was accounted for by the random error term. Production inputs such as farm size, labour, agrochemicals, seeds and farming experience were statistically significant at varying levels of probability. This means that any increase in such inputs would bring about increase in groundnut output. Resource use efficiency analyses indicate that the ratios of MVP and MFC in respect to seeds, labour and Agrochemicals were greater than unity and hence were under-utilized by the farmers during production period. Therefore, policies aimed at assigning more production inputs to farmers should be introduce by government in order to enhance farmers\u27 output and profitability

Physical properties of the Schur complement of local covariance matrices

General properties of global covariance matrices representing bipartite Gaussian states can be decomposed into properties of local covariance matrices and their Schur complements. We demonstrate that given a bipartite Gaussian state $\rho_{12}$ described by a $4\times 4$ covariance matrix \textbf{V}, the Schur complement of a local covariance submatrix $\textbf{V}_1$ of it can be interpreted as a new covariance matrix representing a Gaussian operator of party 1 conditioned to local parity measurements on party 2. The connection with a partial parity measurement over a bipartite quantum state and the determination of the reduced Wigner function is given and an operational process of parity measurement is developed. Generalization of this procedure to a $n$-partite Gaussian state is given and it is demonstrated that the $n-1$ system state conditioned to a partial parity projection is given by a covariance matrix such as its $2 \times 2$ block elements are Schur complements of special local matrices.Comment: 10 pages. Replaced with final published versio

Stacking tolerance to drought and resistance to a parasitic weed in tropical hybrid maize for enhancing resilience to stress combinations

Open Access JournalMaize is a food security crop cultivated in the African savannas that are vulnerable to the occurrence of drought stress and Striga hermonthica infestation. The co-occurrence of these stresses can severely damage crop growth and productivity of maize. Until recently, maize breeding in International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has focused on the development of either drought tolerant or S. hermonthica resistant germplasm using independent screening protocols. The present study was therefore conducted to examine the extent to which maize hybrids simultaneously expressing resistance to S. hermonthica and tolerance to drought (DTSTR) could be developed through sequential selection of parental lines using the two screening protocols. Regional trials involving 77 DTSTR and 22 commercial benchmark hybrids (STR and non-DTSTR) were then conducted under Striga-infested and non-infested conditions, managed drought stress and fully irrigated conditions as well as in multiple rainfed environments for 5 years. The observed yield reductions of 61% under managed drought stress and 23% under Striga-infestation created desirable stress levels leading to the detection of significant differences in grain yield among hybrids at individual stress and non-stress conditions. On average, the DTSTR hybrids out-yielded the STR and non-DTSTR commercial hybrids by 13–19% under managed drought stress and fully irrigated conditions and by −4 to 70% under Striga-infested and non-infested conditions. Among the DTSTR hybrids included in the regional trials, 33 were high yielders with better adaptability across environments under all stressful and non-stressful testing conditions. Twenty-four of the 33 DTSTR hybrids also yielded well across diverse rainfed environments. The genetic correlations of grain yield under managed drought stress with yield under Striga-infestation and multiple rainfed environments were 0.51 and 0.57, respectively. Also, a genetic correlation between yields under Striga-infestation with that recorded in multiple rainfed environments was 0.58. These results suggest that the sequential selection scheme offers an opportunity to accumulate desirable stress-related traits in parents contributing to superior agronomic performance in hybrids across stressful and diverse rainfed field environments that are commonly encountered in the tropical savannas of Africa

Synthesis, Characterization, Biological Properties, ADMET and Drug-likeness Analysis of Mn (II) complexes with Schiff Bases Derived from Sulphathiazole and 4-diethylaminosalicyaldehyde/Salicyaldehyde

Mn (II) complexes were synthesized with the Schiff base ligand obtained by the condensation of sulfathiazole with 4-diethylaminosalicyaldehyde/Salicyaldehyde. Their characterization was performed by elemental analysis, molar conductance, melting points, magnetic susceptibility, infrared, and UV–Vis spectral analysis. The results suggest that the Schiff bases and their complex are synthesized in excellent yield, molar conductance studies on the complexes indicated they were non-electrolytic. The IR data indicated that the Schiff base ligand is tridentate coordinated to the metallic ion with two N atoms from the azomethine group and thiazole ring and one O atom from the phenolic group. The electronic spectral study showed octahedral geometry for all the complexes which are further supported by magnetic moment values. The ligand and its complexes were screened against four bacterial and two fungal strains using the disk diffusion method. The antimicrobial evaluation results revealed that the metal (II) complexes exhibited higher antimicrobial activity than the free Schiff base ligand. The ADMET and drug-likeness studies of the synthesized ligands indicated that the Schiff base ligands fulfill Lipinski’s, Ghoose, Veber, Egan, and Mugge rules but the complexes showed some deviations. They also displayed low toxicity levels

Achieving Sustainable Development and Promoting Development Cooperation in Nigeria: Way Forward

The world today witnesses emerging new challenges, aggravated by multiple financial, economic, food and energy crises, which have threatened the ability of all countries to achieve sustainable development. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development reaffirmed the political commitments of the international community to pursue sustainable development, under the principles of Agenda 21, including the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, this is inline with the Millennium Development Goals objectives which focused attention on selected social and human development priorities. The main objective of the paper, is to evaluate the possible ways of achieving sustainable development and development cooperation in Nigeria. To achieved the above objective the researchers make use of questionnaires, Hypothesis are formulated which were analyzed using SPSS. Pearson Correlation Test were equally conducted to determine the correlation between economic development cooperation  and sustainable development in Nigeria.  Empirical economic modeling were established with the prior expectation to construct multiple regression. The paper recommended that, government should take steps to introduce price control on essential items to avoid persistence increase in price level, adequate measures should be put in place to cope with the effect of climate change, government as well should come up with policies that will encourage production and consumption of locally produce goods and services and discourage importation of essential items, Nigerian populace  should take a drastic measure to ensure that those to be elected as policies makers are of credible character and patriot that are capable of protecting the interest of the generality of the entire populace and finally the governments at all level should come up with economic recovery plans that is capable of salvaging the financial system and entire economy at large.   Keywords: Economy, Cooperation, Development, Strategy, Sustainability, Transformation

Tuberculosis In A Nigerian Medium Security Prison

Introduction: Prisons worldwide have been cited as reservoirs for tuberculosis and also an ideal setting for interventions but little is known about the epidemiology and control of tuberculosis in Nigerian Prisons. Objective: To determine the prevalence of tuberculosis, role of prison in its control and the mortality from tuberculosis among prison inmate in Kuje prison, Abuja, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This study was a retrospective study of cases of tuberculosis in Kuje prison between April, 2004 and December, 2008. Data was collected from their medical records. The inclusion criterion was: (1) Cases of tuberculosis in which the diagnosis was based on clinical history, smear positive test and chest x-ray radiograph. (2) Cases where the treatment of tuberculosis was according to treatment strategy recommended by World Health Organization. Results: A total of forty-eight inmates, aged 20 to 45years, were diagnosed with tuberculosis within the period of interest. The prevalence rate was 2.4%, based on a total prison population of 2002. Majority of cases 93.8% were first detected in Prison and the remaining 6.3% were detected prior to incarceration. Out of the 6.3% diagnosed prior to incarceration, 2.1% and 4.2% of cases have defaulted from DOTS for 2weeks and more than 4weeks respectively. Majority (66.7%) completed the treatment before discharging from prison, 29.2% were discharged from prison at various level of treatment and 4.2% of cases died while on reatment. Those who died were co-infected with HIV Conclusion: It was evident from this study that: The prevalence of tuberculosis in Kuje prison was high, prison has a role in diagnosis and treatment, adherence and treatment outcome were good and the main indicator for mortality was HIV infection. Primary prevention measures specifically targeting prisoners are needed to reduce prevalence of tuberculosis and also to achieve the objectives of National Health Policy on tuberculosis and leprosy. Keywords: Prison, tuberculosis, control, mortalit

Evaluation of Sheanut Shell-Reinforced Automotive Brake Pad

For over a century now, asbestos has been used as friction material in the manufacture of brake pads but its use is currently been avoided due to its carcinogenic nature and potential to cause cancer. This study is focused on development of a new brake pad using sheanut shell (SNS) which is an eco-friendly material as the reinforcement and epoxy resin as the binder. Other constituents used are calcium carbonate (CaCO3), graphite and aluminium oxide (Al2O3). Five compositions were formulated with the epoxy resin and reinforcement varied at interval of 5 wt% while CaCO3, graphite and Al2O3 remain constant at 30, 10 and 10 wt% respectively. The developed brake pads were subjected to compressive, abrasive and water absorption tests while their densities were also measured. The results showed that the compressive strength, abrasive strength and the density of the samples decreased as the reinforcement content increased while the water absorption rate increased as the reinforcement content increased. The value of the compressive strength ranged from 64.88 – 93.04Mpa, wear rate from 3.13 – 6.25mg/m, water absorption from 0.899 – 2.722% and density from 0.764 – 1.487g/m3. The result of this research indicates that SNS particles can be used as a replacement for asbestos in brake pad production