Comparative Analysis of Pre and Post-migration Livelihood Outcomes of Households with Absentee Heads in Osun State, Nigeria

Migration is often linked with a deleterious impact on rural area production and development. Although, the change of location for better opportunities also affect the lives and livelihoods of the migrant households’ in the rural communities. The study was a comparative analysis of the pre and post-migration living outcomes of absentee households’ heads in Osun State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure involving the simple random sampling was used to select 120 absentee household heads. Data collected with interview schedule was subjected to descriptive statistics, t-test and correlation analyses. Findings showed that more men (76.7%) migrated, leaving women to become the interim household heads. It was found that migrants have a higher average monthly income level (₦44,400). Prior to migration, most families were in the lower financial well-being category (83.3%), while only 55% remained in that category after migration. This follows the result of the t-test which revealed that a significant difference (t=0.00; p<0.05) exists between the well-being of migrant’s household before and after migration. Thus, it was concluded that unless the rural push factors are removed, rural-urban migration will continue at an increasing rate because benefits and opportunities acquired in the process influence the well-being of the rural households. The study recommends that enabling environment, facilities and opportunities should be created in the rural communities to transform livelihoods and improve the wellbeing of the people via interventions by national and international agencies

Investigating Changes in Coastal Environment Using Internet-Based Geospatial Data

The concerns of researchers and policy makers for the deteriorating condition of the coastal environments have increased in recent times. As the threats to the world today, such as, climate change, population pressure, urbanization and disasters are getting worse, it has become needful to give more attention to means of sustaining the human environment, especially the coastal areas. On the basis of this background, access to geospatial data through internet technology has become attractive, for investigating the impacts of dynamic processes on the coastal environment. This paper presents the result of investigation carried out in Okrika coastal areas of Rivers State, Nigeria. In particular, it discusses how internet-based geospatial data (for example; LandSat TM, ETM+ and Google Earth maps) of three epochs, were incorporated into open-source Geographic Information System (GIS), such as, Integrated Land and Water Information System (ILWIS), and applied to the investigation of land use/land cover (LU/LC) changes. The results obtained tend to show that between 1986 – 2007, 10.94% of the coastal areas was modified from water body to residential areas, 1.10% from residential areas to swamps, 0.42% from vegetation to water body and 0.93% from residential areas to water body. With these modifications, the economic mainstay of the people (marine, tourism and fishing activities) has been adversely affected. The research recommends that effective shoreline protection facility be put in place through government regulations in order to minimize further encroachment, particularly with regards to the water bodies. Also, high-resolution geospatial data as well as simple GIS applications should be made available on the internet, to enable more researchers contribute knowledge and solution to coastal crises, as well as improve collaboration within an interactive platform among policy and strategy formulators.Key Words: Coastal environment, Geospatial data, Remote Sensing, LandSat TM, ETM+, Internet, Open-source GIS

Mining question-answer pairs from web forum: a survey of challenges and resolutions

Internet forums, which are also known as discussion boards, are popular web applications. Members of the board discuss issues and share ideas to form a community within the board, and as a result generate huge amount of content on different topics on daily basis. Interest in information extraction and knowledge discovery from such sources has been on the increase in the research community. A number of factors are limiting the potentiality of mining knowledge from forums. Lexical chasm or lexical gap that renders some Natural Language Processing techniques (NLP) less effective, Informal tone that creates noisy data, drifting of discussion topic that prevents focused mining and asynchronous issue that makes it difficult to establish post-reply relationship are some of the problems that need to be addressed. This survey introduces these challenges within the framework of question answering. The survey provides description of the problems; cites and explores useful publications to the reader for further examination; provides an overview of resolution strategies and findings relevant to the challenges

EVALUATION OF VIABLE OPERATING STRATEGIES FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT BETWEEN FUNAAB CAMPUS AND CAMP TERMINUS IN ABEOKUTA

Transportation is a live wire for national development regardless of a nation industrial capacity, population or technological development. It gives expressions to policy initiative in areas like health, education, employment, etc., and in the absence of it, these facilities would be inaccessible. Viable operating strategies for public transport between Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State Nigeria Campus and Camp Terminus in Abeokuta were evolved. Traffic study was conducted for seven (7) days to determine traffic volume and peak periods (morning and evening) along the route. Questionnaires were administered to the road users to obtain factors (availability of vehicles, travel time from Camp Terminus to FUNAAB, road condition, operational cost, comfortability of the vehicle) needed to generate operating strategies. These factors were subjected to statistical analysis. The traffic volume revealed that Private cab had the highest traffic flow for a.m. peak period (8: 00 – 9: 00 am) from Mondays to Thursdays while Public cab had the highest on Fridays to Sundays, and at the pm peak period (4:00 – 5:00 pm), Public cabs had the highest traffic volume on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays while the Private cabs had the highest on the rest days of the week. The analysis of the sampled population showed that public cab had the least total time travel (36.1 minutes) followed by mini- bus (37.8 minutes) while the school bus had the highest (43.7 minutes) and this justified the reason why 40% of the population choose to travel by public cab, 33% by mini– bus  and 27% by the school bus. However, for the viability of the operating strategies, more public cab and min-buses should be provided to ply the road because of their lesser travel time, also provision of more school buses because of the large number of passengers they carry per trip should be provided.     &nbsp

Comparative efficacy of herbal and synthetic methionine on performance of some haematological and biochemical parameters in domestic laying hens

A feeding trial was conducted to determine the bioefficacy of herbal methionine (HM) compared to synthetic methionine (SM) in the diets of domestic laying hens. The herbal methionine (Meth-o-Tas®) was supplied by Intas Pharmaceutical Limited, India. The HM and SM were added to a standard diet at 0.5 and 1.0 kg per ton and fed to 144 laying birds, 30 weeks of age, housed in 3 birds per cage unit. The birds were divided into 4 dietary treatments of 36 birds each and each treatment group was replicated 4 times with 9 birds per replicate. The trial lasted for 112 days and was divided into 4 periods of 28 days each. At the end of the feeding trial, 2 birds per replicate, representing 8 birds per treatment were sacrificed for the determinations of haematological and plasma biochemical profiles, liver weight and abdominal fat pad. Layers fed on diets supplemented with HM produced less (P ≤ 0.01) eggs, had lower egg mass output (P ≤ 0.01) and final body weight (P ≤ 0.05) and poorer feed conversion efficiency (P ≤ 0.05) than those layers fed on diets supplemented with SM. Feed intake was not affected (P ≥ 0.05) by dietary methionine source. Exterior and interior egg quality characteristics such as egg weight, shell thickness, albumen weight and albumen height decreased (P ≤ 0.05) with dietary supplementation of HM. Dietary supplementation of HM reduced (P ≤ 0.05) abdominal fat pad. Total protein and albumin decreased (P ≤ 0.05) with dietary supplementation of HM. Plasma and liver total cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations were lowered (P ≥ 0.05) in birds fed on diets supplemented with HM. The activities of plasma and liver alanine transferase (ALT), aspartate transferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were not altered (P ≥ 0.05) by HM supplementation. All haematological variables determined were not affected by HM supplementation. Under the conditions of this study, it was concluded that herbal methionine (Meth-o-Tas®) is not an effective substitute for synthetic methionine for optimum production performance.Keywords: Herbal methionine, synthetic methionine, performance, laying hen

Mathematical analysis of a Wolbachia invasive model with imperfect maternal transmission and loss of Wolbachia infection

Arboviral infections, especially dengue, continue to cause significant health burden in their endemic regions. One of the strategies to tackle these infections is to replace the main vector agent, Ae. aegypti, with the ones incapable of transmitting the virus. Wolbachia, an intracellular bacterium, has shown promise in achieving this goal. However, key factors such as imperfect maternal transmission, loss of Wolbachia infection, reduced reproductive capacity and shortened life-span affect the dynamics of Wolbachia in different forms in the Ae. aegypti population. In this study, we developed a Wolbachia transmission dynamic model adjusting for imperfect maternal transmission and loss of Wolbachia infection. The invasive reproductive number that determines the likelihood of replacement of the Wolbachia-uninfected (WU) population is derived and with it, we established the local and global stability of the equilibrium points. This analysis clearly shows that cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) does not guarantee establishment of the Wolbachia-infected (WI) mosquitoes as imperfect maternal transmission and loss of Wolbachia infection could outweigh the gains from CI. Optimal release programs depending on the level of imperfect maternal transmission and loss of Wolbachia infection are shown. Hence, it is left to decision makers to either aim for replacement or co-existence of both populations

Optimization of Fuel Consumption for Tractor-tilled Land Area During Harrowing Operation Using Full Factorial Experimental Design

This study's aim is to improve the tractor harrowing operation's fuel consumption efficiency to cut operating costs and boost agricultural output. The field trial was conducted at Rivers Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (RIART) Farm, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt. The 4,480 m2 experimental land area, which measured 160 by 38 meters, was divided into three blocks of nine plots each. For the alternative treatment choices, each plot was laid out at 50 m by 2 m, with a path dimension of 1 m between each plot and 2 m between each block and 1 m at the sides of the outer blocks. The tilled area fuel consumption and the field test parameters (harrowing depth and tractor forward speed) were measured in accordance with their respective requirements. Statistical studies of the general full factorial design (GFFD), including model fit assessment, analysis of variance (ANOVA), main and interaction effects, multiple linear regression model, and response optimizer, were carried out using MINITAB 19 software. Standard error (SE), coefficient of determination (r2), adjusted r2, and prediction r2 were also used to test the model's validity. The influence of harrowing depth, tractor forward speed, and their interactions are statistically significant on the tilled area fuel consumption during harrowing, according to the Pareto charts of standard effect. The tilled area fuel consumption data during harrowing were nearly normally distributed, as shown by the normal probability plots, which satisfies the first requirement of the model fitness analysis. A roughly normal distribution was also visible on the histogram plot. This observation also provides more evidence in favor of the typical fuel usage distribution in tractor-tilled areas. The residual vs. fitted value graphs showed that there is no discernible pattern in the data points for tilled area fuel consumption data during harrowing, supporting the constant variance condition of the residuals. A plot of the residual versus observation order reveals that the residual points are likewise entirely random. According to the statistical study, the effects of harrowing depths, tractor forward speed, and their interactions on tractor tilled area fuel consumption during harrowing operation were significant with 95 and very significant with 99% confidence (P<0.05 and P<0.01 levels of significance). Also, it was demonstrated for example that the multiple linear regression could accurately predict the experimental results with a standard error of very small amounts. For the amount of fuel consumed during harrowing in the tilled area, the coefficients of determination (r2), adjusted r2, and anticipated r2 were all equal to 100%. indicating that the estimated multiple linear regression model created for the tractor tilled area fuel consumptions explained 100% of the variability in the dataset. At harrowing depth of 0.09 m and tractor forward speed of 5 Km/h, optimal tractor tilled area fuel consumption during harrowing was achieved. According to this study, the required minimum fuel consumption for tractor-tilled area under operational parameters (harrowing depth and tractor forward speed) was 6.15 L/ha

Maternal factors influencing birth weight of term babies among women who received antenatal care at a Nigerian voluntary agency health care facility

Background: Birthweight is an important indicator of babies’ health status and a reliable predictor of their postnatal survival. Maternal factors are regarded as major contributors to birthweight outcome due to their direct effects on foetal growth. Proper knowledge of these factors is essential for implementing preventive measures against suboptimal birthweight. Objective of the study sought to determine the proportion of term babies with normal birthweight and identify the maternal factors that influence birthweight.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 257 booked pregnant women and their newborns delivered at the Sacred Heart Hospital (SHH), Abeokuta, Nigeria between August and November 2017. Selection was by systematic random sampling method. Data were collected with a pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire and analyzed with SPSS version 21 program.Results: The mean age of the women was 30.73±5.17 years. Among the women, 95.7% had at least senior secondary education, 95% of them were married and employed. The mean birthweight was 3.25±0.47 kg and male babies had higher mean weight (male: 3.30±0.54 kg; female: 3.21±0.39 kg). NBW was recorded among 92.6% of the babies with 3.5 and 3.9% as LBW and HBW, respectively. Only maternal booking BMI (p=0.005) and chronic hypertension (p=0.007) were significantly associated with birthweight.Conclusion: Most babies in this study had normal birthweights reflecting the influence of optimal maternal biological and socio-demographic characteristics. Chronic hypertension and subnormal booking BMI undermined achievement of optimal birthweight, underscoring the need for pre-conception care for intending mothers.

Molecular and Physiological Factors of Neuroprotection in Hypoxia-Tolerant Models: Pharmacological Clues for the Treatment of Stroke

The naked mole-rat possesses several unique physiological and molecular features that underlie their remarkably and exceptional resistance to tissue hypoxia. Elevated pattern of Epo, an erythropoietin (Epo) factor; c-fos; vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF); and hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF-1α) contribute to the adaptive strategy to cope with hypoxic stress. Moreover, the naked mole-rat has a lower metabolic rate than any other eutherian mammal of comparable size that has been studied. The ability to actively reduce metabolic rate represents a strategy widely used in the face of decreased tissue oxygen availability. Understanding the different molecular and physiological factors that induce metabolic suppression could guide the development of pharmacological agents for the clinical management of stroke patient