Production of earthworm meal for aquaculture

Three soil sample media (loamy, sandy and clayey) were used to culture earthworm, (Eudrilus eugeniae (Kinberg) in earthenware pots for ten weeks, under laboratory conditions. The aims of the research are to culture earthworms as replacement for fish meal, and to determine the best suitable soil medium for culturing and breeding of earthworms. Two sets of treatments were set up with the three soil samples; the experimental containing organic matter (cow dung) and the controls lacking organic matter. Watering was done every three days to keep the culture moistened. but not saturated. Results of the study showed that loamy soil had the highest number of earthworms harvested, followed by sandy and then clayey soil. Increase in number of harvested earthworms between the experimental and control groups differ significantly (P< O.05), with the experimental group having higher number of harvested earthworms. Loamy soil was the most favourable medium that enhanced the growth and survival of earthworms, when cultured under laboratory conditions, for fish meal replacement in aquaculture

s-Channel Production of MSSM Higgs Bosons at a Muon Collider with Explicit CP Violation

A muon collider with controllable energy resolution and transverse beam polarization provides a powerful probe of the Higgs sector in the minimal supersymmetric standard model with explicit CP violation, through s-channel production of Higgs bosons. The production rates and the CP-even and CP-odd transverse-polarization asymmetries are complementary in diagnosing CP violation in the Higgs sector.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures. Some statements for clarity and references added. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Nutrient composition of commonly used complementary foods in North western Nigeria

Studies on the nutrient composition of commonly used complementary foods in North Western Nigeria were carried out using Kaduna, Kebbi and Niger states as case studies. Ready to eat complementary food samples were collected from mothers with children older than 6 months but younger than 24 months and evaluated for its nutrient components using standard procedures. Results obtained showed that guinea corn and millet paps were the first foods introduced to children in the zone. The ash content ranged from 0.63±0.01 to 1.21±0.20 g/100 g with the crude protein ranging from 1.38±0.30 to 3.15±0.01 g/100 g and crude fat 0.07±0.01 to 2.56±0.06 g/100 g. Levels of lysine (1.55 to 3.11 g/100 g protein) and methionine (0.70 to 1.15 g/100 g protein) were below the international reference values of 4.2 and 2.2 for lysine and methionine, respectively. Zinc content ranged from 4.16 to 7.47 mg/100 g and iron content was between 17.82 and 33.88 mg/100 g. Phytates (0.04±0.01 to 0.12±0.02 mg/100 g), tannins (12.95±5.79 to 56.54±11.59 mg/100 g) and free cyanide (0.05±0.01 to 0.74±0.04 mg/100 g) levels in the commonly used complementary foods were low. There is low protein intake by children in the zone since their diet is mainly based on cereal with no other supplementation

Probing MSSM Higgs Sector with Explicit CP Violation at a Photon Linear Collider

The CP properties of Higgs bosons can be probed through their s-channel resonance productions via photon-photon collisions by use of circularly and/or linearly polarized backscattered laser photons at a TeV-scale linear e^+ e^- collider. Exploiting this powerful tool, we investigate in detail the Higgs sector of the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model with explicit CP violation.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures. Some comments added and typos corrected. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Heavy metals in Bushmeat from New-Bussa and its environs, Nigeria

Bushmeat have provided complimentary protein for human population across the world over the centuries. This study assessed the concentration of heavy metals in bushmeats in New Bussa and its environs. Three carcass of bush meat (Kobus kob (Kob), Tragelaphus scriptus (Bushbuck) and Sylvicapra grimmia (Duiker)) were sourced from the study area. The carcass was digested and concentrations of nine heavy metals (Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr, Ni, Co and Cd) were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Results obtained for the heavy metal analysis were subjected to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) while Pearson’s correlation was used to determine the relationship in the samples. The heavy metal concentration in muscle tissues of the selected bushmeat revealed that zinc with 815.00±13.00 mg/kg in Kob was the highest mean value of all meat samples, followed by Iron (479.00±10.00 mg/kg) in Duiker while Pb level in Bushbuck 213.00±3.00 mg/kg is outrageously the highest. Copper, Chromium and Nickel did not exceed the permissible limits as set by FEPA/WHO. The concentration pattern of heavy metals in bush meat show that Sylvicapra grimmia and Tragelaphus scriptus had the same pattern of Zn&gt;Fe&gt;Pb&gt;Cr&gt;Mn&gt;Cu&gt;Co&gt;Ni&gt;Cd concentration while Kobus kob pattern of&nbsp; association is Zn&gt;Fe&gt;Cr&gt;Pb&gt;Ni&gt;Cu&gt;Co&gt;Cd&gt;Mn. The comparative study of the heavy metal concentrations revealed that Zinc (Zn) recorded the highest frequency, followed by Iron (Fe) and Lead (Pb). This study has shown that high level of Pb in the samples from the study area is a matter of concern in bush meat consumption in the study area; hence people should be warned of impending danger in the consumption of heavy metals contaminated bush meat. Keywords: Bushmeat, heavy metals, concentration, toxicity, contaminate

Weak Isospin Violations in Charged and Neutral Higgs Couplings from SUSY Loop Corrections

Supersymmetric QCD and supersymmetric electroweak loop corrections to the violations of weak isospin to Yukawa couplings are investigated. Specifically it involves an analysis of the supersymmetric loop corrections to the Higgs couplings to the third generation quarks and leptons. Here we analyze the SUSY loop corrections to the charged Higgs couplings which are then compared with the supersymmetric loop corrections to the neutral Higgs couplings previously computed. It is found that the weak isospin violations can be quite significant, i.e, as much as 40-50% or more of the total loop correction to the Yukawa coupling. The effects of CP phases are also studied and it is found that these effects can either enhance or suppress the weak isospin violations. We also investigate the weak isospin violation effects on the branching ratio $BR(H^-\to\bar t b)/ BR(H^-\to \bar\nu_{\tau}\tau^-)$ and show that the effects are sensitive to CP phases. Thus an accurate measurement of this branching ratio along with the branching ratio of the neutral Higgs boson decays can provide a measure of weak isospin violation along with providing a clue to the presence of supersymmetry.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figure

Loop-Induced CP Violation in the Gaugino and Higgsino Sectors of Supersymmetric Theories

We show that the gaugino and higgsino sectors of supersymmetric theories can naturally acquire observable CP violation through radiative effects which originate from large CP-violating trilinear couplings of the Higgs bosons to the third-generation scalar quarks. These CP-violating loop effects are not attainable by evolving the supersymmetric renormalization-group equations from a higher unification scale down to the electroweak one. We briefly discuss the phenomenological consequences of such a scenario, and as an example, calculate the two-loop contribution to the neutron electric dipole moment generated by the one-loop chromo-electric dipole moment of the gluino.Comment: 9 pages, as to appear in Physical Review

Distribution of metals in Labeo coubie (Ruppel, 1832) from a National Park river in Nigeria

This study assesses heavy metals distribution in body parts of Labeo coubie (African carp) fromRiver Oli, in Kainji Lake National Park as pollution index of the ecosystem. Fish parts samples (gills, muscles andvertebra bone) were prepared and specifically analyzed for the levels of Pb, Cr, Zn, Cu, Fe and Cd using Atomicabsorption spectrophotometry. The concentration of metals in the samples at different concentrations ranged from0.001±0.000 μg/g for Cd to 224.87±4.07 μg/g of Fe in the fish gill. There is significant (p&lt;0.05) differences in the Pb,Zn, Cu and Fe concentrations across the different fish parts with gills accumulated the highest levels metals while Crlevels significantly (p&lt;0.05) differed in the fish body parts and accumulated more in the muscles (10.75±0.15 μg/g).The mean concentrations of metal elements in the fish parts had shown some distinguish connection in its distributionswith Pb and Cu; Gills &gt; Muscles &gt; Vertebra bones, Fe and Zinc; Gills &gt; Vertebra bones &gt; Muscles while Cr wasdistributed in Muscles &gt; Gill &gt; Vertebra bones. However, it is revealed that Labeo coubie, a euryphagus fish probablyabsorb these metals through ingestion of contaminated food or absorption by the gills and bioaccumulate in differentfish parts. It is therefore established that River Oli is contaminated with heavy metals as presence of these metals infish is an indication of its immediate environment. Keywords: absorption, bioaccumulation, fish parts, heavy metals, pollutio

Growth and yield components of some groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cultivars infected with blackeye cowpea mosaic virus

Blackeye cowpea mosaic virus (BlCMV) is a major virus, infecting legumes with attendant huge losses. Cultivation of resistant varieties is the most effective and sustainable control strategy. Therefore, some groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) cultivars were evaluated against BlCMV in Minna, Southern Guinea savanna zone of Nigeria. The experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm, Federal University of Technology, Minna. It was arranged as infected and uninfected using Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Groundnut seeds were sowed in the second week of August, 2015. Seedlings were inoculated by sap transmission at 10 days after sowing. Disease incidence, severity, growth and yield attributes were recorded. Data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and means separated at p≤0.05 probability level. Disease incidence varied significantly p&lt;0.05 from 28.3 to 60.3 % at one week after inoculation (WAI) and 44.7 to 100 % at 2 WAI. ICGV 91317 which expressed mild infection (symptom score = 2) at 9 WAI also exhibited the lowest leaf diameter reduction (3.6 %) at that growth stage. FDRF7-82 which had the lowest reduction in number of leaves per plant at 3 and 6WAI (10.7 and 9.6 %, respectively) also exhibited the lowest reduction in fresh haulm weight per plant (42.2 %). None of the cultivars exhibited consistent reactions, FDRF7-82 and ICGV 91317 had an appreciable combination of growth and yield attributes under BlCMV infection. However, these cultivars could be improved upon either through conventional or molecular breeding by coding with desirable genes. The cultivars which were adversely affected by BlCMV disease could so be improved genetically through appropriate gene introgression from the resistant cultivars.Keywords: Blackeye cowpea mosaic virus; disease incidence and severity; growth and yield; groundnu

Slepton Flavor Nonuniversality, the Muon EDM and its Proposed sensitive Search at Brookhaven

We analyze the electric dipole moment of the electron ($d_e$), of the neutron ($d_n$) and of the muon ($d_{\mu}$) using the cancellation mechanism in the presence of nonuniversalities of the soft breaking parameters. It is shown that the nonuniversalities in the slepton sector produce a strong violation of the scaling relation $d_{\mu}/d_e\simeq m_{\mu}/m_e$ in the cancellation region. An analysis of $d_e, d_n$ and $d_{\mu}$ under the constraints of the current experimental limits on $d_e$ and $d_n$ and under the constraints of the recent Brookhaven result on $g_{\mu}-2$ shows that in the non-scaling region $d_{\mu}$ can be as large as ($10^{-24}-10^{-23}$)ecm and thus within reach of the recently proposed Brookhaven experiment for a sensitive search for $d_{\mu}$ at the level of $10^{-24}$ ecm.Comment: 24 pages, Latex, including 5 figures with additional reference