Studies on Influence of Seasonality on Clinical Conditions of Small Ruminants in Ogbomoso Areas of Oyo State

Information on influence of seasonality on clinical conditions of small ruminants in Ogbomoso area of Oyo State has not been extensively documented. 10 years' worth of data on clinical cases in sheep and goats were analysed from records kept at the Veterinary Clinics from 1995- 2005 using simple descriptive, frequency and percentage distribution. The results showed that a total of eight hundred and eighty seven different cases were reported at the clinic between 1995-2005. 758 (85.46%) of Caprine and 129 (14.54%) of Ovine species cases were reported. Helminthosis occurred most (26.99%) in the early wet season while wounds occurred most on early dry season (20.87%). Non-infectious conditions such as dystocia (13.92%) and fractures (9.71%) were reported most on late wet season . Mange (5.83%), mastitis (7.77%), placenta retention (2.91%), sprain (5.34%) as well as prophylactic treatment (7.77%) were reported most in early dry season respectively. PPR were reported most in late dry season (9.59%). Other cases reported with values lower than 2.0% all year round were considered and these include ascitis, amputation, foot rot, milk fever, paralysis, pneumonia, rumen impaction, salmonellosis, skin burn, vulvitis, and tetanus. Information generated can be useful to Government agencies in strategic planning and guidelines for prevention and control of ruminant diseases.Key words: Seasonality, Clinical conditions, Small ruminant, Ogbomos

Design and Construction of a Scroll Compressor of an Automobile Air Conditioning System

This work focuses on the design and manufacture of a scroll compressor used in an automobile air conditioning system. A scroll compressor is a positive-displacement machine that compresses air with two interfitting spiral shaped scroll members. This compressor is of semi-hermetic design, and is quiet, reliable and efficient in performanc

Biochemical and Heamatological Indices of Broiler Chickens fed Differently Processed Legume Seed Meals

This study was designed to investigate the implications of feeding broiler chickens with mucuna beans processed by simple domestic methods on the performance, haematological and biochemical parameters. Differently processed bean meals namely dehulling (DUMM), dehulling and cooked (DCMM), soaked and cooked (SCMMI) prolonged soaking and cooking (SCMMII) and toasting (TMM) mucuna meals were fed to two hundred and seventy 1 – day old broiler chicks of Anak strain. The birds were divided into six groups of 45 birds per group. Each group was further sub divided to 3 replicates of 15 birds and allocated to six dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. Maize – soybean meal served as control diet. Processed mucuna meal was added to the diet 200g/kg of feed at the expense of soybean meal in the control diet. All diets formulated were isocaloric and iso-nitrogenous. Feed intake was not influenced by the dietary treatments (P>0.05). Average daily gain (ADG) was significantly (P<0.05) influenced by the dietary treatments. Growth was depressed in birds fed dehulled mucuna meal compared to other dietary treatments. Compared with DUMM, there was significant improvement in ADG in bird fed heat treated mucuna meal. Feed conversion efficiency was significantly improved (P<0.05) in birds fed aqueous heated meals (DCMM, SCMMI and SCMMII) compared with those that received DUMM and TMM diets. Dietary treatments significantly (P<0.05) affect blood cellular components. The PCV, Hb, and RBC of broilers chickens fed DUMM were reduced with increased MCV and MCH values compared to other treatments. Serum total protein and globulin were affected by the dietary treatments (P<0.05). Values obtained in birds fed SCMMI, SCMMII, DCMM and TMM were similar and significantly lower than those that received the control and DUMM diets. The result of this study revealed that aqueous heat treatment (cooking) was more effective in improving the nutritive values of mucuna bean meals compared to dehulling and toasting.Keywords: Mucuna bean, Processing, Performance, Haematology, Biochemica

The in vitro Assessment of Drug Resistant Malaria In Makurdi, North Central Nigeria

Multi-drug resistant malaria parasite strains have spread to new areas that were once free of such strains. This study evaluated the specific in vitro sensitivities of some standard antimalarial drugs, against Plasmodium falciparum isolates in Makurdi, North Central Nigeria. The standard schizonts growth inhibition assays was used to study the in vitro activities of quinine, artesunate, and amodiaquine against 146 isolates in children aged 2-14 years. 100 % of isolates were in vitro sensitive to quinine, geometric mean effective concentration (EC)50 = 241.55 nM, EC90 = 676.08 nM, and EC99 = 993.12 nM; and artesunate, EC50 = 1.05 nM, EC90 = 2.42 nM, and EC99 = 3.16 nM. 1.37 % of isolates were resistant to amodiaquine, EC50 = 22.08 nM, EC90 = 66.22 nM and EC99 = 100.23 nM. Significant in vitro cross resistance was found at EC50 values of quinine-amodiaquine drug pair (r = + 0.342, P < 0.05), but not quinine – artesunate (r = + 0.057, P > 0.05) or artesunateamodiaquine (r = + 0.088, P > 0.05). These results call for constant surveillance, to curb the spread of P. falciparum resistance to amodiaquine in Nigeria. Keywords: Drug resistance, Plasmodium falciparum, Malaria, Nigeria

Anti-malarial activity of ethanolic leaf extract of Piliostigma thonningii Schum. (Caesalpiniacea) in mice infected with Plasmodium berghei berghei

Piliostigma thonningii Schum. (Caesalpiniacea) is used traditionally in the management of fever, cough, wounds and various ulceration. Oral acute toxicity of the ethanolic leaf extract of Piliostigma thorningii was evaluated in mice using modified Lorke&#8217;s method. The ethanolic leaf extract was evaluated for in vivo anti plasmodial activity against chloroquine sensitive strain of Plasmodium berghei berghei NK65 in mice. Four day suppressive, curative effect against established infection and prophylactic models of anti plasmodial studies were carried out. The oral median lethal dose was determined to be 3807.89 mg/kg body weight. The extract (100,200 and 400 mg/kg) exerted dose dependent chemo suppressive effects at the different levels of the infections tested. However the anti-plasmodial effect of chloroquine at 5 mg/kg body weight was higher than the extract in all the test models. Thi

Monetary Policies And Credit Financing As Factors In Agricultural Productivity In Cross River State

The study evaluates the influence of credit policies on institutional lending behaviour of farmers in Cross River State. It also ascertains the relationship between credit and agricultural development. Using econometric methods, results reveal that credit quota and portfolio lending devices and pursuit of cheap interest rate polices has negative effect on credit supply while policies associated with plough back of rural savings mobilization and availability of guarantee were marginally effective. Results also show that farmers demand for credit was influenced mainly by the availability of credit subsidies and availability of guarantees. Also, the study showed that a positive but inelastic relationship exist between credit and agricultural output. Finally, it was revealed that some factors which militate against the effectiveness of agricultural credit polices include lack of viable technologies, defective production environments and wrong perception of the roles of credit in development. An agenda for credit policy reforms stressed the need to evolve and adopt policies, which foster desirable financial technologies, which serve both the interest of institutional borrowers and lenders. Keywords: Agricultural Productivity, Credit policies, Agricultural development, Monetary policies and Cross River State Global Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol. 7 (1) 2008: pp. 1-

Between and Betwixt Soil Fertility Improvement and Disease Transmission: An Assessment of the Suitability of Anaerobic Digestion Effluent for Direct Application as Fertilizer

Although anaerobic digestate has been identified as a rich source of essential plant nutrients, its safety measured by the concentration of pathogen present is of great concern to end users. This research explored the efficiency of the mesophilic biodigestion process in the stabilization and sanitization of cow dung and chicken droppings. 6kg each of cow dung and chicken droppings were collected fresh and free from impurities, pre-fermented, mixed with water in the ratio 1:1 by volume to form slurry, fed into the respective reactors and digested for 30 days at an average daily ambient temperature of 37oC. The pH of the medium fluctuated between 6.5 and 8.0. The analysis of the feedstock and effluent of the digesters showed that a total solids reduction of 75.3% and 60.1% were recorded for cow dung and chicken droppings respectively while the reductions in total coliforms were 95% and 70% respectively. E.coli and Shigella spp., were removed while Salmonella spp. and Klebsiella spp. where still present in the digestate. Notwithstanding these results, the digestate still requires further treatment for it to be suitable for application on unrestricted crops either as fertilizer; otherwise a health problem would be created as attempt is made to improve soil fertility

Risk factors for delayed presentation and referral of symptomatic cancer: Evidence for common cancers

Background:It has been suggested that the known poorer survival from cancer in the United Kingdom, compared with other European countries, can be attributed to more advanced cancer stage at presentation. There is, therefore, a need to understand the diagnostic process, and to ascertain the risk factors for increased time to presentation.Methods:We report the results from two worldwide systematic reviews of the literature on patient-mediated and practitioner-mediated delays, identifying the factors that may influence these.Results:Across cancer sites, non-recognition of symptom seriousness is the main patient-mediated factor resulting in increased time to presentation. There is strong evidence of an association between older age and patient delay for breast cancer, between lower socio-economic status and delay for upper gastrointestinal and urological cancers and between lower education level and delay for breast and colorectal cancers. Fear of cancer is a contributor to delayed presentation, while sanctioning of help seeking by others can be a powerful mediator of reduced time to presentation. For practitioner delay, ‘misdiagnosis’ occurring either through treating patients symptomatically or relating symptoms to a health problem other than cancer, was an important theme across cancer sites. For some cancers, this could also be linked to inadequate patient examination, use of inappropriate tests or failing to follow-up negative or inconclusive test results.Conclusion:Having sought help for potential cancer symptoms, it is therefore important that practitioners recognise these symptoms, and examine, investigate and refer appropriately. © 2009 Cancer Research UK All rights reserved

Prenatal diagnosis of Neu-Laxova syndrome: a case report

BACKGROUND: Neu-Laxova syndrome is a rare congenital abnormality involving multiple systems. We report a case of Neu-Laxova syndrome (NLS) diagnosed prenatally by ultrasound examination. CASE PRESENTATION: A 29-year-old gravida 3, para 2 woman was first seen in our antenatal clinic at 38 weeks' pregnancy. Except for the consanguinity and two previous abnormal stillborn babies her medical history was unremarkable. On ultrasound examination microcephaly, flat forehead, micrognathia, intrauterine growth restriction, generalized edema of the skin, hypoplastic chest, excessive soft tissue deposition of hands and feet, joint contractures and a penis without scrotal sacs were detected. She delivered a 2000 g male fetus. He died five minutes after delivery. Postmortem examination confirmed the diagnosis of Neu-Laxova syndrome. CONCLUSION: Because of the autosomal recessive inheritance of Neu-Laxova syndrome genetic counseling and early-serial ultrasound examination should be performed at risk families. Early diagnosis of the disease may offer termination of the pregnancy as an option