Haematologic tolerance of a rumen fistulation protocol in Udaramsata Tertiary Institution Livestock Teaching and Research Farm, Kaduna State, Nigeria

ABSTRACTThis experiment was conducted at the Federal University Dutsin-Ma Livestock Teaching and Research Farm in Dutsin-Ma Local Government area of Katsina State, Nigeria. The study was aimed at studying haematological tolerance level of Uda rams to a rumen fistulation protocol involving incision of skin and muscles separation along the direction of muscle fibers by divulsion. Blood samples were collected and evaluated at the intervals of 0, 24 and 48hours to assess blood line response to the protocol. A total of 3 rams were used and assigned T1, T2 and T3 in a completely randomized technique. A significant (P< 0.05) continuum of decreased packed cell volume and haemoglobin concentration was observed from 0hrs through to 48hours connoting anaemia condition associated with the rumen fistulation protocol. However, significant (P < 0.01) tolerance levels were observed with the cell mediated immune response as evident in the increased lymphocyte counts (lymphocytosis) and an initial acute increase in neutrophils (neutrophilia). This technique was able to demonstrate good tolerance level to rumen fistulation by Uda rams making this breed a good candidate for nutritional and physiological studies requiring rumen fistulation

Seed germination and seedling performance of rice grown in municipal wastewater

The use of municipal wastewater for watering purposes is an essential way to utilize it nutrients. Laboratory experiment was conducted in a complete randomized design using sand medium with municipal wastewater and MR219 rice seed with the aim to assess the suitability of municipal wastewater (treated and untreated) at different concentrations (0, 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100%) on seed germination and seedling performance. Significant (p50%). The concentrations of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Zn, Fe, Cu and Mn were high in untreated municipal wastewater compare to treated municipal wastewater. Seeds imbibed with untreated municipal wastewater have high seed germination and seedling performance compare to treated municipal wastewater. Inhibitory effect on chlorophyll content was observed at >50% concentration of both untreated and treated municipal wastewater while promoting effects were observed at lower (<25%) concentration. Positive and significant correlation was indicated between parameters of rice seed germination and seedlings performance. Municipal wastewater of <50% concentration could be recommended as a good source of water and nutrients for rice seed germination without affecting seedling performance

Carbon and phosphorus mineralization from soils amended with cow dung or rice husk ash

Decomposition of agricultural waste liberates organically-bound nutrient to inorganic form for increased soil fertility and crop productivity. The present investigation delineates carbon and phosphorus mineralization from sandy and clay soils of Peninsular Malaysia amended with cow dung or rice husk ash. Laboratory incubation was conducted for 60 days and a replicate sample of the either soils were incorporated with cow dung or rice husk ash at equivalent rate of 10 t ha -1 under dark condition at 23 o C temperature and field capacity moisture content. The samples containing neither cow dung nor rice husk ash from both soils were included as controls. At fixed intervals, the amount of carbon and phosphorus mineralized from both treatments was determined using standard analytical methods. Temporal increase in carbon mineralization was observed in both the control and amended soils. Sandy soil amended with cow dung or rice husk ash had higher carbon evolution than control while the reverse was obtained from the clay soil. The cumulative carbon evolved from the sandy soil was 82.159, 88.175 and 91.750 µg g -1 for control and soil amended with cow dung and rice husk ash respectively while the respective values for these treatments from the clay soil were 112.336, 96.755 and 90.197 µg g -1 . When the means of carbon evolution from the two soils were compared, clay soil had higher evolution (19.952 µg g -1 ) compared to sandy (17.477 µg g -1 ). Incorporating cow dung or rice husk showed higher extractable phosphorus from both soils compared to control. There was three phases in both carbon and phosphorus mineralization pattern; initial flush, followed by a declined then a phase of slow increase. Sandy soil had higher mean values (29.571 µg g -1 ) of extractable phosphorus than clay (8. 601 µg g -1 ) and this was attributed to acidic nature of clay soil resulting into phosphorus precipitation and adsorption by soil clay and oxides of Fe and Al. The present result showed decomposition potential of cow dung and rice husk ash in these soils

Bioavailability and mobility of arsenic, cadmium, and manganese in gold mine tailings amended with rice husk ash and fe-coated rice husk ash

This study was conducted to determine the effects of rice husk ash (RHA) and Fe-coated rice husk ash (Fe-RHA) on the bioavailability and mobility of As, Cd, and Mn in mine tailings. The amendments were added to the tailings at 0, 5, 10, or 20% (w/w) and the mixtures were incubated for 0, 7, 15, 30, 45, and 60 days. The CaCl2 extractable As, Cd, and Mn in the amended tailings were determined at each interval of incubation period. In addition, the tailings mixture was leached with simulated rain water (SRW) every week from 0 day (D 0) until day 60 (D 60). The results showed that both RHA and Fe-RHA application significantly decreased the CaCl2-extractable Cd and Mn but increased that of As in the tailings throughout the incubation period. Consequently, addition of both RHA and Fe-RHA leached out higher amount of As from the tailings but decreased Cd and Mn concentration compared to the controls. The amount of As leached from the Fe-RHA-amended tailings was less than that from RHA-amended tailings. Application of both RHA and Fe-RHA could be an effective way in decreasing the availability of cationic heavy metals (Cd and Mn) in the tailings but these amendments could result in increasing the availability of anionic metalloid (As). Therefore, selection of organic amendments to remediate metal contaminated tailings must be done with great care because the outcomes might be different among the elements

Distribution of heavy metals fractionation in gold mine tailing amended with non-coated and iron-coated rice husk ash

The determination of heavy metals fractionation in the environment is necessary to predict their mobility and bioavailability. This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of rice husk ash (RHA) and iron-coated rice husk ash (Fe-RHA) on As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Pb and Zn fractionation in gold mine tailings. The tailings were amended with either 0%, 5%, 10%, and 20% (w/w) of RHA or Fe-RHA and the samples were incubated at 60% of field capacity for 80 days. The amount of metals in different fractions at different intervals was determined using a sequential extraction procedure. The results showed that the addition of RHA increased the pH of tailings. The highest pH (9.09) was recorded in samples treated with 20% RHA. However, the addition of Fe-RHA reduced the pH values at all rates and incubation period, compared to the control. The lowest pH (7.17) was recorded in samples treated with 20% Fe-RHA. Both RHA and Fe-RHA increased the easily exchangeable As in the tailings from17.564% to 25.820% at samples treated with 20% RHA and 21.070% at Fe-RHA samples but decreased the carbonate-bound and organic fractions. However, the opposite results were observed for Cd (60.940% to 43.250%), Cr (2.214% to 1.560%), Cu (3.106% to 1.312%), Mn (62.149% to 43.740%), and Zn (9.853% to 1.325%) when tailings amended with 20% RHA. The results suggest that the addition of RHA or Fe-RHA can reduce the availability of cationic heavy metals in the tailings but will increase the availability of anionic metalloids such as As

Breaking the cycle of the COVID-19 transmission: a challenge for Nigeria

COVID-19 has already spread to almost every country in the world, including the arctic. The impact on human health has been severe, with an increasing number of fatalities. With the spread comes economic hardship due to the preventive strategies adopted. Movement restrictions imposed in Nigeria as a result of the outbreak have generated controversies among the poor masses that depend on daily hustles to fend for themselves and their families. Nigeria being a very populous country with a high number of low-income earners who depend on their daily efforts to get food for their families, control measures like the movement restrictions and closure of business premises would have a devastating impact on them. Although the government has responded with some palliative measures, it is evident that these interventions may not be sufficient, mainly due to potential malpractices that will end up denying many supposed beneficiaries

Fate of glyphosate herbicide in munchong and benta soil series amended with cow dung and rice husk ash

There is increasing environmental concern on herbicide application in soils due to its toxic effect on microorganism and contamination of food chain. Glyphosate (GLY) is one of the most widely used herbicide and its commercial formulations cause toxic effect to soil microorganism, aquatic habitat and human. Investigation on fates of GLY is necessary for predicting its bioavailability and possible risk of environmental pollution. Application of organic amendments increased soil sorption ability for organic and inorganic pollutants. There is no reported study on the influences of organic amendments on fates of GLY in Malaysian soils. The present study investigates adsorption-desorption, degradation and leaching of GLY in Munchong and Benta soil series amended with cow dung (CD) or rice husk ash (RHA). The physico-chemical properties of the soils, CD and RHA were analysed at the beginning of the study. The adsorption-desorption study was conducted on the selected agricultural waste, control soils, organic matter removed (OM-removed) soils and soils incorporated with CD or RHA (10: 1 w/w) using GLY concentrations ranged between 0 and 300 mg L-1. This immediately followed by desorption study which employed addition of 0.01M CaCl2 for every decanted adsorbent from adsorption study. The degradation study was carried out using control and soils amended with 10 ton ha-1 equivalent rate of CD or RHA. All the soils were spiked with GLY, maintained at field capacity and GLY degradation was monitored for 65 days. At day’s interval, CO2 evolution was determined and on the other hand, extractable GLY residues were analyzed. Meanwhile, the enzymes dehydrogenase were assayed at the end of the incubation study. Three set of the earlier mentioned treatments each under condition of submerged, field capacity and permanent wilting point were monitored for 65 days to study soil GLY degradation at three moisture level. The column leaching study was performed by applying stimulated rainfall to GLY-spiked columns of controls and soils amended with 10 ton ha-1 equivalent rate of CD or RHA at time intervals. The leachate were collected from each interval after 24 hours of water application and analysed for GLY. At the end of the experiment, each column was divided into three layers, dried and analysed for GLY residues. All GLY residue analyses were conducted using high performance liquid chromatography. Results of the soils analysis show that, Munchong series had high clay contents and it is acidic in nature which was due to high Al saturation and contents of oxide minerals. Benta series on the other hand, was sandy in nature and had pH of near neutral. It was low in organic matter, C, N and P contents but had high CEC compared to Munchong which was due to its presence of mica and smectite. Chemical analysis of CD and RHA revealed both to be alkaline and had very low/no heavy metal contents but they have high content of Fe and Al. In addition to this, CD contains functional groups of amines, phenols, alcohols alkanes and alkenes while only siloxane, alkanes and ethers were present in RHA. The BET surface area of CD was lower than that of RHA but the former had higher internal surface area and both have relatively similar pore volume and radius. The adsorption study showed high percent (> 85%) removal of GLY by the adsorbent. The experimental isotherm data generally fitted more to Freundlich than Langmuir equation. Hence, the adsorption capacities of the adsorbents were in order of CD (Kf =1.168 mg g-1) > RHA (Kf =1.166 mg g-1). Desorption of GLY was minimal, indicating it strong adsorption to CD and RHA. Removing natural organic matter and application of CD or RHA affect the adsorption capacity of Munchong series. The sorption capacities (Kf) of the different adsorbent for GLY were in the following order: Munchong (544.879 mg g-1) > Munchong + CD (123.908 mg g-1) > Munchong + RHA (95.060 mg g-1) > OM-removed Munchong (21.538 mg g-1) > OM-removed Benta (11.572 mg g-1) > Benta + RH (1.574 mg g-1) > Benta + CD (1.405 mg g-1) > Benta (1.186 mg g-1). Adsorption of GLY by all adsorbents was favourable as indicated by Langmuir separation factor, thus, 0.011 < R ≥ 0.910. The percent desorption of GLY from Munchong series ranged between 0.013% and 2.564% with no desorption from the soils amended with CD or RHA. Meanwhile, GLY desorption from different samples of Benta series ranged between 8.10 and 14.57%. The GLY degradation occurred under natural attenuation but addition of CD and RHA stimulate microbial degradation of GLY in Munchong series while their addition showed low GLY degradation in Benta. The degradation in both soils occurred in two phase; initial rapid phase for the compound in solution and the final slow phase for the adsorbed compound. The GLY degradation data was fitted to first order exponential decay model. Munchong degradation data fitted more (0.007 < r2 ≥ 0.993) to this model than Benta (0.371 < r2 ≥ 0.757). There was higher rate of decay constant (k) for solution phase (0.0371 < k1 ≥ 0.0688) compared to sorbed phase (0.0064 < k2 ≥ 0.0475) from both soils. The half-life of GLY in Munchong from control and amended soil was less than 22 days for both solution and sorbed phase except for sorbed phase of Munchong amended with RHA which had 108.308 days. Similarly, the half-life of GLY in Benta from control and amended soil ranged from 11.476 – 41.506 days for both solution and sorbed phases. Application of GLY was shown to increase microbial respiration in Munchong while the reverse was observed in Benta hence suggesting its toxicity in the latter. The TPF concentration from control of both soils was higher compared to the treated samples indicating toxicity of GLY to soil enzyme dehydrogenase. Glyphosate was shown to rapidly degrade at field capacity in Munchong from both control and amended soils. But condition of permanent wilting points hasten GLY degradation in Benta soil applied with CD or RHA. Application of CD or RHA did not increased (p > 0.05) GLY leaching in both soils. However, more GLY residual concentration was obtained in both leachate from the soils amended with these agricultural waste, indicating their influence on increasing GLY mobility. The result of post-leaching GLY residue analysis showed its high contents at the top layer of both soils hence suggesting its low mobility in these soils even with the addition of CD or RHA. The present study therefore recommend the application of CD at the rate of 10 t ha-1 for soil GLY remediation considering its physico-chemical composition and more influence on adsorption and degradation compared to RHA. In addition to this, field capacity was recommended as appropriate soil moisture condition for enhanced GLY degradation. Field trial is also recommended to validate the present laboratory result

Fiscal Policy and Financial Depth in Nigeria: An Application of Threshold Regression Modeling

The study examines Nigeria's non-linear relationship between fiscal policy and financial depth. In essence, the study is concerned with the impacts of fiscal deficit, domestic debt, and government expenditure on financial depth. The study uses four indicators of financial deepening: liquid liabilities, credit to the private sector, deposit money banks’ assets and financial system deposits (all indicators are expressed as percent of GDP). In particular, the government is the threshold variable expected to have a threshold effect on Nigeria's financial depth. The study covers 60 years between 1961 and 2020 and employs a threshold regression model to achieve the research objectives. A linear regression model is employed for the robustness test by including the government expenditure square to test the significance of non-linearity. The study's findings establish fiscal policy's significance in driving financial depth. Beyond the threshold of 8.11 percent, government expenditure significantly increases financial deepening. This is consistent across the indicators of financial depth and the overall financial depth. It further shows the important role of fiscal deficit and domestic debt in deepening the financial market as the threshold value exceeds 8.11 percent. However, fiscal may have a negative, though insignificant, effect on financial depth when the threshold of government expenditure is no more than 8.11%. Real per capita is also a key factor in promoting financial depth. Therefore, higher income is important for a financially deeper financial system. Therefore, attaining minimum government expenditure is crucial for accelerating financial development in Nigeria

Fiscal Policy and Financial Depth in Nigeria: An Application of Threshold Regression Modeling

The study examines Nigeria's non-linear relationship between fiscal policy and financial depth. In essence, the study is concerned with the impacts of fiscal deficit, domestic debt, and government expenditure on financial depth. The study uses four indicators of financial deepening: liquid liabilities, credit to the private sector, deposit money banks’ assets and financial system deposits (all indicators are expressed as percent of GDP). In particular, the government is the threshold variable expected to have a threshold effect on Nigeria's financial depth. The study covers 60 years between 1961 and 2020 and employs a threshold regression model to achieve the research objectives. A linear regression model is employed for the robustness test by including the government expenditure square to test the significance of non-linearity. The study's findings establish fiscal policy's significance in driving financial depth. Beyond the threshold of 8.11 percent, government expenditure significantly increases financial deepening. This is consistent across the indicators of financial depth and the overall financial depth. It further shows the important role of fiscal deficit and domestic debt in deepening the financial market as the threshold value exceeds 8.11 percent. However, fiscal may have a negative, though insignificant, effect on financial depth when the threshold of government expenditure is no more than 8.11%. Real per capita is also a key factor in promoting financial depth. Therefore, higher income is important for a financially deeper financial system. Therefore, attaining minimum government expenditure is crucial for accelerating financial development in Nigeria