Biological Assessment of Water Quality: A Study of Challawa River Water Kano, Nigeria

This study was carried out to survey the biotic community of Challawa river water in Kano, Nigeria, using Biological Monitoring Working Party Score (BMWP) and Average Score Per Taxa (ASPT) assessment tools to evaluate the water quality in the field. Using standardized sampling technique insects, insects’ larvae, benthic invertebrates, fresh water vivalve, prosobranch and Pulmonate Gastropods of the river were collected, indentified using identifications keys and BMWP score table. BMWP performances and ASPT values obtained were recorded for each selected site A, B, C and D during sampling period between February to October. The results revealed that Site A, close to water treatment plant, had a total of 63 species count, the total performance of 53 BMWP score; was (high)10 in March but fell sharply to 2(low) in May and the ASPT value obtained was 0.84 as the less sensitive species dominate the sample size and indicating water of B-class quality. Site B, the water intake Station of the Challawa water works had 37 species count, 44 BMWP performances and 1.19 ASPT value assessed A-class. Site C, industrial effluent discharge point, had 51 counts, 28 BMWP performances with 0.55 ASPT value assessed D-class. Site D, the confluent point between River Challawa and River Kano had 67count, 58 BMWP performances and 0.87 ASPT value assessed B-class. The implications of the findings were discussed and recommendations for possible abatement of the situation made.Key words: Macro invertebrates, quality, assessment, Challawa River, ASPT, BMW

Multivariate approach to the study of aquatic species diversity of dendrite streams of River Kano, Nigeria

Diversity of macroinvertebrates as well as Physico-chemical parameters were  investigated in six sampling sites of Kano River between June 2014 to May 2015. The pattern of association between measured Physico-chemical parameters were significantly correlated using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and revealed high positive correlation between Total Nitrate and Total Phosphate at site A (.811) and negative correlation between Dissolved Oxygen and pH at site E (-.261). Eigen value of the three variables namely; Temperature, pH and Electrical Conductivity was satisfactory, explaining 73.64% and 70.79% of the total variance in dry season and wet season respectively, other components explained 26.36% and 29.06% noise. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin in dry season value showed 0.700 degree of common variance is middling bordering meritorious adequacy value while wet season showed miserable degree of common variance value of 0.500. Bartletts' Test of Sphericity showed no difference in wet and dry season with the significant value of p < 0.001. Macroinvertebrates species group frequency distribution of homogeneous set at N 2271 showed Chironomidae subset-7 with the significance of 1.00 highest in harmonic mean value and Planariidae in subset-1 has 0.59 lowest in the value. Generalized Linear Model further revealed the pattern in seasonal variation in the macroinvertebrates data set. The findings were discussed and recommendations made.Key words: Dendrites, Diversity, Eigen value, Macroinvertebrates, Multivariate, River Kano

Cybercrime in Nigeria: An Overview of Cybercrime Act 2013

The paper focuses on cybercrimes in Nigeria, the examples of cybercrimes and also an overview of Cybercrimes Act 2013. Cybercrime are associated with Nigerian for examples email scams, phishing and credit card fraud; the Nigerian banks are susceptible to these attacks. It is evident that many Nigerians, organizations and government are investing significant amount of money in protection their Information communication and technology (ICTs) systems and networks. The increase rises of cybercrimes in the Nigerian cyberspace prove that some organizations are fighting cybercrimes through cyber security experts but only when security is breached or compromise. The recent Cybercrimes Act established by the Nigerian legislation intends to fight cybercrimes in all angles. The Overview of Cybercrimes Act 2013 gives us an inside of the relevancy of the Act to the current issue at hand where the Act dedicated a Part discussing the offences and their penalties in relation to cybercrime. With this Act in operation a roadmap in curbing the menace of cybercrime in Nigeria is captured. The paper will proffer recommendations and conclusions for effective measures for proper implementation and enforcement. Keywords: Cybercrime, examples of cybercrimes, overview of Cybercrime Act 201

Tubal Ectopic Gestation Associated with Genital Schistosomiasis: A Case Report

Schistosoma are trematode blood flukes of the family Schistosomidae affecting the urinary and gastro-intestinal tracts. Riverine areas of the world such as in Africa, Eastern Mediterranean, Central American and East Asia are endemic for the disease, with S. haematobium accounting for most of the symptomatic genital infection. A case of a 25-year-old woman with 8 weeks amenorrhoea, lower abdominal pain and per vaginal bleeding was managed for ruptured ectopic pregnancy and discovered to have tubal infection by Schistosoma on histological examination is presented. Afr J Reprod Health 2014; 18[2]: 144-146).Keywords: Ectopic Gestation, Genital Schistosomiasis Les schistosomes sont des douves sanguines de la famille Schistosomiase affectent les voies urinaires et gastro-intestinaux. Les zones riveraines du monde comme l'Afrique, la Méditerranée Orientale, l'Amérique Centrale et l’Asie de l'Est sont endémiques de la maladie, la S. hématobie étant responsable de la plupart des infections génitales symptomatiques. Un cas d'une femme de 25 ans qui présentaient des 8 semaines d'aménorrhée, des douleurs abdominales basses et par des saignements vaginaux a été géré pour la grossesse extra-utérine rompue et l’examen histologique a découvert une infection des trompes par le schistosome. Afr J Reprod Health 2014; 18[2]: 144-146).Mots clés: gestation extra-utérine, schistosomiase génital

Determinants of Non Alcoholic Beverages (NAB) Consumption in North-Western Nigeria: A study of Sokoto Metropolis

Non alcoholic beverages (NAB) consumption in Nigeria has been steadily increasing over the years to the point where nearly half of the populace are consumers of these products. This study seeks to determine the role played by socioeconomic characteristics in driving consumption of some selected NABs particularly juice and carbonated soda in Sokoto metropolis of Nigeria. To adequately capture the variables of interest, specifically, location and ethnicity variables, the metropolis was grouped into four clusters, namely Peri-urban, Sokoto main, G R As, and Resident community. In each of the clusters one hundred households were randomly selected to arrive at a sample size of four hundred households. Descriptive, OLSMR and probit analytical tools were used to analyse the data collected. The results shows that about 59% and 71% of the respondents consumed juice and soda respectively while the per capita consumption of juice was slightly higher than that of soda which were 7.57 and 7.32 litres respectively. Household sizes, education and economic status of the household heads play a significant role in determining the consumption level of both juice and soda. While gender and location significantly affected the respective consumption of juice and soda in the metropolis. In both cases gender and household sizes where negative while the rest where positive. The probit analysis showed that age and household sizes negatively affected the probability of both juice and soda consumption, while education and economic status of the household heads positively determined the probability of consumption of the two beverages in the metropolis. Finally, while gender has a negative effect on the probability of juice consumption, ethnicity of the household heads played a positive role in the consumption probability of soda beverages. The study concluded that an improvement in the consumption of NABs in the metropolis requires policies aimed at encouraging the citizenry to have a smaller family size, sound education and raising their real incomes. While the manufacturers should be encouraged to fortify their carbonated drinks with nutrients.Keywords: Juice, Soda, Sokoto metropolis, Probit, OLSMR, Consumptio

Kinetic Study of Calcination of Jakura Limestone Using Power Rate Law Model

The current demand of hydrated lime [Ca(OH)2] worldwide has necessitated investigation into kinetics of calcinations of some large commercial deposits of limestone in Nigeria. The study is aimed at finding kinetic parameters for the purpose of energy saving, lime kiln design, modeling and simulation of lime kiln. In this study, kinetic of Jakura limestone calcination process using power rate law has been investigated. The Jakura limestone has percentage composition of 96.56% of Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) and the results of its decomposition at different temperature between 800 – 12000C showed that conversion of CaCO3 to quicklime (CaO) increased with increase in reaction temperature and reaction time. It was observed that optimum conversion time within the temperature range studied was 6 hours with maximum conversion of 91.01% achieved at 12000C. The calcination of Jakura limestone was also found to be first order reaction with respect to CaCO3 concentration having average regression coefficient of 0.99. The temperature dependent terms were found using Arrhenius law and it was observed that the reaction temperature has a direct effect on the rate of reaction. The effective values of activation energy and frequency factor were all within the range of literature values and were found to be 121.708kJ/mol/K, and 2.943 respectively

Preliminary Phytochemical Screening of Healthy and Leaf Curl Virus Infected Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum) Leaves

The present investigation deals with the determination of phytochemical constituents of healthy and leaf curl virus infected tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) leaves. Specimens were collected from Koraye in Zaria and transported to the Herbarium unit for proper authentication. Healthy and curl leaves of Solanum lycopersicum were washed thoroughly three times with running tap water and once with sterile distilled water, air dried at temperature on a sterile blotter. After complete drying, young leaves were pulverized. The powdered material was weighed and kept in air tight container in dark place for further extraction procedure. Extraction was done by methanol method, where 100g each of pulverized powder of both healthy and infected Solanum lycopersicum leaves was put in a cornical flask and (1000ml) of measuring cylinder was used to measure 500ml of 70% methanol. The results obtained from the qualitative phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of; Alkaloids, Flavonoids, Tanins, Cardiac glycosides, Phenols and Saponins in both healthy and infected leaves of Solanum lycopersicum and the absence of; Carbohydrates, Steroids and Anthroquinone in both healthy and infected leaves of Solanum lycopersicum. While the quantitative analysis revealed the presence of 8.2% and 3.8% Alkaloids, 49.6% and 48.2% Flavonoids, 30.6% and 19.99%, Tanins 30.6% and 19.9%, Phenols 13.6% and 7.022% Saponins 1.2% and 0.1% in both healthy and infected leaf curl of Solanum lycopersicum. Evidently, from the above investigation there are no reducing sugars in Solanum lycopersicum leaves and there are metabolites in some healthy and infected leaf curl of Solanum lycopersicum leaves

Effects of Boko Haram Insurgency on Public Schools and Responses by Government of Borno State, Nigeria

Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast affected all sectors of human endeavour including education. This study examined the effects of the insurgency on the education sector in Borno State. Heads of institutions from five primary, four junior secondary and four senior secondary schools in each of the three senatorial zones were selected based on the availability of the heads of the schools and interviewed with a structured 24 item questionnaire consisting of both open ended and close ended questions. This was triangulated with official data obtained from Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and other sources. Analysis showed that schools in Borno Central (23.3%) and Southern (15.8%) senatorial zones are severely damaged in terms of infrastructure. where classrooms, laboratories and hostels were damaged. As a response measure, government embarked on immediate closure of schools, and later their merger into learning centres in Maiduguri and Biu, development of Educational Sector plan and securing of schools including fencing and barb wire. Other measures include increased government spending on education to provide facilities, free lunch and transportation services to pupils through the school bus transit scheme. It was recommended that recruitment of more teachers into both primary and secondary schools as well as sustenance of the school feeding programme are required.

Hepatorenal toxicity studies of sub-chronic administration of calyx aqueous extracts of hibiscus sabdariffa in albino rats

Hibiscus sabdariffa Linn has been reported to have a broad range of therapeutic effects. Subchronic effects of calyces aqueous extracts of H. Sabdariffa were studied in albino rats. Twenty four (24) albino rats were randomly divided into six (6) groups of four rats each. Group A, was fed with growers mesh and distilled water as control. Groups B to F were administered orally with the aqueous extract at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5g /kg body weight respectively and the treatment period was 28 days. A decreased in weights of the animals were observed at all dose levels. The activities of liver maker enzymes (alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase) and direct bilirubin increased significantly (p0.05) increase in concentrations of total protein and albumin were observed in comparison to the control. The renal indices, urea, uric acid and creatinine in the treated groups were significantly increased compared to the control but a significant decrease (

Thermosyphon Heat Pipe Technology

Heat pipes play vital roles in increasing heat transfer performance of many engineering systems such as solar collectors and this leads to an increase in their usage. Investigation on the performance of heat pipes under different operation conditions and inclination angles is required for effective utilization. In this chapter, a general overview on the construction, operation, advantages, and classifications of heat pipes is presented. Particular attention is given to the heat pipe without wick material in the inner diameter (thermosyphon). Intensive discussions are presented on the construction, operations, advantages and applications of thermosyphon heat pipe. The experimental and numerical approaches on the performance evaluation and characterization of thermosyphon are discussed. A detailed procedure on how experimental work is carried out on thermosyphon is discussed including instrumentation and calibration of the devices. Modelling and simulation of the performance of thermosyphon are discussed, including the model set-up procedure. Factors affecting the performance of thermosyphon such as fill ratio, working fluid, heat input, inclination angles, are analysed based on the overall thermal resistance and thermosyphon performance. Current researches on the effects of major factors affecting the operation of thermosyphon are presented, as well as their current development and various applications in engineering systems