Consumption Pattern and Indigenous Knowledge of Moringa Oleifera among Dwellers of Rural Enclaves around Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria

Moringa oleifera is a perennial plant which has high economic and medicinal values in many countries of the world. This study was carried out to investigate the indigenous knowledge and consumption pattern of Moringa oleifera among dwellers in rural enclaves around Ibadan metropolis. The study covered 5 rural settlements around   Ibadan metropolis which are Gbopa, Olodo, Onipe, Ibuso gboro and Abapanu. 20 households were selected from each settlement to arrive at a total number of 100 questionnaires out of which 90 were retrieved. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. It was discovered that Moringa oleifera has 2 local names in the area which are ‘’gbogbonise’’ and ‘’ewe igbale’’ but majority of the respondents knows the plant as Moringa. It was also found out from findings that most of the respondents use the plants because of the medicinal value attached to it. Education and household size positively and significantly influence Moringa consumption at 0.05 level of significance. The study therefore recommends that household members should try and get adequate training necessary for effective consumption of the plant

About the lithospheric structure of central Tibet based on seismic data from the INDEPTH III profile

Signals from 11 shots and 8 earthquakes, and numerous teleseismic events were recorded along the 400-km seismic line INDEPTH III in central Tibet and interpreted together with previous seismic and tectonic data. The abnormal behavior of various mantle phases reveals a complex Moho-transition zone, especially in the northern part of the line, in the Changtang Block, where the lower crust and the mantle show unusually low velocities, a shingled appearance of Pn and no low-velocity layer in the upper crust. The strong east-west anisotropy in the Changtang Block is related to an easterly escape movement of the whole lithosphere, facilitated by the warm and weak layers in the lower crust and the upper mantle, bounded apparently by two prominent west-east running fault zones

Fermentation characteristics and microbial counts of Megathyrsus maximus silage as influenced by Moringa oleifera seeds and ensiling period

The fermentation characteristics and microbial counts of Megathyrsus maximus ensiled at varying inclusions of Moringa oleifera seeds at different ensiling periods were investigated. Factorial experiment consisting of 3 varying proportions of grass and seeds (100:0, 75:25, and 50:50) and 4 ensiling duration (30, 60, 90, and 120 days) was carried out. The pH was significantly highest (p < 0.05) with the highest inclusion of seeds while pH decreased with increased ensiling duration. Colour and odour changed as the level of seed inclusion increased in the silage while the moisture content (9.10) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) at 30 days of ensiling. Ammonia nitrogen was highest at the highest level of seed inclusion while lactic acid was highest at 60 days of ensiling. Crude protein and tannin contents of the silage increased (p < 0.05) following the increased seed inclusion while there was a reduction as the ensiling duration increased. The total anaerobic bacteria count, total lactobacilli count, and total yeast count of the silage decreased following the increased inclusion of seeds in the silage. As the ensiling duration increased, a reduction in all the silage microbial counts was observed. Inclusion of 25 % of the seeds to 75 % of the grass for silage with ensiling up to 120 days supported improved fermentation characteristics, microbial and crude protein contents as well as a reduction in tannin content which implies that there will not be a detrimental effect on animals that feed on the silage

Operationalizing the recommendations from Nigeria 2021 Food Systems Dialogues: a position of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria

Food systems contribute to major global challenges including persistent poverty, competition over environmental resources, climate change and escalating hunger and malnutrition. The United Nations Food Systems Summit was convened to support governments to identify and implement actions that will transform national food systems toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. In Nigeria, more than 40 Dialogues involving over 4,000 multisectoral participants including academia, policymakers, the private sector, Non-Governmental agencies and the Nigerian Government were convened by the Nigerian government and other actors. A total of 79 recommendations from these dialogues were consolidated into six clusters to transform Nigeria's food system including; 1) Invest in food security and nutrition knowledge dissemination, skills development, and information management systems; 2) Build sustainable, responsive, and inclusive agricultural input supply and food production systems; 3) Develop value chains and market systems; 4) Increase demand for, and consumption of, adequate, nutritious, and healthy foods; 5) Promote peace-building initiatives, early warning systems, food marketing and regulation standards, and an enabling environment; and 6) Link research, innovation, and extension for a sustainable food system. The Nutrition Society of Nigeria explored the strategy to operationalize the 79 recommendations through a panel discussion and public lecture/engagement and her position includes the need for a national food systems dashboard and command centre; state governments support for food commodities of comparative advantage; filling critical gaps in building capacity for regulatory monitoring; improving on the existing national food-based dietary guidelines; integrating nutrition education into all efforts to transform food systems; active involvement of young people; leveraging the potential business/investment opportunities across the 79 recommendations to generate income while solving food systems challenges; re-positioning the academic/ research community in Nigeria to explore funding opportunities for food systems-related research and build consensus with other stakeholders to define priority research questions across the entire food system. The NSN is committed to supporting skills building around forming partnerships/collaborations, advocacy, and convening consultations to bring stakeholders together

Evaluation of phytochemical properties and in-vitro antibacterial activity of the aqueous extracts of leaf, seed and root of Abrus precatorius Linn. against Salmonella and Shigella

Objective: To investigate the phytochemical components of Abrus precatorius (A. precatorius) and the in-vitro susceptibility of Salmonella typhi and Shigella dysenteriae to the aqueous extracts of A. precatorius leaf, seed and root. Methods: The leaf, seed and root of A. precatorius were collected and homogenized separately after drying at 40 °C for seven days in hot-air oven. The aqueous extracts of each of the parts were prepared and subjected to phytochemical screening. Dilutions of 400, 300, 200, 100 mg/mL, of each of the extracts were used for broth dilution in minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination against clinical isolates of Salmonella typhi and Shigella dysenteriae, while 50, 40, 30, 20, and 10 mg/mL dilutions were used for the agar diffusion test and 100 μg/mL and 10 μg/mL of gentamycin were used as controls for broth dilution in MIC determination and agar diffusion test, respectively. Results: Qualitative study reveals that tannin, saponins, alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, steroids and phenols were present in all of the plant parts. The leaf has the highest quantities of tannin and phenol. The root generally showed the lowest quantity of all the compounds. The pathogens were susceptible to aqueous extracts of the leaf, stem and root of A. precatorius at 50 mg/mL. At concentrations of 40, 30 and 20 mg/mL, all the aqueous extracts of A. precatorius showed variation in MIC, but produced no minimum bactericide effect upon subculture. There were variations in diameter of zone of inhibition against the organisms at lower concentrations. Conclusions: These findings suggest that A. precatorius is a valuable source of phytochemicals with promising antibacterial activity. Considering this bioactivity, A. precatorius could be probed further for toxicity, and to obtain some novel antibacterial molecules

Coseismic and post-seismic activity associated with the 2008 Mw 6.3 Damxung earthquake, Tibet, constrained by InSAR

The 2008 Mw 6.3 Damxung earthquake on the Tibetan Plateau is investigated to (i) derive a coseismic slip model in a layered elastic Earth; (ii) reveal the relationship between coseismic slip, afterslip and aftershocks and (iii) place a lower bound on mid/lower crustal viscosity. The fault parameters and coseismic slip model were derived by inversion of Envisat InSAR data. We developed an improved non-linear inversion scheme to find an optimal rupture geometry and slip distribution on a fault in a layered elastic crust. Although the InSAR data for this event cannot distinguish between homogeneous and layered crustal models, the maximum slip of the latter model is smaller and deeper, while the moment release calculated from both models are similar. Ã1.6 yr post-seismic deformation time-series starting 20 d after the main shock reveals localized deformation at the southern part of the fault. Inversions for afterslip indicate three localized slip patches, and the cumulative afterslip moment after 615 d is at least ̃11 per cent of the coseismic moment. The afterslip patches are distributed at different depths along the fault, showing no obvious systematic depth-dependence. The deeper of the three patches, however, shows a slight tendency to migrate to greater depth over time. No linear correlation is found for the temporal evolution of afterslip and aftershocks. Finally, modelling of viscoelastic relaxation in aMaxwell half-space yields a lower bound of 1 × 1018 Pa s on the viscosity of the mid/lower crust. This is consistent with viscosity estimates in other studies of post-seismic deformation across the Tibetan Plateau

Critical barriers to environmental management system implementation in the Nigerian construction industry

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer in Environmental Management, available online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-021-01473-y The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.The impact of different hazardous substances of the construction industry being released to the environment is alarming. This constitutes an adverse effect on the quality of life of construction workers and the populace at large. To reduce this menace, Environmental Management System (EMS) was put in place. Meanwhile, the implementation of EMS in the Nigerian construction industry (NCI) is not certain. This study, therefore, investigated the barriers to EMS implementation in the NCI to group them into a smaller form, i.e., fewer numbers. A questionnaire survey was developed and administered to construction professionals in Nigeria using a purposive sampling technique. The retrieved 106 copies of the questionnaires were subjected to both descriptive and inferential statistics such as mean score, standard deviation, analysis of variance test, post hoc test and exploratory factor analysis. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted three times to identify the critical barriers to EMS implementation in the NCI. The study findings reveal three main categories of barriers affecting EMS implementation, namely; (1) knowledge barrier; (2) process barrier; and (3) culture and management barrier. The study concluded that the three factors indicate the major cardinal barriers that could describe the impediment of EMS in the NCI. It was recommended that the training of construction professionals is important to enhance improvement culture in the NCI