Assessment of the level of farm mechanization technology utilization in poultry production in Kaduna state, nigeria

The study was conducted to assess the level of farm mechanization technology  utilization in poultry production in Chukun and Igabi Local Government Areas,  Kaduna State. Purposive sampling was used to select wards, multi–stage to choose villages and simple random to pick 140 responding farmers. Frequency distribution, percentages and means were the analytic tool used. Majority of the producers (75%) were aged forty years and below. All the producers had formal education. More than half of the producers (65%) were in poultry. About 57% were  non-members of cooperatives. The major source of technology (68%) was local market. Majority of the producers (79%) adopted hand tool technologies. A few of the producers (18%) adopted battery cage, (4%) feed mill and (4%) incubator. The benefits of the technologies were 36% proper use of space, 21% easy handling of large flocks, 18% decrease in cost of production. The constraints were 46% inadequate access to capital, 18% lack of electricity and water and 14% poor  extension contact. Majority of the producers adopted hand tools and were  non-members of cooperatives thus could not enjoy economies of scale. Provision of adequate fund to producers and formation of cooperative were recommended.Key words: Poultry, chicken, technology and production

Is unilateral varicocelectomy as effective as bilateral varicocelectomy in management of subfertile patients with bilateral varicocele

Objectives: To compare the results of unilateral and bilateral subinguinal varicocelectomy for patients with primary infertility, including sperm parameters and pregnancy rate.Patients and method: This a retrospective study including 91 men with primary subfertility with bilateral varicocelectomy. The patients were divided into two groups. Group A (46 patients) were subjected to bilateral varicocelectomy. Group B (45 patients) subjected to left varicocelectomy. Patients with unilateral, recurrent, subclinical, secondary varicocele and azoospermia were excluded. All Patients were evaluated with at least two semen analyses with 15 days apart. Follow up schedule for all patients includes physical examination and semen analysis 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively.Results: Subinguinal varicocelectomy with loup magnification was successfully performed in all 91 patients, with no intra-operative complications occurred. The age ranged between 25 and 39 years (average 32 years),which was not significantly different within the 2 groups. The mean follow up was 7 months. Neither definite hydrocele nor testicular atrophy was detected. Despite considerable changes were noted in sperm concentration, percentage of motility and normal sperm morphology postvaricocelectomy in both groups, there was not a statistically significant difference between the two groups, (P = 0.139, 0.922, and 0.825, respectively and also pregnancy rate (P = 0.14).Concolusions: The semen parameters and pregnancy rate improved significantly in patients who underwent unilateral and bilateral varicocelectomy, with no significant difference between the two groups

Perspective of agricultural extension in livestock production in Kaduna state

The study was conducted to ascertain the perspective of extension in livestock production in Makarfi, Ikara and Kudan Local Government Areas of Kaduna State. Purposive sampling was used to select wards, multi–stage sampling was adopted to choose villages and simple random sampling to pick 240 responding farmers. Majority of the producers were between 21-40 years of age, literate, married with the mean years of experience of 12 years and mostly non-members of cooperative societies. The main source of extension services was the private sector and the services rendered were educational, health, technical, management and marketing. The extension communication methods used were visits, demonstration, workshop, training and excursion. The benefits of extension services were introduction of livestock species, marketing information, feed and feed ingredient supply, disease and pest control, and liaison services. Constraints to the use of extension services in livestock production were insufficient fund, ineffective research extension linkage, poor veterinary services, shortage of feed and grazing land and the attitude of the producers towards extension services.Keywords: Agricultural extension, Livestock, Production, Purposive samplin

Effect of fertilizer levels and plant spacing on the performance of Mucuna prureins (velvet bean) in the Northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria

Fertilizer recommendation for crop and plant spacing is dynamic process in view of the generation of new knowledge with management practices. Information such as (phosphorus levels and plant spacing) on maintaining adequate soil fertility is very much important for producing better forages for livestock. Leguminous crop such as Velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens) can alleviate some of these problems. Field experiment was conducted to access the effect of phosphorus fertilizer application level at 0, 80 and 120kg/ha and plant spacing interval of 30, 60 and 90cm of Velvet bean. Application of 80kg/ha of phosphorus fertilizer significantly influenced the performance of Mucuna plant such as plant height, number of branches and forage yield. Plant spacing interval of 30cm resulted in better stand count, taller plant, higher number of branches and forage yield per plant. Famers in Northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria can adopt the application of phosphorus fertilizer at 80kg/ha and using narrower spacing (25cm by 30cm) for better yield of Mucana, thereby increasing farm output and animal performance.Keywords: phosphorus level, plant spacing, Mucuna pruriens, Velvet bea

Wheeling Charges Methodology for Deregulated Electricity Markets using Tracing-based Postage Stamp Methods

MW-mile and Postage-stamp methods is traditionally used by electric utilities to determine a fixed transmission cost among users of firm transmission service. MW-Mile method is charging the users by determining the actual paths the power follows through the network. However, this method is not sufficient to recover the total transmission system cost. To recover the total transmission system cost, the Postage Stamp Method is adopted. This method is simple but its main drawback is that the charges paid by each user do not reflect the actual use of the network but based on the average usage of the entire network. This paper proposes a new wheeling charges methodology using tracing-based postage stamp methods. The proposed method allocates transmission costs among the generators proportional to the total power delivered to the load through transmission lines. The proposed method incorporates with generalised generation distribution factors to trace the contribution of each generator to the line flow. One unique feature of the proposed method is the consideration of the local load on the power flow allocation. Two case studies of 3-bus and IEEE 14-bus systems are used to illustrate the proposed method. Results show that the proposed method provides fair and equitable wheeling charges to generators reflecting the actual usage of the transmission system

A study of printing plate mould development by using 3d printers for micro-flexographic printing process

Micro-flexographic is a new printing technique that has been implemented by combining flexographic printing and micro-contact printing technique. Flexographic printing is generally a high-speed production in roll to roll printing technique widely used in the graphic printing industry. Micro-contact printing technique is usually employed to produce fine solid line structures in micro to nano scale. Mould preparation for printing plate is also one of the vital parameters in micro to nano scale image printing. A precise mould could be used to produce the most accurate printing plate for micro-flexographic printing. The three dimension (3D) printer has the capability of producing fine solid lines below 100 μm in width and gap on master mould for the printing industry. This research elaborated the use of various 3D printers to produce a master mould for micro-flexographic printing. This paper investigated the capability of multiple 3D printers in creating micro to nano fine solid lines in the master mould for future development and application of printing in the electronic, graphic and bio-medical field

Information Hiding Using Geographic Information System (GIS) Vector File

There are different techniques for securing data like cryptography and information hiding (steganography and watermarking) which has received more attention and faced many challenges. In this paper, an efficient digital steganography method has been proposed, where the Geographic Information System (GIS) files used as a cover media. This method depends on hiding text file in a map vector coordinate using ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) Shape file, which stores the geometry of the digital features as sets of vector, coordinates. The method is based on changing the value of unspecific order bits depending on an Input location. Since we are interested in maximizing capacity and ensure robustness requirements. Exploiting the advantage of double percentage number capacity in the 2Dimension vector file was one of the main goals of this research. A Steganography techniques requirement was satisfied since changing maps did not raise any suspicion, while they do not alter the original data content

Various characteristics of Ni and Pt–Al2O3 nanocatalysts prepared by microwave method to be applied in some petrochemical processes

AbstractAlumina-supported metal nanocatalysts were prepared via the microwave method, by loading nano Ni particles (at 1, 3 and 5wt%) or nano Pt particles (at 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9wt%). Structural and adsorption features of the nano catalysts were revealed through XRD, DSC-DTA, TEM, H2-chemisorption and N2-physisorption. N2-adsorption–desorption isotherms of type IV were related typically to mesoporous materials with H2 class of hysteresis loops characterizing ink bottle type of pores. The well dispersed nano-sized metal particles were evidenced in the studied catalytic systems, exhibiting marked thermal stability up to 800°C. The catalytic performances of different catalyst samples were assessed during cyclohexane, normal hexane and ethanol conversions, using the micro-catalytic pulse technique at different operating conditions. The 5% Ni–γ–Al2O3 sample was found to be the most active in dehydration of ethanol to produce ethylene, as well as in n-hexane cracking. However, the 1% Ni–Al2O3 sample showed the highest dehydrogenation activity for selective production of benzene from cyclohexane. On the other hand, the 0.9% Pt–γ–Al2O3 sample exhibited the highest activity in the dehydration of ethanol and in the dehydrogenation of cyclohexane. The 0.3% Pt–γ–Al2O3 sample was the most active in the dehydrocyclization of normal hexane, as compared to the other catalyst samples under study

Giant parathyroid adenoma: A case report and review of the literature

Background: Giant parathyroid adenoma is a rare type of parathyroid adenoma defined as weighing > 3.5 g. They present as primary hyperparathyroidism but with more elevated laboratory findings and more severe clinical presentations due to the larger tissue mass. This is the first reported case of giant parathyroid adenoma from the Middle East. Case presentation: A 52-year-old Indian woman presented with a palpable right-sided neck mass and generalized fatigue. Investigations revealed hypercalcemia with elevated parathyroid hormone and an asymptomatic kidney stone. Ultrasound showed a complex nodule with solid and cystic components, and Sestamibi nuclear scan confirmed a giant parathyroid adenoma. Focused surgical neck exploration was done and a giant parathyroid adenoma weighing 7.7 gm was excised. Conclusions: Giant parathyroid adenoma is a rare cause of primary hyperparathyroidism and usually presents symptomatically with high calcium and parathyroid hormone levels. Giant parathyroid adenoma is diagnosed by imaging and laboratory studies. Management is typically surgical, aiming at complete resection. Patients usually recover with no long-term complications or recurrence. - 2019 The Author(s).Scopu