Evaluation of Some Soil Properties on Dehydrogenase Activity in River Getsi Kano State, Nigeria

AbstractThe study aimed at evaluating some soil physicochemical properties of soil on dehydrogenase activity in the soil of the area which was achieved by assessing some selected physicochemical properties of soil and dehydrogenase activities, and determine the relationship between some selected physicochemical properties of soil and dehydrogenase activities of soil in the area. One square kilometer of irrigated land was selected randomly and then divided in to 10 grids square and samples were collected in each grid using composite method and analyzed using standard laboratory procedures. The results shows that, clay recorded mean values of 3.8 cmol/kg ±0.84, EC 1385 dSm-1 ±760, pH 7.66±0.46, OC 1.37%±125, total nitrogen 0.15%±0.04, CEC 2.8 cmol/kg±0.06 and DHA 0.005±0.06.  The findings shows that, there is no significant relationship between clay, EC, pH, Oc, nitrogen and dehydrogenase activities using correlation analyses at p ˂0.05 probability level, while the regression analyses show that the coefficient of determination (r2) values obtained are 0.05, 0.44, 0.001, 0.03, 0.006 and 0.09 for clay, EC, pH, Oc, TN and CEC respectively. From the findings it was concluded that Ec, pH, OC, N and CEC have no significant effect on DHA of the soil in the area. It is therefore recommended that appropriate soil management practice should be encourage more to enhance microbial activity in the soil of the area.Keywords: Soil, Enzymes, Dehydrogenase, Soil properties, River Gets

Temporal Variation and Pollution Levels of Some Heavy Metals on Irrigated Land Along Airport Road Kano State, Nigeria

This paper is aimed at evaluating the concentration of some heavy metals in order to assess the temporal variation, Contamination Factor (CF) and Pollution Load Index (PLI) of the heavy metals in the soil of the area. Soil samples were collected in two period 2009 and 2015 using composite sampling techniques, 10 samples were collected in each period and then analysed using standard laboratory procedures. The findings revealed that the mean values of Mn (52±7.2), Fe (281±19.4) and Cd (3.0±0.3) were found to be higher in soil sampled in 2009 while, Cu (100±16.3), Zn (161±47.7), Cr (20.8±1.5), Ni (53.9±9.7) and pH (9.0±0.56) were found to be higher in soil sampled in 2015. The CF shows that the soils of the area have low contamination level, moderately contaminated with Cd and the soils have low pollution level according to the PLI. From the finding it was concluded that there is gradual accumulation of Cu, Zn, Cr and Ni with reduction in Mn, Fe and Cd. The soils have low contamination level with all heavy metal except Cd that moderately contaminates the soil of the area according to contamination factor. The PLI values of the heavy metals in 2009 and 2015 are 0.0006 and 0.02 respectively, indicating increases in pollution load from 2009 to 2015 in the study area. Proper soil management such as increase of pH and organic matter as well as the avoidance of using contaminated water for irrigation were recommended in the area

Does social businesses development affect bioenergy industry growth under the pathway of sustainable development?

The Treaty of European Union (EU) sets out the EU vision for sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social progress, and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment. This led us to ask whether or not social business development stimulates the development of the bioenergy sector in the EU28 countries. Given the increasing rates of energy insecurity, environmental pollution, poverty, and unemployment, countries are switching to alternative energy sources that might promote social business development, climate change, and environmental quality. In this scenario, the bioenergy industry has received the attention of scholars and policymakers alike. The role social business development can play in the growth of the bioenergy industry remains uncertain, therefore, further investigation is necessary. This study, therefore, explores the relationships between the bioenergy industry and social business development indicators related to zero emissions, zero poverty, and zero unemployment for EU28 region countries from 1990 to 2018. Empirical evidence is based on the use of a new economic model, dynamic panel co-integration simulations (Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square, Dynamic Ordinary Least Square, and Pooled Ordinary Least Square). The results reveal a negative relationship between EU28′s bioenergy industry growth and carbon dioxide emissions, vulnerable employment, and unemployment rate, suggesting that bioenergy industry growth helps reduce pollution and unemployment. Likewise, bioenergy industry growth increases food supply, economic growth, and female employment and might be the best alternative to fossil fuels. Necessary policy related to bioenergy industry growth can be formulated, especially in achieving the sustainable development goals for social businesses

THE CO-MOVEMENT OF CHINA AND US STOCK INDICES: A PORTFOLIO DIVERSIFICATION ANALYSIS

The aim of this article is to find diversification opportunities by examining the time-varying and time-scale-based volatility and correlation of the US and Chinese stock market indices with crude oil, gold and Bitcoin price returns, as well as the exchange rate of the Chinese Yuan Renminbi against the US Dollar (CNY/USD) using a vector error correction model (VECM), namely, maximum overlap discrete wavelet transformation (MODWT). Furthermore, individual and institutional investors may also reduce the risk of their investment portfolio by investing in commodities and stock markets from countries with a negative or substantially low correlation. Our VECM result shows that Bitcoin, crude oil and CNY/USD lead the other variables under consideration, indicating that changes in the prices of Bitcoin, crude oil and CNY/USD affect the US and Chinese stock market indices, as well as gold. Our research utilising the MODWT technique shows that Bitcoin leads crude oil at almost all levels, indicating that crude oil prices will respond to Bitcoin price movement in the long and medium term. However, investors may be deterred from using Bitcoin as a diversification tool due to its extreme volatility. The research also indicates that diversification with gold may help US investors. However, the continuous wavelet transformation finding shows that the diversification benefit effects will persist for a holding period of little more than 64 days. Our study results tend to emphasise the significance of using reasonably modern methods to identify diversification possibilities for investors with diverse investment horizons or holding stocks for various periods

Effect of some Physicochemical Properties of Soil on Microbial Respiration along River Jakara, Kano State, Nigeria

This study aimed at evaluating the effect of soil temperature on soil respiration. Ten soil samples were collected along the irrigated land in dry and wet seasons from 0 – 15 cm depth using composite sampling method and then analysed for Cr, Cd, Pb, pH, temperature and soil respiration using standard laboratory procedures. The results showed that soil pH (7.65 ±0.57), and soil respiration (5.67±0.87) were found to be higher in wet season where the temperature was high (26oC). However, Cd (4.37 mg/kg ±0.6), Cr (64.8 mg/kg±10.12) and Pb (43.61 mg/kg±3.77) were found to be higher in dry season where the pH and temperature were low. The correlation analyses showed that soil respiration was negatively correlated with temperature and Cr (r = -0.5). The results also revealed that soil pH and temperature have significant effects on rate of soil microbial activities because soil respiration is higher in the wet season where pH and temperature were high. Soil temperature and pH significantly affect the soil respiration in the study areas

Assessment of Some Soil Health Indicators and Their Distribution Along Salanta River, Kano- Nigeria

Soil health is essential for the integrity of terrestrial ecosystems to remain intact and recover from disturbances. The paper aimed at assessing the spatial distribution and the relationship of some soil health indicators. Two square kilometer of irrigated land was delineated within which ten soil samples were collected using point composite sampling from 0 – 15cm depth. The soil samples collected were analyzed for pH, soil enzymes, chromium and lead. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics using Micro soft excel. The results show that all the soil health indicators: SOC, pH, enzymes, Cr and Pb were found to be higher in all the point near the river. The high values of SOC and soil enzymes nearby the river bank is attributed to pH (7.7) values, which reduce the effect of Cr and Pb on soil enzmes activities. The relationship among the soil health indicators revealed that pH is negatively (r = -0.36) correlated with dehydrogenase and significantly correlated with urease (r = 0.57) and phosphatase (r = 0.43) at value of 0.05 probability level. The determination of pH, OC and enzymes activities reflect the microbial activities in the soil of the area and thes variables are sensitive biological indicators of heavy metals contamination in soil and could be considered as soil health indicators. Minimum tillage and application of organic fertilizer improves the structural stability of the soil, thereby reducing the solubility and availability of heavy metals in soil and also improve soil quality

EU28 region's water security and the effect of bioenergy industry sustainability

Water is an essential component of agriculture-food production. As the biomass and biofuel are known excellent sources of renewable and sustainable energy, cultivating process consumes significant quantities of water. Without sufficient, good-quality and easily accessible water, the European agriculture-food production could thus be under threat. This research analyses the impact of the water supply on the bioenergy production in the 28 European Union countries, for the 1990-2018 period within the pathway of the European Union 2030 agenda for sustainable development. The findings using the generalised least squares (GLS) technique show that bioenergy production and population density appear to decrease water supply. Precisely, the magnitude of the effects is - 0.224 and - 0.136 for developing countries and developed countries in the EU, respectively. This indicates that a serious reduction of water security is more likely to happen in developed countries than in developing countries as a result of the increase in bioenergy consumption. In the meantime, fossil fuel, income generation activities and institutional quality have already positively affected water supply. Thus, these findings implied that water scarcity is becoming one of the main obstacles for bioenergy expansion and growth. The results were also further verified by the random effect and pooled oriented least squares method. This study recommends that the Member of the European Union States should continue to increase bioenergy production in the energy mix efforts without any strenuous water security issues. Notwithstanding, there are several situations where a developing bioenergy industry is unlikely to be constrained by water shortage, and with the drive of bioenergy demand, the efforts might unlock new opportunities to adapt to water-related challenges and to improve water usage efficiencies. The authorities should illustrate organised water security and sustainable bioenergy policy by way of developing alternative strategies in reducing fossil fuel power and related CO2 emissions, accordingly to the unique characteristics of both developed and developing countries in the EU

Bioenergy efficiency change and its determinants in EU-28 region: evidence using Least Square Dummy Variable corrected estimation

Applying the data envelopment approach, this paper computes efficiency change (EFFCH) in terms of its components: pure technical and scale efficiency changes. The least squares dummy variable corrected (LSDVC) method was employed to examine the determinants of efficiency change of bioenergy industry of the EU28 countries covering the period 1990–2013. Results show that the bioenergy industry recorded an average annual rate of progress in efficiency change of 3.8% during the period studied. Interestingly, the region recorded a technical progress with both pure technical efficiency change and scale efficiency change increasing over the study period, however, scale efficiency was the major contributor to efficiency with annual increase of 4.5%. We also found variations in regional performance with EU developing region experiencing a slightly higher increase in efficiency at 3.86% while this figure is at 3.76% for the EU developed countries. Empirical finding show that economic growth, gross fixed capital formation, inflation and size of biomass input affected EFFCH of bioenergy industry of the EU28 region significantly during the period studied. Policy implications of these results are that the bioenergy industry should relentlessly pursue technical progress and aim to improve both technical and scale efficiencies simultaneously through optimal allocation of resources

Risk-taking behavior and capital adequacy in a mixed banking system: new evidence from Malaysia using dynamic OLS and two-step dynamic system GMM estimators

This study is the first attempt to investigate the relationship between the level of risky assets and capital level in a mixed Malaysian banking system covering 83 months starting December 2006. The results of dynamic ordinary least squares indicate positive relationship between capital ratio (CAR) and risk-weighted asset ratio (RWA) in the long run. Furthermore, the causality analysis based on panel VECM 15 and two-step dynamic system generalized method of moments indicates unidirectional causality from CAR to RWA. Our results further suggest that higher capital growth and capital buffer provide an extra cushion for the Malaysian banks to pursue relatively riskier financial activities, and the nature of risk-taking behavior of Islamic banks follows that of the conventional banks

Effect of Topical Tacrolimus on Vitiligo in Children

Background: Considering safe treatment modalities for children with vitiligo, search for newer therapeutic agents continues. Hence, new immunomodulatory agents such as calcineurinantagonists, frequently referred to as topical immunomodulators (TIMs) have recently been introduced as new promising tools to treat acquired hypopigmentary disorders. Tacrolimus is safe in treating children due to lack of skin atrophy and less data are available on effect of topical tacrolimus on vitiligo. Objective: To see the effect of topical tacrolimus on vitiligo in children. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was done in outpatient department of Dermatology and Venereology, Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH), Bangladesh. Clinically diagnosed vitiligo patients of up to 12 years age visiting Skin & VD OPD, CMCH during study period were the study population (total 30). The study was carried out from November 2007 to April 2008. Results: A total of 30 patients, 13 (43.33%) males and 17 (56.66%) females with focal, segmental or generalized vitiligo were studied. Seventy percent of study subjects were from 7–12 years of age. Topical tacrolimus 0.03% ointment was administered twice daily for 12 weeks to each patient. Repigmentation was complete (>75%) in 43.33% cases (13/30), was moderate (50–75%) in 33.33% (10/30), mild (<50%) in 13.33% (4/30). Clinical adverse effects were noted in 6.67% (2/30) of cases where pruritus was in 3.33% (1/30) and burning in 3.33% (1/30). None of the reactions was severe, all were mild and well-tolerated and most occurred within the first month of initiation of treatment and resolved with continued use of drug and completely cured after the treatment completed. Nobody had to discontinue the therapy for side effects. Conclusion: In conclusion, tacrolimus ointment may be a rapidly efficacious and safe option for the treatment of vitiligo in children. The ease of topical self-administration with minimal side effects makes this novel immunomodulatory agent a promising addition to the therapeutic armamentarium for vitiligo in children