LEAF AREA DETERMINATION FOR MAIZE (Zea mays L), OKRA (Abelmoschus esculentus L) AND COWPEA (Vigna unguiculata L) CROPS USING LINEAR MEASUREMENTS

The study was carried out within the green house of the faculty of Agriculture, Kogi State University (Latitude 70.61N and Longitude 70.431E) Anyigba in the Southern Guinea Savannah agro ecological zone of Nigeria, during 2015 cropping season. The experiment was laid using Randomized complete block design with a replicate. The treatment consisted of Maize, okra and cowpea. The result reveals K-coefficients for determination of leaf area to be 0.75, 0.62 and 0.75 for Maize, Okra and Cowpea respectively. The use of multiple regression equation did not improve the prediction over linear measurement. A simple and multiple regression analysis was also carried out in other to increase precision in determined leaf area in the three crops or treatments which are; maize (Y=-1106.704 + 0.509x1, Y= -1106.704 + 0.509x1 + 135.239x2), Okra (Y=-3.616 + 0.604x1, Y=-3.616 + 0.604x + 0.882x2) and Cowpea (Y=-8.155 + 0.925x1 ,Y=-8.155 + 0.925x1 – 0.009x2).e the data on leaf area and leaf number value of all the three crops were fitted into linear regression analysis separately as well as combined data, it did not show any significant difference or improvement over the use of linear measurement. Key words: k-coefficient, linear measurements, simple and multiple regression of maize, okra and cowpea

Synthesis, characterisation and antimicrobial evaluation of the alkyd resins derived from castor seed oil

No AbstractKeywords: Alkyd resin, Castor Seed Oil, Phthalic anhydrid

Structural Determinants of Financial Sustainability of Listed Financial Companies in Nigeria

The study examined the effect of structural determinant of financial sustainability of listed financial companies in Nigeria from 2012-2021. The study adopted longitudinal research design with panel multiple regression model was used for the analysis. The study found that managerial ownership has a positive significant effect on financial sustainability, institutional ownership has negative insignificant effect on financial sustainability while foreign ownership has positive insignificant effect on financial sustainability of listed financial companies in Nigeria. Based on the finding, the study recommends that managers should be encouraged to acquire more shares since it will lead them to be more committed to the company’s operations that can increase financial sustainability of the company. Also, the banks should encourage foreign investors to acquire shares because the resultant distribution of ownership among different groups can impact on managerial opportunism, which subsequently has implications for managerial behavior and corporate performance. This, they will monitor and check the management behaviour whenever necessary

Perceived Indications, Safety and Efficacy of Perinatal Use of Traditional and Spiritual Remedies among Mothers of Under-Five Children in Kano, North- Western Nigeria

Background: Herbal and spiritual remedies are increasingly being used in the management of perinatal conditions. Objectives: To determine the pattern of use of herbal and spiritual remedies during perinatal period, and the perceived indications, efficacy and safety of these remedies among mothers of under-five children in Kano. Subjects and Methods: A descriptive crosssectional design was used to study a random sample of 189 mothers. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics 22. The chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test were used for univariate analysis.Result: The means of respondents’ age and their number of children were 33.3 ± 9.2 years and 4.7 ± 2.6 respectively. Three-quarters of the mothers (76.2%) used herbal and/or spiritual remedies within the perinatal period, mostly orally (97.9%); 63.2% used them in combination with orthodox medicines. The main indications were maintaining good health during pregnancy (39.6%); easy labour and safe delivery (39.6%); and treatment of common ailments (28.5%). Majority believed that herbal (66.1%) and spiritual (70.9%) remedies are very effective on pregnancy related problems; 57.1% and 78.8% believed that herbal and spiritual remedies are very effective on problems of labour and pueperium respectively. Most believed that spiritual remedies are safe during pregnancy (94.2%) and in labour and pueperium (97.9%); and herbs are safe during labour and pueperium (91.0%). Conclusion: Health authorities in Nigeria should institutionalize structures for censoring, training, regulation of TM practice and safety of remedies used.Keywords: Indications, Safety, Perinatal use, Traditional remedies, Northwestern Nigeri

Position and Trajectory Tracking Control for the Ball and Plate System using Mixed Sensitivity Problem

This paper presents the position and trajectory tracking control scheme for the ball and plate system (BPS) using the double feedback loop structure (a loop within a loop) for effective control of the system. The inner loop was designed using linear algebraic method by solving a set of Diophantine equations. The outer inner loop was designed using   sensitivity approach. Simulation results showed that the plate was stabilized at 0.3546 seconds, and the ball was able to settle at 1.7087 seconds, when given a circular trajectory of radius 0.4 m with an angular frequency of 1.57 rad/sec, with a trajectory tracking error of 0.0095 m, which shows that the controllers have adaptability, strong robustness and control performance for the ball and plate system.           

Occurrence and antibiogram of bacteria isolated from some sachet drinking water brands sold in Gombe metropolis, Gombe State, Nigeria

Background: Diseases contracted through consuming contaminated water present health challenges globally, hence this study aimed to assess occurrence and antibiogram of bacteria isolated from various brands of sachet drinking water sold in Gombe metropolis. Methods: Twenty brands of samples were collected randomly, serially diluted, and cultured on nutrient agar (NA). Isolates were identified morphologically and biochemically, with antibiogram determined using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. Results: All the 20 samples produced positive bacterial growths with counts ranging from 1.0x103 to 9.8x103 CFU/ml with identified colonies of Escherichia coli (E. coli), Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae). Antibiogram revealed the isolates were all resistant to augmentin, cefixime, cefuroxime and ceftazidime, but E. coli and S. aureus were also resistant to gentamicin. Conclusion: The samples were contaminated with potentially pathogenic bacteria that were resistant to some antibiotics. Hence there is need for enforcement of drinking water standards to avoid consequences of unsafe drinking water, thus improving the health of the population

Rice husk ash (RHA) and palm oil fuel ash (POFA) and soaking times: analysis of compressive strength of porcelain ceramics

Rice husk ash (RHA) and palm oil fuel ash (POFA) is a by-product from agricultural waste produced thousand tonnes every year. This paper presents the use of RHA and POFA as a substitute material for quartz in fabricating an improved porcelain ceramic. The RH was thoroughly washed with distilled water in order to remove adhering soil and dust. After that it was dried in an oven at 100 ºC for 24 hours. Then the dried husk was subjected to the chemical treatment; 2M HCL, 5% solid at 25 ºC before calcinations to increase silica content. Untreated POFA was dried in an oven at 100 ºC for 24 h. It was ground in a ball mill for 1.5 h with the revolution rate of 200 rev/min to reduce the particle size. Untreated POFA was sieved to remove the particles coarser than 50 μm. The POFA was treated by heating it at a temperature of 600 ºC for 1.5 h. The mixed powder was then pressed into pellets at mould pressure (MP) 91 MPa. All the pellets were sintered at the temperature of 1100 ºC for 1 h hour, 2 h hour s and 3 h hours soaking times. It was found that the highest compressive strength occurred at 20 wt% RHA and POFA and a soaking time of 2 h. The increment in the strength could be attributed to the changes in the increase in mullite and critobalite

The impact of rural residence and HIV infection on poor tuberculosis treatment outcomes in a large urban hospital: a retrospective cohort analysis.

BACKGROUND: Successful tuberculosis (TB) treatment is essential to effective TB control. TB-HIV coinfection, social determinants and access to services influenced by rural residence can affect treatment outcome. We examined the separate and joint effects of rural residence and HIV infection on poor treatment outcome among patients enrolled in a large TB treatment centre in Kano, Nigeria. METHODS: We retrospectively analysed a cohort of patients with TB enrolled in a large urban TB clinic in northern Nigeria, from January 2010 to December 2014. Poor treatment outcome was defined as death, default or treatment failure. We used Poisson regression to model rates and determine the relative risks (and 95% confidence intervals, CI) of poor treatment outcomes. RESULTS: Among 1381 patients included in the analysis, 28.4% were rural residents; 39.8% were HIV-positive; and 46.1% had a poor treatment outcome. Approximately 65 and 38% of rural and urban residents, respectively, had a poor treatment outcome. Rural residents had 2.74 times (95% CI: 2.27-3.29) the risk of having a poor treatment outcome compared to urban residents. HIV-positive patients had 1.4 times (95% CI: 1.16-1.69) the risk of poor treatment outcome compared to HIV-negative patients. The proportion of poor treatment outcome attributable to rural residence (population attributable fraction, PAF) was 25.6%. The PAF for HIV infection was 11.9%. The effect of rural residence on poor treatment outcome among HIV-negative patients (aRR:4.07; 95%CI:3.15-5.25) was more than twice that among HIV-positive patients (aRR:1.99; 95%CI:1.49-2.64). CONCLUSION: Rural residents attending a large Nigerian TB clinic are at increased risk of having poor treatment outcomes, and this risk is amplified among those that are HIV-negative. Our findings indicate that rural coverage of HIV services may be better than TB services. These findings highlight the importance of expanding coverage of TB services to ensure prompt diagnosis and commencement of treatment, especially among rural-dwellers in resource-limited settings

Antioxidant capacity and antibacterial activity of some phyto-spices against some bacterial isolates of foods origin

Spices that are mostly of plant origin are used in the preparation of almost all processed food to enhance palatability, tastiness, sweetness, and its overall acceptability, without taking into consideration of its medicinal values. The study was conducted to determine the antioxidant capacity and antibacterial activity of the extracts ofAllium sativum,Syzygium aromaticum, andZingiber officinale against some bacterial isolates of foods origin including Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli,Salmonella typhi,Shigella dysentriae,andStaphylococcus aureus. Bacterial isolates of food origin were collected from the laboratory unit of the Department of Microbiology, Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil. Antioxidant capacity of the extracts used was determined using 2,2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay while agar disc diffusion techniques were used in the determination of the antibacterial activity. Results show that extracts of the spices exhibited a strong antioxidants capacity that ranges from 89.5% to 97.5% at high concentrations of the extracts with methanol extracts being the most active. Methanolic extracts shows zone of inhibition ranging from 16.45mm to 5.26mm while that of aqueous extracts were 10.32mm to 4.32mm. Meanwhile isolates of E. coli and S. aureus were the most sensitive with 16.45 and 15.32. This study concluded that the antibacterial effect of methanolic extract of Allium sativum extract was stronger in comparison, followed by Syzygium aromaticum and Zingiber officinale against five test bacteria isolated of food origin. Therefore, this study revealed that spices produced using Allium sativum, Syzygium aromaticum and Zingiber officinale have an antibacterial property and can be used for food preservation

Prevalence and Determinants of Endothelial Dysfunction among Adults Living with HIV in Northwest Nigeria

Background: Endothelial dysfunction constitutes an early pathophysiological event in atherogenesis and cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to assess the prevalence, determinants, and degree of endothelial dysfunction in antiretroviral therapy (ART)–treated people living with HIV (PLWH) in northwestern Nigeria using brachial flow-mediated dilatation (FMD). Methods: This was a comparative, cross-sectional study. A total of 200 ART-treated adults living with HIV with no evidence of kidney disease were compared with 200 HIV-negative participants attending a tertiary hospital in Kano, Nigeria, between September 2020 and May 2021. Endothelial function was evaluated by measuring FMD with a high-resolution vascular ultrasound transducer. FMD was calculated as the ratio of the brachial artery diameter after reactive hyperemia to baseline diameter and expressed as a percentage of change. Blood and urine samples were obtained from participants in both arms. Urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (uACR) was calculated using the 2021 CKD-EPI estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) creatinine-cystatin C equation without the race variable, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol was measured using enzymatic method. Results: The overall mean age (± standard deviation) of the study participants was 42 ± 11 years. Participants in the comparison arm were younger than PLWH (38 ± 11 versus 46 ± 10 years, respectively). The median (interquartile range) uACR was 41.6 (23.2–162.9) mg/g for the ART-treated PLWH versus 14.5 (7.4–27.0) mg/g for healthy controls. PLWH had a significantly lower mean percent FMD when compared to HIV-negative participants (9.8% ± 5.4 versus 12.1% ± 9.2, respectively). Reduced FMD was independently associated with HIV infection (β = –2.83%, 95% CI, –4.44% to –1.21%, p = 0.001), estimated glomerular filtration rate (β = –0.04%, 95% CI, –0.07% to –0.01%, p = 0.004) and LDL cholesterol (β = –1.12%, 95% CI, –2.13% to –0.11%, p = 0.029). Conclusion: HIV-positive status, lower estimated GFR, and higher LDL cholesterol levels were independently associated with endothelial dysfunction. Future prospective studies with larger cohorts of persons living with HIV (and age- and sex-matched HIV-negative controls) are needed to gain further insight into these important findings. In the interim, aggressive management of modifiable risk factors is warranted