Potentials of fresh housefly maggot in the diet of Oreochromis niloticus fingerlings

The study was designed to investigate the value of fresh housefly maggot diet as protein source and the level of inclusion for optimum growth in the diet of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fingerlings. Five experimental diets, four fresh maggot substituted diets containing 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% fresh maggot meal and a control (0% maggot inclusion) were prepared and tested on triplicate groups of O. niloticus fingerlings (mean weight of 0.52g) for twelve weeks. The fish were fed twice daily at 3% of their body weight. The optimum water quality parameters were 270C, 7.63 and 7.55 for Temperature, pH and Dissolved Oxygen respectively and the maggot did not pollute the water media. The best growth rate was recorded among the fish fed control diet and 100% fresh maggot inclusion as the only protein source and the least growth rate was showed by fingerlings fed 25% fresh maggot inclusion. Optimum Specific Growth Rate, Feed Conversion Ratio and Protein Efficiency Ratio of 1.8702, 159.92 and 1.8759 respectively showed that there was no significant difference in weight gained by the fish fed with the five diets except 25% fresh maggot substituted diet. The study indicated that fresh maggot meal can be successfully used to replace fishmeal partially or completely from 50% up to 100% in the diet of O. niloticus fingerlings for optimal growth and nutrient utilization. Based on these results, maggot meal is suggested as an effective and sustainable protein source to replace fishmeal in the diet of farmed tilapia.Keywords: Fishmeal, Housefly maggot, Optimum growth, Die

An assessment of cost escalation in building construction project

Estimating of cost for building construction projects with minimum error at the conceptual stage of project development is quite  essential for planning. This study seeks to evaluate factors responsible for cost escalation of building construction projects.  Questionnaires were administered to examine and assess these factors. Subsequently, the mean score value of each factor was determined. In addition, Correlation and Linear regression analyses were used to establish the relationship between these factors. Factors responsible for cost escalation in projects were examined as well as the impact of those factors, and occurrence of those factors on project cost. The result of the analysis showed that, the most agreed factors responsible for project cost escalation were; inadequate supervision, irregular payment, and design error, having high mean values of 4.25, 4.20, and 4.15, respectively. Also, correlation analysis result established that the factors responsible for cost escalation and the impact of cost escalation had significant R and R2 of 0.81 and 0.70 respectively. Addressing these factors would go a long way in reducing the escalation of building project cost. Never the less, an effective cost management strategy is absolutely necessary to safeguard and sustain the construction  industry. Keywords: cost escalation, building project, construction, regression analysi

Appraisal of environmental sustainability studies in the quantity surveying curriculum

The construction industry requires professionals that are environmentally sensitive to sustain the built environment for future generation. This is necessary due to the rising environmental degradation from various construction activities. Tertiary institutions could be the appropriate platform to instil these ideas in aspiring construction professionals. This study assessed Quantity Surveying (QS) curriculum of Polytechnics to examine the courses taught and to assess whether there are courses in the curriculum that are related to environmental sustainability studies. Also, questionnaires administered to lecturers and students of QS departments was used to examine the concept and awareness of environmental sustainability taught in the institution. The study established that generally, taught courses in QS departments of Polytechnics have little or no environmental sustainability factored into them. Furthermore, cumulative mean and regression analysis were used to evaluate the data obtained from the questionnaire. The analysis established that the respondents affirmed that the QS curriculum does not create awareness of environmental sustainability, having a cumulative mean score of 2.04 for lecturers and 2.28 for students which is within the cut-off point of 1.5 to 2.5 (Disagree). Based on the regression analysis, it was established that the correlation between the lecturers’ and the students’ responses was significant having a R result of 0.95. The regression analysis explicated that the lecturers can explain the students’ views having a R2 value of 0.90. The review of QS curriculum to include environmental sustainability studies is paramount in producing QS professionals that are environmentally inclined in training. Keywords: Environmental Sustainability, Quantity surveying, Higher institutions and Curriculu

An anatomical perspective: does the male greater cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus) have a scrotum?

We evaluated the anatomy of the “scrotal” skin pouch in an attempt to answer the question of whether (or not) there exist true scrotum in the greater cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus). The “scrotal” skin folds from ten (10) matured male cane rats were morphologically and morphometrically studied with samples routinely processed for histology. Grossly, the pouch has features like fine hair on thin skin and longitudinal raphae typical of scrotum in other species. The histoarchitecture of the “scrotal” skin in the cane rat follows the normal scrotal pattern and the arrangements of the cutaneous strata, hair follicles and glands were similar in animals with perineal staining and those without perineal stain. The cane rat scrotal skin, though different in conformation from the scrotum of other mammalian species, has all the properties of a true scrotum thereby establishing the presence of scrotum in the greater cane rat.Keywords: Scrotum, Greater cane rat, Skin Pouch, Perineal stainin

Anatomical studies on the spinal cord of the greater cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus, Temminck) II: histomorphology and spinal tracings

The field of neuroanatomy and the knowledge of spinal cord, in particular, requires an accurate base on which data can be mapped. Lately, researchers have taken into consideration studies on Greater cane rat (GCR) because of its large body size and African origin. This study was designed to elucidate the histomorphologic features of the GCR spinal cord. A total of 10 adult GCR (five males and five females) raised in captivity were used for this study. Twenty-seven spinal segments (Cervical-8, Thoracic-13, Lumbar-5 and Sacral-1) were identified. Each segment was transected, processed histologically into Nissl-stained sections and observed features of the spinal cord were described. The GCR spinal segments possess the typical Hshaped inner gray matter core surrounded by an outer white matter. Variations in the shape of the central canals were observed across the spinal segments. A total of sixty-four features were delineated: twelve observed in the white matter, forty-nine in the gray matter and the remaining three were attached to the spinal cord. Laminar organisations, tracts, nuclei and motor neuron groups of the spinal cord identified were also traced and possible functions adduced in this rodent. No sexual dimorphism was observed in this study. This work has provided valuable and qualitative baseline information for understanding the laminar characteristics relevant to pathophysiologic conditions of the spinal cord. It has also contributed to the knowledge of neuroanatomy of this rodent and will be valuable for spinal cord research especially in this species.Keywords: Spinal cord, Greater cane rat, Histology, Laminar organisation, Spinal tracing

Crohn's disease with Pyoderma gangrenosum in a patient in northern Nigeria: A case report

Background: Crohn's disease is a major form of inflammatory bowel disease that can present with extra-intestinal manifestations. We report a case of Crohn's disease with pyodermagangrenosum in a Nigerian patient. The report is to alert physicians in our setting on the occurrence of this rare presentation.Case presentation: The patient presented with chronic bloody and mucoiddiarrhoea with associated weight loss and fever of one-year duration. There was also history of mouth rashes, anal pain and itching. One month prior to presentation, he developed leg ulcer. Colonoscopy showed multiple ulcerations with normal intervening mucosa. Colonic mucosal histology showed focal area of ulceration with extensive inflammatory infiltrate in the lamina propia and submucosa. The patient's symptoms improved after the commencement of sulfasalazine.Conclusion: Crohn's disease should be suspected in a patient with chronic leg ulcer

Assessment of leaf miner Liriomyza spp (diptera: Agromyzidae) damage on tomato and the yield output in Ilorin, Southern Guinea Savannah, Nigeria

Tomato plays an important nutritional role in human diet. Although, Nigeria is the largest producers of tomato in Africa, its production is threatened by the invasive polyphagous insect pest belonging to the genus Liriomyza. An experiment was conducted to enumerate the level of damage of the agromyzid fly Liriomyza spp on the tomato variety, UC82B. Infestations were observed on potted tomato plants and studied from December 2016 to March, 2017. The experimental treatment consisted of both screen house and field trials. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with four replicates. Data were collected on the number of tomato leaves mined by larvae of the pest every week after transplanting (WAT) and on the total weight of tomato fruits harvested. Using t-test statistical analysis, results revealed that tomato plants grown in the field were the most infested by the insect pest from 5 to 10 WAT having significantly higher (P < 0.05) mean population of the pest when compared to the screen house which had little or no infestation. However, there was no significant difference in the leaf damage by Liriomyza spp from 2 to 4 WAT. Tomato fruits harvested at the end of the experiment were weighed and observation showed that the screen house gave more fruit yield (90.80±6.10g) compared to the field experiment (24.20±2.27g) which was significantly lower due to leaf miner flies’ damage on tomato leaves. Therefore, appropriate control measures of the insect pest are recommended where screen houses may not be accessible

An implementation of embedded RESTful Web services

Web service is a common Internet application that enables interactions of machines over a network. As to establish ubiquitous Internet, enabling Web services on embedded systems is certainly among the development trend in near future. This paper presents an implementation of REST style or RESTful Web services on embedded system. The prototype had been implemented using a Xilinx Spartan-3E Starter FPGA board for home device control application on a 100Mbps LAN environment

Farmers’ perception on the effects of gum Arabic agroforestry on livelihoods in the Sahelian zone of Borno State, Nigeria

The study analysed farmers’ perception of effects of gum Arabic agroforestry on livelihoods in the Sahelian zone of Borno state, Nigeria. Data for the study were obtained mainly through primary sources. Multi stage, purposive and random sampling techniques were employed to select 321 respondents that was used for this study. The study revealed that the most important (30.25%) farm information by respondents was radio. This was closely followed by friends and relatives representing 29.91% of the respondents in the study area. However extension agents were the least important (9.34%) source of farm information among respondents in the study area. The study indicated that the most important (29%) reason for planting gum Arabic tree was for economic reason. The result showed that the respondents’ perception on improved environmental situation and improved socio-economic status had a mean score of 2.68 and 2.63 respectively implying that the respondents had an agreed perception on the effects of gum Arabic agroforestry on livelihoods. The results in also indicated that all the constraints identified by respondents had a mean score of > 2.56, implying that they had agreed to have encountered problems in the adoption of gum Arabic agroforestry in the study area. The study recommends that awareness creation should be mounted through extension education approach to enlighten the public on the skills, knowledge, techniques and benefits of the adoption of gum Arabic agroforestry in the study area. Farmers in the study area should also be encouraged to form gum Arabic agroforestry cooperatives as this will enable them to take advantage of government and non-governmental programmes, such as provision of credit facilities and technologies etc