Response of Growing Pigs to Diet Physical Form and Allzyme® SSF Supplementation in a Palm Kernel Meal-Based Diet

. The increasing cost of conventional feeds calls for the unconventional ones. The effect of Allzyme®SSF and diet physical form on performance, haematological and serum biochemical indices of growing pigs fed with palm kernel meal-based diet was determined. Twenty four growing pigs comprising of twelve male and twelve female weighing 8.95±1.01Kg were assigned into four dietary treatment groups involving dry mash diet, wet mash diet, dry mash diet+ Allzyme®SSF and wet mash diet+ Allzyme®SSF in a completely randomized design. After feeding experiment for six weeks, haematological and serum biochemical parameters were determined. Growth performance was observed on a weekly basis for six consecutive weeks. The results showed that the diet physical form and Allzyme®SSF supplementation in a palm kernel meal-based diet did not significantly affect the haematological and serum biochemical parameters; however weight gain and feed conversion ratio were significantly influenced by the diet physical form and Allzyme®SSF supplementation, thus making dry mash diet + Allzyme®SSF the best dietary treatment. The experiment showed that the diet physical form and Allzyme®SSF supplementation in a palm kernel meal-based diet did not have any negative effect on the growing pigs and growth performance was not hindered; therefore palm kernel meal-based diet in wet or dry mash form with or without Allzyme® SSF supplementation could be fed to growing pigs

Ensuring Effective and Efficient Teaching and Learning Religious Studies in Nigerian Schools Using Photographic Series

The purpose of this study was to find out the extent to which the use of photographic series with sound in teaching religious studies could enhance the performance of students in selected junior secondary school in Remo Educational zone. It also investigated the extent to which talking photographic series could enhance the retention and the attitude of the students. Two hundred students in JSSIII were selected from five secondary schools through simple random sampling technique. They were also randomly divided into 2 groups, the experimental and control groups. The study adopted the pre-test, posttest group design. The instruments used were a series of photographs with sound prepared by the researcher and the students containing “churches and its relevance to the society”, Religious studies Achievement Test (RSAT) and Attitude towards Religious Studies Questionnaire (ATRSQ). These instruments were validated using construct validity, difficulty and discriminating index. The reliability coefficient for the RSAT was found to be 0.75. The results showed that the use of photographic series in instruction significantly improved the performance of students in the subject. Secondly if effectively used, it can improve the retentive ability of students and finally, photographic series do not seen to have any statistical effect on the attitude of students towards the subject.African Research Review Vol. 2 (2) 2008 pp. 69-8

Contributions of Organisational Transparency, Communication Flow and Intrinsic Motivation to Teachers Job Performance in Ogun State Public Secondary School.

This study sought to determine the joint and relative contributions of organisational transparency, principals’ communication flow and teachers’ intrinsic motivation to teachers’ job performance in Ogun State public secondary schools. This is predicated on the fact that lack of transparency has been the major problem militating against the nation’s development in all spheres of human endeavour. In Nigeria, much attention has not been focused on how organisational transparency individually and jointly combined with other variables to determine the job performance of teachers. The study employed the descriptive research design of the ex-post facto type. One thousand and thirty seven teachers  (1037) in public secondary schools in Ogun State participated in the study. The sampling was done using multi-stage proportional and stratified random sampling techniques. Four instruments were used in collecting data namely; Transparency Factor Questionnaire (TFQ), Principals’ Communication Flow Questionnaire (PCFQ), and Teachers’ Intrinsic Motivation Scale (TIMS) for the independent variable and Teachers’ Job Performance Rating Scale (TJPRS) for the dependent variable.  All the instruments were adapted and pilot- tested and gave validity values of Chronbach alpha values between 0.8246 and 0.8670,  the split- half reliability values ranging from 0.7841 to 0.8824. One hypothesis was formulated and tested. The data collected were analysed using multiple regression analysis. Findings revealed that organisational transparency, principals’ communication flow and teachers’ intrinsic motivation jointly and significantly accounted for 15.1% of teachers’ job performance. Significantly, organisational transparency contributed 3.1%, principals’ communication flow contributed 13.4% and teachers’ intrinsic motivation contributed 3.2% to teachers’ job performance. The study recommended among others that principals should adopt a transparent administrative style and ensure an effective communication flow in their schools; they should also help in enhancing teachers’ intrinsic motivation by motivating excellent performance exhibited by them; government on her part must put in place policies that can enhance transparency in schools and motivate teachers effectively. Key Words: organisational transparency; communication flow;  intrinsic motivation; teachers’ job performance; secondary schools in Ogun State

Preparing the Staff of Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife to Appreciate and Use Information and Communication Technology for Solving Work Place Problems and Managing Change

This paper examined the various efforts the management and administration of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife made to prepare and encourage its staff and students to appreciate and use ICT for solving work place problems and to manage change. It was also designed to investigate the extent to which accelerated computer/internet usage, job type; age and sex have affected the attitude of O.A.U Staff towards computer and Internet. The study adopted the survey research design. Samples of 600 staff were selected through stratified sampling techniques. The result obtained showed that 94% of the staff of OAU use computer. Also academic staff (49.2%) used computer and Internet more than any other categories of staff. Not only this, female staff (58%) used computer more than their male staff (42%). In addition age is a correlate of ICT usage. Staffs between ages 25 and 40 are usually more favorably disposed to using ICT than staff that is above 40 years. (X2c = 15.67). African Research Review Vol. 1 (3) 2007: pp. 175-19

Performance and behavioural characteristics of Pigs as affected by types and duration of evaporative cooling

Heat stress is one of the main constraints to pig production. Pigs rely on  evaporative cooling by wallowing which is unsanitary while most advanced cooling methods are capital intensive. Cheaper evaporative cooling facilities could be installed to mitigate the negative consequences of heat stress on pigs. However, effects of hourly exposure to evaporative cooling on gilts have not been adequately documented. Hence, behavioral attributes and performance of pigs given access to evaporative cooling were studied. In a completely randomized design, cross bred gilts (n=40) (Landrace x Large White) weighing 25.00±2.5kg were allotted to five treatments each replicated four times consisting eight gilts per replicate. Treatment 1 (Negative control, T1) no shower/no wallow, Treatment 2 (Positive control, T2) had only wallow, Treatment 3 (T3) had shower activated 5 minutes hourly for six hours, Treatment 4 (T4) had shower activated 5minutes every 2 hours and  Treatment 5 (T5) had shower activated 5 minutes every 3hours. Gilts were  evaluated at growing phase (10weeks). At average weight of 40.50±2.50kg, gilts were mated. Data on feed intake (AFI, Kg), weight gain (WG, Kg), Final weight (FW, Kg) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were determined using standard methods. Behavioural attributes (%) observed include Lateral Lying (LL), Huddling (HD), Frequency of Defecating in Resting Area (FDRA), Frequency of Visiting Water Trough (FVWT) and Frequency of Using Wallow or Shower (FUWS). Also, Respiratory Rate (RR, breath per minute bpm), Rectal Temperature (RT, °C) and Skin Temperature (ST, °C) were monitored, while pens Temperature Humidity Index (THI) were monitored. Indices of reproductive performance (%) include oestrus, anaestrus and conception rate (CR) was determined. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA at á0.05. In the study, THI ranged between 81.12 and 86.39. Pigs that were subjected to 5 minutes shower activation every 3 hours (T5) had significantly highest FW (52.50±0.04) and relatively low AFI of 10.71±0.04 with a FCR of 3.32±0.02 which is not significantly different from pigs that were subjected to 5 minutes shower activation every hour (T3) (4.09±0.02) and pigs that were subjected to 5 minutes shower activation every 2 hours (T4) (4.05±0.01). Pigs exposed to continuous wallowing (T2) had significantly the highest AFI  (14.13±0.04) and there was no significant difference in the WG for all treatments. The ST, RT and RR were highest in pigs under no shower/wallow (T1) (37.4, 39.4 and 53.0, respectively). Lateral lying (LL) was highest in T5 (65%) while T2 had the highest HD (40%). FVWT and FDRA were highest in T1 (50 and 55%, respectively) while CR was 75% for T1, T3 and T5 and T2 had 25%.Keywords: Pig, Performance, evaporative cooling, Reproductio

Risk analysis in distribution of petroleum products in southwest, Nigeria

The study investigates the risks in distribution of petroleum products and effective management of the risks in southwest Nigeria. Forty eight (48) questionnaires were distributed to the staff of NNPC/PPMC depots in Ondo, Ogun and Oyo states. Simple random sampling technique was used to distribute the questionnaires to the respondents. The questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistical analyses and the ratings of the risk severity were done using reliability important indices. The risks from vandalization was rated highest when pipelines are used while the risk of accident was rated highest when roads are used for the distribution of petroleum products. Also, administrative control measure was ascertained as the most effective measure of managing risk in the distribution of petroleum products. The study finally suggested that government and stakeholders in the oil industry should revitalize the rail transport for distribution of petroleum products which is less prone to risk.Keywords: risk analysis; risk management; petroleum products; roads; pipelines

Toward N-nitrosamines free water: Formation, prevention, and removal

This study elucidates the recent trends in the formation, prevention, and removal of N-nitrosamines such as Nnitrosodimethylamine(NDMA) from wastewater or drinking water. Reports are rife on the occurrence of NDMA in areas such as amine degradation during postcombustion CO2 capture (PCC), chlorinated/chloraminated and ozonated drinking water, smoked or cooked foods personal care, tobacco and pharmaceutical products. The major routes responsible for the formation of NDMA in portable waters include chlorination/ chloramination and ozonation. The major NDMA precursors are secondary, tertiary, and quaternary amines such as dimethylamine, diethanolamine, and triethanolamine. Due to the environmental and public health concerns posed by this contaminant, a proactive approach is necessary towards suppressing their occurrence, as well as their removal. Consequently, this study critically reviewed the formation, prevention, and removal of N-nitrosamines. The study discussed NDMA prevention techniques, such as physical adsorption, preoxidation, and biological activated carbon. The removal techniques discussed here include physicochemical (such as combined adsorption and microwave irradiation and UV photolysis), bioremediation, catalytic reduction, and dope technology. Irrespective of the effectiveness and seemingly economic viability of some of these technologies, preventing the occurrence of NDMA right from the outset is more potent because the treatments consume more energy

ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION PREDICTION SYSTEM USING A RADIAL BASIS FUNCTION NEURAL NETWORK

The observed poor quality of service being experienced in the power sector of Nigeria economy has been traced to non-availability of adequate model that can handle the inconsistencies associated with traditional statistical models for predicting consumers’ electricity need, so as to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of the energy. This research presents Electricity Consumption Prediction System (ECPS) based on the principle of radial basis function neural network to predict the country’s electricity consumption using the historical data sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) annual statistical bulletin. The entire datasets used in the study were divided into train, validation and test sets in the ratio of 13:3:4. By the above, 65% of the entire data were used for the training, 15% for validation and 20% for testing. The train data was presented to the constructed models to approximate the function that maps the input patterns to some known target values. The models were also used to simulate both validation and the test datasets as case data on the consistency of results obtained from the training session through the train data. Experimental results showed that RBF network model performs better than equivalent Backpropagation (BP) network models that were compared with it and provides the best platform for developing a forecast system.

A manual for large-scale sample collection, preservation, tracking, DNA extraction, and variety identification analysis

Several alternative options have been used for varietal identification. However most of the traditional methods have inherent uncertainty levels and estimates often have wide confidence intervals. In an attempt to circumvent traditional survey-based measurement errors in varietal identification, DNA-based varietal identification has been implemented in the Cassava Monitoring Survey (CMS) of Nigeria — a large adoption study involving 2500 cassava farming households. The DNA fingerprinting technique offers a reliable method to accurately identify varieties grown by farmers and increases accuracy and credibility in the interpretation of adoption rates and associated economic and policy analyses. Unlike phenotype-based methods, DNA is not affected by environmental conditions or plant growth stage and is more abundant than morphological descriptors. However, undertaking a credible DNA-based varietal identification is not a trivial matter because of the logistical challenges involving sample collection and tracking by a large team of field enumerators. This manual presents the detailed steps required for undertaking reliable DNA-fingerprinting-based identification of cassava varieties. In particular, the manual gives detailed information on the establishment of a sample tracking system, preparation of a readily available and cheap sample collection kit, field sample collection methodology, preparation of samples for DNA isolation, and development of a pipeline for variety identification analysis. This manual is part of the outputs of the CMS project funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)