Antioxidant Activity in the Blood and Testes of the Mottled Brown Male Japanese Quails at Different Age Groups

This study was carried out to assess the antioxidant activity in the blood and testes of mottled brown male Japanese quails at different physiological age groups. Fifty four mottled-brown male quail birds with average weight of 128.33±28.21g were randomly allotted to three age groups: pubertal (7 to 10 weeks old), mature (15 to 20 weeks old) and adult (above 24 weeks old). Eighteen birds were allocated per age group; each treatment had 3 replicates with 6 birds each. Blood sample was collected from all the birds and the birds were sacrificed, dissected, testes exiced and processed into testicular homogenate. Both serum and homogenate fluids were centrifuged separately to harvest the supernatants and analysed for the antioxidant indices. Statistical comparisons were made between the serum and testicular antioxidant indices. Result showed that the activities of catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and total antioxidant capacity in the serum and testis were not significantly (p0.05) different among the age groups except for the glutathione peroxidase activity which was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the mature male quail compared to the adult and pubertal age groups. The result from this study suggests that the age difference in mature mottled brown male quails had improved glutathione peroxidase than other age groups, indicating an enhanced reproductive efficiency than pubertal and adult age groups in Japanese quails.Key words: Reproductive potentials, Mottled brown male quail, Age groups, Antioxidant indices

Adult neurogenesis in the four-striped mice (Rhabdomys pumilio)

In this study, we investigated non-captive four-striped mice (Rhabdomys pumilio) for evidence that adult neurogenesis occurs in the adult brain of animal models in natural environment. Ki-67 (a marker for cell proliferation) and doublecortin (a marker for immature neurons) immunostaining confirmed that adult neurogenesis occurs in the active sites of subventricular zone of the lateral ventricle with the migratory stream to the olfactory bulb, and the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. No Ki-67 proliferating cells were observed in the striatum substantia nigra, amygdala, cerebral cortex or dorsal vagal complex. Doublecortin-immunoreactive cells were observed in the striatum, third ventricle, cerebral cortex, amygdala, olfactory bulb and along the rostral migratory stream but absent in the substantia nigra and dorsal vagal complex. The potential neurogenic sites in the four-striped mouse species could invariably lead to increased neural plasticity

EFFECT OF RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION OF YOUTHS ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN OGBOMOSO SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OYO STATE. NIGERIA

The study examined the effect of rural-urban migration of youth on rural development in Ogbomoso South Local Government Area of Oyo State. Rural-urban migration is a phenomenon that most developing nations of the world are experiencing due to the gross neglect of the rural areas. In Nigeria, the issue of rural-urban migration is quite alarming owing to the discriminatory centralization of facilities in the urban areas as well as widening income gap between the urban and rural areas. This study adopted a descriptive survey research design while purposive sampling technique was used in selecting 300 from Ogbomoso south LGAs.  The data collected was tested by using Pearson product moment correlation and ANOVA. The study established that self-help project had significant relationship with youth out-migration (r = .351*, N= 300, P < .05), community economy  also had significant relationship with out-migration (r = .277*, N= 300, P < .05), care for elderly had negative significant relationship with out-migration(r = -.182*, N= 300, P < .05) and cultural practices also had significant relationship with out-migration (r = .198*, N= 300, P < .05). The study recommended  that; government should decentralize its developmental projects and programmes in order to accommodate the rural areas. Government should make agriculture attractive for rural dwellers so that they could see it as a profitable occupation and there should be economic incentives to promote adaptation of indigenous skills and technologies in the rural areas.

Capital allowances and Foreign Direct Investment in Listed Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria

Tax incentives have become a global phenomenon as more and more governments try to attract multinational companies and enhance the associated technology spillovers. Capital allowances are allowable as deductions in lieu of depreciation, which are treated as inadmissible for tax purpose. The objective of this study was to establish the effect of Capital Allowance on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Listed Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria. The study adopted descriptive research design and the target population of the study was the 74 Listed Manufacturing Companies with approximately more than 56,000 employees. A sample size of 352 respondents from thirty two (32) manufacturing companies was selected using stratified purposive sampling and respondents were grouped into three strata; that of top, middle and lower management levels. This study used primary data which was obtained from administration of the questionnaires. Data analysis was done using frequencies, mean and standard deviation, while inferential statistics consisted of correlation and regression analysis. The findings show a strong positive linear relationship between capital allowance and foreign direct investment. The paper recommends that tax authority should introduce a policy of carrying over investment allowance that is not utilised to the subsequent year as an advantage to the investors to reduce their tax liability. Keywords: Capital Allowances, Manufacturing Companies, Investment Allowance, Foreign Direct   Investment

Entomophagy — An evaluation of quality and acceptability of Raphia palm weevil larvae (Rhynchophorus phoenicis) as influenced by thermal processing methods

In this study, the quality and acceptability factor of Raphia palm weevil larvae (Rhynchophorus phoenicis) as influenced by different thermal processing methods were investigated. Raphia palm weevil larvae (n=1000) were randomly distributed into four groups of 250 larvae per group according to a treatment, namely: T1 = boiling (100 °C), T2 = roasting (120 °C) T3 = frying (160 °C) and T4 = oven-drying (180 °C). All treatments lasted 20 minutes. Analyses were carried out to determine the physical, chemical, vitamin and mineral composition, and microbial load. In addition, sensory characteristics were evaluated. Weevil larvae processed by the boiling method had the highest cooking yield (97.59%), water holding capacity (21.78%) and the lowest cooking loss (2.41%). The protein and fat content was higher in weevil larvae processed by frying (37.63% and 17.70%, respectively), while moisture was lowest (18.68%) in oven-dried larvae. The calcium, magnesium and phosphorus content was higher in oven-dried larvae, while there were no significant differences in iron, manganese, zinc and vitamins in the processed larvae irrespective of the methods. Boiled larvae had a higher microbial load, while fried and oven-dried larvae had the lowest microbial load. Fried larvae elicited highest sensory characteristics except tenderness, which was higher in boiled larvae, but fried larvae had higher overall acceptability than those processed by other methods. Therefore, it has been shown that the frying method is an appropriate method of processing Raphia palm weevil larvae for enhanced quality and acceptability.In this study, the quality and acceptability factor of Raphia palm weevil larvae (Rhynchophorus phoenicis) as influenced by different thermal processing methods were investigated. Raphia palm weevil larvae (n=1000) were randomly distributed into four groups of 250 larvae per group according to a treatment, namely: T1 = boiling (100 °C), T2 = roasting (120 °C) T3 = frying (160 °C) and T4 = oven-drying (180 °C). All treatments lasted 20 minutes. Analyses were carried out to determine the physical, chemical, vitamin and mineral composition, and microbial load. In addition, sensory characteristics were evaluated. Weevil larvae processed by the boiling method had the highest cooking yield (97.59%), water holding capacity (21.78%) and the lowest cooking loss (2.41%). The protein and fat content was higher in weevil larvae processed by frying (37.63% and 17.70%, respectively), while moisture was lowest (18.68%) in oven-dried larvae. The calcium, magnesium and phosphorus content was higher in oven-dried larvae, while there were no significant differences in iron, manganese, zinc and vitamins in the processed larvae irrespective of the methods. Boiled larvae had a higher microbial load, while fried and oven-dried larvae had the lowest microbial load. Fried larvae elicited highest sensory characteristics except tenderness, which was higher in boiled larvae, but fried larvae had higher overall acceptability than those processed by other methods. Therefore, it has been shown that the frying method is an appropriate method of processing Raphia palm weevil larvae for enhanced quality and acceptability

National Security, Boko Haram Insurgency and the International Dimensions of Terrorism

One of the greatest challenges that confront the International Community today is terrorism. In recent times, through the Boko Haram insecurity challenge, Africa seems to have entered the mainstream of global terrorism. From the activities of the Al Qaeda in the Levant and the Islamic Maghreb, to the clearly desperate drive to acquire territory by the ISIS, in the Levant and in diverse parts of Africa as far south as Mali, terrorism seems to have arrived in black Africa. In recent times, terrorism has taken a new and indeed frightening dimension, particularly through the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. The deadly terrorist activities in the North-East region of Nigeria which range from kidnapping and bombing, through various forms of mindless violence and killings, to outright military confrontation with security agencies in a desperate bid to acquire territory in northern Nigeria, have caused the Nigerian armed forces great losses in human and material resources. This is a study of the international dimensions of the Boko-Haram insurgency in Nigeria. The paper highlighted the immediate and the remote causes of the conflagration that attended the bourgeoning politico-religious conflict which now threatens the stability of the entire West African Sub-region. It is a descriptive analytical survey that utilizes archival materials, library research, extant literature, internet sources and particularly content analysis. The paper recommended a convergence of both domestic and international collaboration to tackle and defeat terrorism in Africa, and concluded that within Nigeria itself, the need for accountability and good governance as a lasting panacea for national security is sine qua non

Coconut shell-based activated carbon as adsorbent for the removal of dye from aqueous solution: equilibrium, kinetics, and thermodynamic studies

The need to develop more efficient adsorbent, comparable to commercially available adsorbent, is attracting significant interest as promising adsorbent for waste water treatment. In this study, the potential of activated carbon prepared from waste coconut shell (CSAC) for the removal of methylene blue (Mb) from aqueous solution was reported. Batch experiments were conducted to determine the adsorption isotherm and kinetics of Mb on CSAC. Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models were employed to fit and analyze the adsorption equilibrium data. The result shows Langmuir isotherm model gave the best fit and an adsorption capacity of 320.5 mg/g was obtained for Mb at pH value of 7, 0.02 g adsorbent dosage and contact time of 4.5 hour. The experimental kinetic data at different initial Mb concentrations was also analyzed with pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and intraparticle diffusion models. The obtained results showed that the pseudo-second order model fits the adsorption kinetic data with R2 range of0.9985-0.9996. Finally, the thermodynamic parameters show that the adsorption of Mb on CSAC was spontaneous and endothermic in nature. This therefore suggests that (CSAC) is a viable adsorbent for effective removal of dye from wastewater effluent. Keywords: Activated carbon, Adsorption isotherms, Coconut shells, Methylene blue, kinetics

Predictive Analytics and Software Defect Severity: A Systematic Review and Future Directions

Software testing identifies defects in software products with varying multiplying effects based on their severity levels and sequel to instant rectifications, hence the rate of a research study in the software engineering domain. In this paper, a systematic literature review (SLR) on machine learning-based software defect severity prediction was conducted in the last decade. The SLR was aimed at detecting germane areas central to efficient predictive analytics, which are seldom captured in existing software defect severity prediction reviews. The germane areas include the analysis of techniques or approaches which have a significant influence on the threats to the validity of proposed models, and the bias-variance tradeoff considerations techniques in data science-based approaches. A population, intervention, and outcome model is adopted for better search terms during the literature selection process, and subsequent quality assurance scrutiny yielded fifty-two primary studies. A subsequent thoroughbred systematic review was conducted on the final selected studies to answer eleven main research questions, which uncovers approaches that speak to the aforementioned germane areas of interest. The results indicate that while the machine learning approach is ubiquitous for predicting software defect severity, germane techniques central to better predictive analytics are infrequent in literature. This study is concluded by summarizing prominent study trends in a mind map to stimulate future research in the software engineering industry.publishedVersio

Role of nitric oxide and endogenous antioxidants in thyroxine facilitated healing of ischemia-reperfusion induced gastric ulcers

Background: Studies have revealed the role of thyroxine during healing of gastric ulcers with information lacking on the mechanism involved hence the focus of this study.Materials and Methods: Adult male Wistar rats (150 – 200g) were randomly divided into 4 groups (n=5 per group): Normal control (NC), Sham ulcerated (SU), Thyroidectomised ulcerated untreated (ThU) and Thyroidectomised ulcerated + Levo-thyroxine (100μg/kg/day) (ThU + T4). Animals were stabilised for 35 days following thyroidectomy and treated accordingly to experimental groupings. Weekly body weight changes were recorded, gastric ulcer was induced by ischemia-reperfusion and gastric acid secretion evaluated. They were sacrificed 1 hour, 3 and 7 days post ulcer induction, blood samples collected for haematological indices through cardiac puncture and their stomachs prepared for gross and microscopic examinations to assess gastric healing. Gastric tissue protein, malondialdehyde (MDA), Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT), and Nitric oxide (NO) were assessed as biomarkers of healing. Data were analysed using one way ANOVA and Student’s t test with p< 0.05 considered statistically significant.Results: Thyroxine treated rats showed significant weight loss compared with NC and ThU groups. Percentage healing rate was significantly increased in thyroxine treated group compared with ThU animals by 1 hour (42.45% and -42.81%), days 3 (35.14% and -59.36%), and 7 (64.29% and -115.7%). Hematological indices significantly increased in thyroxine treated group compared with other groups. Thyroxine treatment significantly reduced Neutrophil/Lymphocyte; Platelet/NO as well as lipid peroxidation index in this study. Superoxide dismutase, CAT and NO increased significantly in thyroxine treated rats compared with other groups.Conclusion: Thyroxine treatment facilitates the healing of ischeamic-reperfused  gastric ulcers possibly by increasing NO activity which in turn causes increased vasodilatation and enhanced endogenous antioxidants at the ulcer sites.Keywords: Nitric Oxide, Antioxidants, Thyroidectomy, Levo-thyroxine, Ulcer healing