Use of local materials in the preservation of Garcinia kola (bitter kola) seeds

Storage of Bitter kola (Garcinia kola) was carried out using different local materials to evaluate the most appropriate storage material relative to the extension of its shelf life. The materials were kept moist by wetting them throughout the period of study (8 weeks). The local materials used were sandy soil, jute bag, clay pot and Plantain leaves. Three different parameters were used to assess the effectiveness of these local materials. The parameters were weight loss, colour change and shrinkage.Colour and shrinkage were evaluated visually. For weight loss, storage materials were significantly different (p<0.05). Sandy soil and jute bag were observed to reduce weight loss (27g and 28.3g) respectively than the other two (36.3g and 50g) for clay pot and plantain leaves respectively. Observation showed that seeds preserved in plantain leaves and jute bag maintained their initial brown colour after 8 weeks while those in sandy soil and clay pot were darker. None of the seeds preserved using sandy soil shrank, only two seeds from jute bag shrank but shrinkage was conspicuous on seeds from clay pot and plantain leaves. Generally, sandy soil and jute bags were regarded as the best local materials to preserve Garcinia kola seeds.Keywords: Bittercola, jute bag, clay pot, sandy soil, storage, shrinkag

Rheological characteristics of aluminium oxide (AL2O3) based nanolubricant

This paper presents the rheological measurement of aluminium oxide (Al2O3) nanolubricant. The nanolubricant was prepared using the two-step method from dry Al2O3 nanoparticles and Capella D lubricant as base fluid. The dynamic viscosity of the Al2O3 nanolubricant at constant shear rate was measured at atmospheric pressure in the temperature range of 278 K to 323 K for pure based lubricant along with nanolubricant mass concentration of 1%, 2% and 4% with nanoparticle size of 10 nm, 20-30 nm and 80 nm. The measured data was analysed using the linear fit and exponential function fit. The result showed that at constant particle size and concentration, the dynamic viscosity reduces with increase in temperature while at constant temperature, the viscosity increased with nanoparticle concentration. The exponential function fit regression best describe the relationship between the viscosity and temperature when compared with the linear fit regression while the polynomial function fit best describe the relationship between the viscosity and mass concentration. Keywords: Dynamic viscosity, nanolubricant, shear rate, regression, concentration, temperatur

Investigating the lateral stability of three-wheeled scooter taxi due to tyre-road forces

Three-wheeled scooter taxi (TWST) that is currently prevalent in developing countries, is fuel efficient and cheap. It is used mainly for commercial purposes, also as a means of reducing unemployment and tackling poverty. However, the vehicle is unstable and prone to accidents due to its design configuration. The aim of this research work is to investigate the lateral stability of TWST due to Tyre-Road Forces. Therefore, lateral stability equations for three-wheeled vehicle (TWV) were developed and used in the analysis of TWST based on parametric values obtained from static test. The results showed that the vehicle is stable with respect to lateral stability, which is in line with what was obtained from literature, thereby validating the models with the driver alone. However, with two or more occupants the vehicle became unstable. Possible ways of eliminating this instability were discussed. The static test procedure, if adopted and legislated upon, would significantly enhance safety of life and properties of stakeholders in developing countries. Keywords: Three-wheeled scooter Taxi, Stability Analysis, Safety of life and properties, Legislation

Response of Maize to Soil Amended with Oil Palm Effluent, Fibre and N.P.K Fertilizer

Palm oil mill effluent (POME), the liquid waste from oil palm processing industries was collected and filtered through the soil, the filtered effluent, waste fibre and N.P.K were used to amend soil at the rate of 0, (control), 10Kgha-1, and 20Kgha-l, with the possibility of using them as supplement to inorganic fertilizer. The results of the soil analysis shows a considerable increased in available Nitrogen, Phosphorus, organic carbon and organic matter, potassium and other essential nutrient. Performance characteristics of the maize used as biomonitor shows that there is an increased in stem girth, leaf length and yield per hectare, therefore result of the study shows that POME and oil palm fibre could be used to improve productivity of soil and create alternative waste management in oil palm processing industries. Keywords: palm oil mill effluent, soil fertility, waste management

Effects of Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers on the Growth of Senecio biafrae (WOROWO) OLIVE & HIERN

Soils have shown a negative balance in nutrient budget which poses a great threat to sustainable soil management for increase in growth and crop yield. This study thus investigated the effects of organic and inorganic fertilizers on the growth of Senecio biafrae (Oliv. &Hiern). Topsoil, organic (poultry manure) and inorganic fertilizers (NPK 15:15:15) were used. The fertilizers were weighed and applied to the soil at 5g, 10g, 15g each; control topsoil without application of fertilizers and were replicated five times. Growth  parameters including height, number of leaves and stem diameter were taken weekly for the period of the experiment. Application ofpoultry manure and NPK fertilizer had significant effects on all the growth parameters considered. The application of poultry manure resulted into significant increase in the growth parameters towards the latter part of the study. This study has shown that organic manure has great potential for improving soil productivity and plant growth. Keywords: Senecio biafrae, investigate, organic, inorganic, plant yiel

SHORT COMMUNICATION: Determination of the minor and trace elements in Biriniwa's tin pyrite and ornamental lead/zinc ore using neutron activation analysis

Preliminary results of analysis of two common decorative/ornamental minerals analysed for minor and trace elements with the neutron activation analysis technique are discussed. The samples of interest were the Biriniwa tin pyrite, which the local indigenous used to paint their huts and the ornamental lead which women use to adorn their eyelashes nation-wide. These samples were irradiated along the certified reference sample, CANMET-BLI, with thermal neutron at the Julich Reactor Centre, Julich, Germany. The prominent elements determined in the ornamental lead included zinc (35.8%), iron (6.15%), Na, Sb, Cd, Hg, Ag and Co at trace level (g g-1). Tin pyrite sample was found to contain traces of Na, K, As, Br, Sb, Fe, La, Nd, Sm and Ce as the prominent impurities. Lead and tin, the major elements, respectively, of the lead/zinc ore and tin pyrite samples were determined by classical methods. (Received November 28, 2001; revised August 19, 2002) (Bulletin of The Chemical Society of Ethiopia: 2002 16 (2): 207-212

Performance Evaluation of a Hybrid Fractional Carrier Frequency Offset Estimator in OFDM

The major drawback of the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system is high sensitivity to synchronization errors caused by carrier frequency offsets (CFOs), which result in degradation in the bit error rate (BER) performance. This paper investigates the performance of a hybrid fractional carrier frequency offset estimator (FCFOE) for frequency synchronization in the OFDM system. The hybrid FCFOE exploits the pilots inserted within the OFDM symbol for channel estimation together with the information inherent in the cyclic prefix (CP), with a view to improving the estimation of the CP-based FCFOE. The performance of the developed hybrid FCFOE was evaluated in terms of the mean squared error (MSE) and bit error rate (BER) using OFDM-QPSK and OFDM-16QAM schemes it turn. The simulation results show that the hybrid FCFOE only gives slightly better performance over the CP-based FCFOE; but the performance enhancement of the hybrid FCFOE is noticeable in OFDM-16QAM. Keywords: Carrier frequency offset estimation, Hybrid, Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, Synchronization, Maximum likelihood, Cross-correlation

Assessing the challenges impeding effective primary health care delivery in Southwest Nigeria

This study seeks to investigate the challenges impeding healthcare delivery in selected Primary Health Care facilities in South West Nigeria. A quantitative approach was adopted with purposive sampling of 241 health workers across PHC facilities in South West Nigeria. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS version 22). The study revealed seven main challenges which included shortage of manpower, inadequate medical equipment, lack of employee motivation, lack of basic infrastructure, unavailability of drugs, poor funding and cultural belief. Consequent upon these findings, government interventions such as employment of more skilled personnel, improved working conditions, employee motivation, provision of basic facilities/equipment and better financing, is required to enhance the quality of service and sustainability of PHC in Nigeri

Disposition of Secondary Students towards Charcoal Production in Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State

The study assessed the disposition of secondary school student towards charcoal production. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 225 respondents from six secondary schools in the area. Information was elicited from the respondents with the aid of a questionnaire, information collected was analyzed using descriptive (Frequency, percentages, tables and mean) and inferential (chi-square and T-test) statistical tool. The result of the study shows that there is no gender bias in the involvement in the charcoal activities as 50.7% are males, with mean age of 17 years and household size of 8. The result also revealed that 68% of the students are involved with an average period of 4 years while 35% reported their parents are also involved and make an average of N8, 754 on monthly basis. On the activities they are involved in the findings revealed that they are involved in different activities with transportation being the major one while the need to make more money (49.4%), being common occupation in the community (48%) and the prestige associated with it (41.3%) as the major influencing factors of their involvement. Their disposition was largely indifferent (88%) as revealed by the study as many of them are involved just to get the benefit without considering the effect on them. The result of the T-test (t-value 4.117, p=0.000 at P< 0.005) reveals significant difference in the disposition of those involved and those not involved while the chi-square analysis also showed significant relationship between sex(χ2 = 29.874, p = 0.000), household size(χ2 = 17.472, p = 0.002) and parental involvement (χ2 = 8.855, p = 0.012) at p < 0.05. The study therefore concluded that the students are involved and are indifferent in their disposition to charcoal production and recommend that there is a need for proper orientation of the student in relationship to their involvement while inculcating teaching on environmental sustainability. Keywords: Charcoal, Youth, Disposition, Oyo state, Ibarapa and Involvement