A comparative study of farmers’ use of Extension guide/bulletin and radio as Media of agricultural information and technology transfer in Ogun State, Nigeria

The study compared farmers’ use of extension guide and radio as media of agricultural information and technology transfer in Ogun State.  A multistage random sampling technique was used to select 320 farmers from 32 villages in the four agricultural zones in Ogun State.  Data were collected with an interview guide.  Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Chi-square were used to test the study hypotheses.  Findings showed that 59% used radio while 7% used extension guide as media of agricultural information.  Farmers were constrained by illiteracy, lack of fund, feedback problem, lack of electricity, bad eye sight and language  barrier.  There is a significant relationship between farmers age, sex, marital status and their use of radio and between farmers’ sex, education and their use of extension guide.  It was recommended that farmers should be encouraged to listen to farm broadcasts, read and adopt the content of extension guide and that, farm broadcasts and publications should be planed in conjunction with the extension agents to address the felt needs of the farmer

The Empiricist Criteria of Meaning And The Problem of Translation

Generally speaking, the branches of philosophy have traditionally been listed to include Ethics, logic, metaphysics, epistemology and aesthetics. However, it has over the years embraced studies in socio political philosophy, philosophy of law, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language and so on. The study of language in philosophy is not in the same way as those who specialize in linguistics. However, its study creates proper understanding and removes forms of ambiguity that may be found in language in particular and communication in general. Philosophers of language have discussed many issues which includes ‘meaning’, ‘sense’, ‘reference’ and many others. In this paper we shall attempt a critical analysis of the Logical Empiricist’s criteria of ‘meaning’. The paper begins with the analysis of the concept of ‘meaning’ and why philosophers of language are so particular about ‘meaning’ either of words, sentences or expression. The paper also examines logical empiricist criteria of meaning and its relevance to communication and translation of words or statements. The paper argues that the empiricist criteria of meaning entails some absurdities and poses serious problem to communication and translation in human society. Thus, it should not be accepted in absolute term. Keywords: Logical empiricism, Language, Meaningfulness, Communication and Society

AVAILABILITY, ACCESSIBILITY AND FREQUENCY OF USE OF ICT TOOLS BY HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IN ILORIN METROPOLIS

This research explores the availability, accessibility and the extent of ICT usage by health professionals in Ilorin metropolis. Data was collected using a sample size of 174 health service providers in 34 public and private hospitals by means of a structured questionnaire. Findings from this study indicate that the ICTs that were commonly available and used by the health professionals are the older ICTs. These include TV set, DSTV, photocopiers, fax machines, and convergent technologies like mobile phones and computers. Although, Internet driven facilities like video-conferencing, teleconferencing, web discussion forums and email among others, were not readily available to the health professionals, a comparative analysis reveals that there was superior availability and use of computers, projectors, e-mails and Internet by health professionals in private hospitals than those in public hospitals. This is as a result of the financial implications of procurement and installation of these facilities. Interestingly, the level of awareness of users on the numerous benefits of ICTs on their job and productivity is quite impressive. It is therefore, concluded that hospitals’ regulatory agencies should collaborate with International agencies such as World Health Organization (WHO),United Nations Organization (UNO) and the European Union, among others, to aid in the successful implementation and funding for the procurement of sophisticated ICTs to facilitate the dissemination of up to date health information to public and private hospitals

Predictive modelling of the impact of silica nanoparticles on fluid loss of water based drilling mud

Research into the use of nanoparticles for drilling mud formulation is gaining momentum but a key challenge involves predicting the effect of nanoparticles on the properties of the modified mud. Mathematical models used in the description of drilling muds allow for a generalised computation of drilling performance. In other words, such models cannot quantitatively capture the contributions of nanoparticles to the overall performance of the nano-modified drilling mud. In this work, a new model was derived which describes the fluid loss of nanoparticle enhanced water based drilling mud under static filtration. This was done taking into account the structural kinetics of the bentonite suspension and colloidal behaviour of the nanoparticles.The new fluid loss model was compared with the known API static fluid loss model using statistical measures,Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Coefficient of Determination (R2). The new model compares favourably with the API static model with RMSE and R2 values of 0.41–0.81 cm3 and 99.3–99.89% respectively.The new fluid loss model was able to predict a value for the maximum fluid loss. It also accounted for variation in mud cake permeability and solid fraction, which could not be explained by the API fluid loss model

Journalists’ Attitudes towards the Coverage of Agricultural and Rural Development News in Ogun State.

The study examined the journalists’ attitudes towards the coverage of Agricultural and Rural Development News in Ogun State. Multistage technique was used to select 40 journalists from Print and Electronic media organizations in Ogun State. Primary data were collected with structured questionnaire. Chi-square and Spearman correlation were used to analyze the data collected. Result showed that most (57.5%) of the journalists were male and 72.5% married. Their mean age was 30.6years. About 70.0% were with a minimum of a Higher National Diploma (HND) qualification. Majority (55.0%) were Christians while 45.0% were Muslims. Most (85.0%) of the journalists live in urban areas while few (15.0%) live in semi-urban areas. Result showed that 85.0% of the journalists were operating on a permanent basis while 15.0% were on part time/freelance appointments. Half (50.0%) of the journalists had 6-10 years work experience. Result further showed that 40.0% of the journalists were constrained by organizational problems,75.0% by lack of transportation to rural areas for news coverage, 92.5% by bad roads to rural areas, 55.0% by inadequate equipment and 90.0% were constrained by lack of interest in agricultural news by most of the members of the audience. Chi square analysis showed a significant association between age (c2=82.15, p<0.05), work experience (c2=80.21, p<0.05) and the perception of journalists toward the coverage of agricultural and rural development news. Result further showed an inverse relationship between the constraints experienced by the journalists and their reportage of agricultural and rural development news (r =-0.24, p=0.00). It was concluded that most of the journalists were not favorably disposed to the coverage of agricultural and rural development news owing to the identified constraints and challenges. Keywords: Journalist, Attitude, Agricultural News, Rural developmen

ANALYSIS OF MULTIMEDIA CHANNELS OF INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO FISH FARMERS IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

Fish farmers in Nigeria lack adequate information and their production capacity is low. The study ana- lyzed the multimedia channels of information available to fish farmers in Ogun State, Nigeria. Multi- stage sampling techniques was used to select 120 fish farmers in the study area. Primary data were obtained with interview schedule. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data collected. Most of the farmers (97.5%) were male and married. Many (43.3%) had primary education while 30.9% had no formal education. Majority (76.1%) had radio sets while 45.3% and 28.3% had television and phone respectively. Farmers’ accessibility to information was high in radio (79.2%) and extension agents (73.3%) but low in television, flyers, trainings, phone, internet and fellow farmers. Most of the farmers (85.0%) preferred extension agents, radio (71.6%) and television (68.3%) as their source of information on fish farming. Majority (80.0%) preferred Yoruba as the language of broadcast and pub- lications, 16.7% preferred English while 3.3% preferred Igbo. Most (83.3%) of the farmers regarded lack of electricity as the foremost constraint to their access to information on media. Other constraints identified were non-relevance of information to farmers’ felt needs (73.3%), feedback problem (60.0%), inadequate fund (40.8%) and illiteracy (23.3%). Chi-square analysis showed a significant association 2 at p ≤ 0.05 between farmers’ choice of information channels and age (π=19.60), educational level 2 2 2 2 (π=39.82), years of farming (π = 20.48), income (π = 34.03), and media related constraints (π = 6.92). The study established that age, educational level, years of farming, annual income and con- straints experienced by the farmers played significant roles in their choice and use of information channels, and that, farmers have more access to extension agents as channel of information. It was recommended that more information on fish farming should be provided through the multimedia and be based on farmers’ felt needs. More extension workers should be employed and trained while phone-in radio and television programmes should be regularly aired and viewing centres and radio groups established in strategic locations

Normal Aerobic Vaginal Bacterial Flora of The African Giant Rats (AGR) Captured from Their Natural Habitat in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria

The genital tract of female animals, especially the caudal region, is known to habour non specific bacteria that are sometimes called the normal bacterial flora. In this study, we examined 12 apparently healthy female African giant rats (Cricetomys gambianus, Waterhouse) (AGR) to determine their vaginal bacterial flora. Swab collected from the vagina of each rat after previous chloroform anaesthesia was seeded onto blood and MacConkey agar plates and incubated aerobically at 370C for up to 48hours. Isolates were then characterized using various character parameters. The results indicated that 7 bacterial genera inhabit the vagina of the 12 African giant rats that were studied. The distribution of the bacteria species in the AGR were highlighted in the text. It is inferred from the results that under stress condition, these bacteria could cause disease in the African giant rats

Evaluating the Oil Mobilization Properties of Nanoparticles Treated with Arabic Gum and Xanthan Gum for Trapped Oil in Porous Media

The flow of multiple fluid phases in porous media often results in trapped droplets of the non-wetting phase. Recent experimental and theoretical studies have suggested that nanoparticle aqueous dispersions may be effective at mobilizing trapped droplets of oil in porous media. Hypotheses to explain the observation include the nanoparticles' modification of solid wettability, changes in interfacial tension and interface rheology. The difficulty in observing droplet behavior on the pore scale has made the understanding of such mechanism still unclear. In this work, the relationship between nanoparticle concentration and microscopic diversion of flow was investigated and how this impacts on the oil mobilization efficiency. Also investigated in this work was how the rheology of the dispersion medium for nanoparticles impacts on the overall recovery of trapped oil in porous media. A core flooding experiment was carried out on which aqueous solutions of different concentrations of the nanoparticle dispersion was used as the displacing fluid likewise rheological modified solutions of the nanofluids. The output of this work showed that the nanoparticle concentration impacts on the recovery of trapped oil through the microscopic diversion of fluid flow in porous media and this phenomenon in conjunction with earlier mention hypothesis effectively showed how nanoparticles enhances the recovery of trapped oil in porous media

Constraints Associated With Cultivation and Utilization of Soyabean by Farmers in Ogun State, Nigeria

This study identified the constraints associated with the cultivation and utilization of soyabeans by farmers in Ogun State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 120 respondents for the study. Primary data were obtained with interview guide. Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Chi-Square were used to analyze the data collected. Results showed that the mean age of the respondents was 54.8years and majority (75.0%) were male. Majority (64.2%) were married while 65.0% were literate. Thirty five percent (35.0%) had been in farming for about 20 years while majority (65.8%) cultivated between 1-3 hectares of land. Most (80.8%) of the farmers were aware of soyabean cultivation with 56.7% having extension agents as their source of information. Other sources of information include the media (radio and television), fellow farmers and friends. Lack of market for soyabean was the foremost constraint against farmers’cultivation of soyabeans while lack of knowledge of soyabean processing was ranked first among the constraints militating against farmers’ utilization of soyabeans. More than half (59.2%) of the farmers utilize soyabean only in the form of soya milk. Chi-square analysis showed a significant relationship between farmers’ cultivation of soyabean and sex (c2=8.34, p<0.05) and educational status (c2=31.43, p<0.05). Correlation analysis showed that farmers’ cultivation of soyabean is significantly related to age (r=0.96, p<0.05), farm size (r=0.78, p<0.05) and years of farming (r=0.68, p<0.05) while age is significantly related to farmers’ utilization of soyabean (r=0.04, p<0.05). It was concluded that age, sex, educational status, farm size and years of farming played significant roles in farmers’ cultivation of soyabean while age determined the utilization of soyabean by the farmers. It was recommended that extension services targeted on soyabean cultivation and utilization should be more vigorously pursued. Keywords: Soyabean, Cultivation, Utilization, Innovation, Constraint

ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITIES OF HONEY FROM DIFFERENT LOCATIONS IN THE TROPICAL RAIN FOREST BELT OF NIGERIA, ON SELECTED BACTERIAL ISOLATES

Honey has been used for various purposes including treatment of diseases. This study was carried out to determine antibacterial activities of honey samples obtained from different locations in the tropical Rainforest Belt of Nigeria (Abeokuta, Aiyetoro, Ajebo, and Saki) against reference bacterial isolates: Escherichia coli (E.coli) (ATCC 25922) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), using agar well diffusion technique. Staphylococcus aureus showed sensitivity to all honey samples used with the zone of inhibition ranging between 1.9 and 2.6mm. Escherichia coli was resistant to all concentrations of honey samples used. However, the present study did not explore the possible causative agent(s) involved in the antibacterial activity of the honey used.Â