83 research outputs found
Assessment of timber species availability in selected sawmills and timber markets in Kogi State, Nigeria
This paper assessed the availability of timber species in Okun Area, Kogi West Senatorial District of Kogi State, Nigeria. One hundred copies of structured questionnaire were randomly administered to timber sellers from six selected timber markets and sawmills from two randomly selected Local Government Areas (LGAs) the State .Four timber markets were selected from Ijumu LGA and two from Kabba-Bunu LGA, making a total of six timber markets. Descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage distributions as well as content analysis were used to analyse the collected data. Study revealed that 21% of the timber dealers were more than 50 years of age, with about 69% of them having been in business for 20 years and above. Different reasons were given by respondents on why they engage in the timber business and these include availability, durability and demand, with 40% of them citing the demand for the timber species as the reason why they traded the species. The study shows that certain timber species such as Terminalia spp, Milicia excelsa, and Nauclea dideriichii have become endangered species due to over exploitation. Therefore, there is need for the planting of fast growing plantation species by State Forestry Department in Kogi State to replace commercially popular and endangered species as alternatives to decreasing availability of popular timber species so as to avoid running out of valuable and good quality timber species in the near future.Keywords: Timber, Okun, durability, availability, demand, workabilit
Analysis of the determinants of rural householdsâ adaptation to climate change in Ibarapa Area of Oyo State, Nigeria
It is a common belief that rural farmersâ livelihoods are susceptible to climate change. Literature has even suggested that locally driven adaptations are critical complementary strategies that can be targeted to reduce the negative effects of climate change in the short-term. This study examined the determinants of rural householdsâ adaptation to climate change in Ibarapa Area of Oyo State, Nigeria. The paper also assessed farmersâ perceived effects of climate change on their livelihood and the strategies adopted by households to adapt to the effects of climate change, as well as the constraints to their adaptation to climate change. One hundred and twenty copies of questionnaire were administered to household heads out of which only one hundred and eighteen copies were found analysable and used for the study. The results showed that there were several effects of climate change perceived by the farmers. These include poor crop yields, which is the most noticeable effect by farmers. Others are a loss of livestock, environmental degradation, and even psychological trauma. The regression results revealed that several socioeconomic variables significantly influenced rural householdsâ decision to adapt to climate change. Some of these variables were farmersâ access to weather information, access to credit facilities, farming experience, household size. Some of the challenges rural households encountered in their bid to adapt to climate change were also identified. These were unpredictability of weather, high costs of farm inputs, lack of access to water during dry season and lack of access to timely weather information. It is therefore recommended that government through its agency, Nigerian Meteorological Agency, should provide timely weather information to farmers to help them plan their farming activities. In addition, irrigation facilities should be made available to farmers in the study area so that they can engage in dry season farming and make farm produce available all-year round. This will help boost food security status of farmers and by extension, the entire country.Keywords: Climate Change, Adaptation strategies, Ibarapa, Mitigation, Rural Household
The Influence of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Inoculation on micro-propagated hybrid yam (Dioscorea spp.) growth and root knot nematode (Meloidogyne spp.) suppression
Article Purchased; Published online: 12 October 2016The use of commercial inoculants containing non-indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is an emerging technology towards improving crop production in Africa. The present study aims at evaluating the influence of two strains of commercial arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) products, based on Funneliformis mosseae and Glomus dussii, on yam growth and on root knot nematodes suppression. Using micropropagated plantlets two cultivars each of Dioscorea alata (TDa98-01183 and TDa98-165), and D. rotundata (TDr97-00551 and TDr 745) were inoculated with the F. mosseae and G. dussii products separately, at transplanting into 2L pots, and then inoculated one month later with 500 infective juveniles of Meloidogyne spp. and grown for further seven months in the greenhouse. Results demonstrated that even with low colonization rates (6%), AMF led to improved yam growth, especially for D. alata. When challenged with Meloidogyne spp., AMF inoculation significantly suppressed galling symptoms across the treatments and led to higher tuber yield. This study indicates the potential of AMF to sustainably improve yam quality and productivity, although further screening should be done in order to identify a suitable combination AMF species/strain x cultivar compatibility to optimise the results
Effect of two species of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculation on development of micro-propagated yam plantlets and suppression of Scutellonema bradys (Tylenchideae)
Using two commercially available arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) products, one based on
Funneliformis mosseae and the other on Glomus dussii, an experiment was conducted to assess their
effect on yam growth and ability to suppress nematode damage in pots. Four yam cultivars (cvs) were
used: two Dioscorea alata cvs (TDa98-01183 and TDa98-165), and two Dioscorea rotundata cvs (TDr97-
00551 and TDr 745). Micropropagated yam plantlets were inoculated either with F. mosseae or with G.
dussii at the stage of transplanting into 2L pots and - one month later - with 500 vermiform
Scutellonema bradys. The plantlets were grown for further six months in the greenhouse at IITA-Ibadan.
The results showed that the presence of AMF tended to lead to improved growth of yam, especially D.
alata cvs, as compared with the non-arbuscular mycorrhizal control plants. When challenged with the
yam nematode S. bradys, plantlets of the two D. alata cultivars pre-inoculated with F. mosseae and cv
TDr97-00551 pre-inoculated with G. dussii yielded significantly higher tuber weights compared to non-
AMF control plantlets. S. bradys densities on yam plantlets pre-inoculated with AMF were generally
suppressed, although no differences were observed in visible damage scores, which remained low or
absent across treatments
GADSA: Gamified Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) decision support app for prescribing behaviour change
Physico-Chemical Properties of Yellow Oleander (Thevetia peruviana) and their effects on the Qualities of Biodiesel
This study investigated the effects of physico-chemical properties of Yellow oleander (Thevetia peruviana) on quality of biodiesel. The seeds were processed and extraction of oil was carried out using solvent extraction method. Biodiesel was produced from the extracted oil using trans esterification process. Physical and chemical properties of Thevetia peruviana biodiesel were determined using the ASTM standard test procedures. Results showed that the biodiesel contained little sulphur (3.0 mg/kg) and exhibited a high cetane number of 55 that exceeded the standard limit of 47 and 51 prescribed for EN 14214 and EN 590 respectively, which is a good indication of fuelâs ignition and combustion quality. Kinematic viscosity of the biodiesel at 40°C was 4.81 mm2/s, which was within the range specified by EN 14214. The density at 15°C was found to be 0.89g/cm3 which was well within the range specified by EN 14214. 0.16 mg/g of acid level was obtained for the bio-diesel, which conformed to the standard set by Calorific value of the biodiesel produced from Yellow oleander seed oil was obtained as 40.42 kJ/g which indicated good fuel properties such as density, ignition quality, viscosity, cetane number, heating value and flash point. Carbon residue of the biodiesel was 0.14 mass %. Quality of the biodiesel produced conform to biodiesel and petroleum diesel standards of EN14214 and EN590 respectively
GADSA: Decision Support App for Antibiotics Prescribing in Nigeria
GADSA (Gamified Antimicrobial Stewardship Decision Support App) is a decision support tool to improve evidence-based prescribing, designed to be used at the point-of-care to help clinicians comply with guidelines in their everyday practice. The app represents a novel cross-platform, mobile decision support tool, integrating principles from serious games and gamification, to improve compliance with prescription guidelines of Surgical Antibiotic Prophylaxis (SAP) in Nigeria. This paper focuses on the decision support component of the mobile application, integrating the World Health Organisation and Sanford guidelines for SAP prescriptions
The murine meninges acquire lymphoid tissue properties and harbour autoreactive B cells during chronic Trypanosoma brucei infection:Functional characterisation of the murine meninges during chronic infections
The murine meninges acquire lymphoid tissue properties and harbour autoreactive B cells during chronic <i>Trypanosoma brucei</i> infection
The meningeal space is a critical brain structure providing immunosurveillance for the central nervous system (CNS), but the impact of infections on the meningeal immune landscape is far from being fully understood. The extracellular protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei, which causes human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) or sleeping sickness, accumulates in the meningeal spaces, ultimately inducing severe meningitis and resulting in death if left untreated. Thus, sleeping sickness represents an attractive model to study immunological dynamics in the meninges during infection. Here, by combining single-cell transcriptomics and mass cytometry by time-of-flight (CyTOF) with in vivo interventions, we found that chronic T. brucei infection triggers the development of ectopic lymphoid aggregates (ELAs) in the murine meninges. These infection-induced ELAs were defined by the presence of ER-TR7+ fibroblastic reticular cells, CD21/35+ follicular dendritic cells (FDCs), CXCR5+ PD1+ T follicular helper-like phenotype, GL7+ CD95+ GC-like B cells, and plasmablasts/plasma cells. Furthermore, the B cells found in the infected meninges produced high-affinity autoantibodies able to recognise mouse brain antigens, in a process dependent on LTÎČ signalling. A mid-throughput screening identified several host factors recognised by these autoantibodies, including myelin basic protein (MBP), coinciding with cortical demyelination and brain pathology. In humans, we identified the presence of autoreactive IgG antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of second stage HAT patients that recognised human brain lysates and MBP, consistent with our findings in experimental infections. Lastly, we found that the pathological B cell responses we observed in the meninges required the presence of T. brucei in the CNS, as suramin treatment before the onset of the CNS stage prevented the accumulation of GL7+ CD95+ GC-like B cells and brain-specific autoantibody deposition. Taken together, our data provide evidence that the meningeal immune response during chronic T. brucei infection results in the acquisition of lymphoid tissue-like properties, broadening our understanding of meningeal immunity in the context of chronic infections. These findings have wider implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying the formation ELAs during chronic inflammation resulting in autoimmunity in mice and humans, as observed in other autoimmune neurodegenerative disorders, including neuropsychiatric lupus and multiple sclerosis.</p
EFFECT OF TRIMETHOPRIM-SULFAMETHOXAZOLE PROPHYLAXIS ON FEACAL CARRIAGE RATES OF RESISTANT ISOLATES OF ESCHERICHIA COLI IN HIV-INFECTED ADULT PATIENTS IN LAGOS.
Background: The daily use of Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) prophylaxis reduces morbidity and mortality among patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) but its impact on increasing antimicrobial resistance rates has been of public health concern, globally. This study investigated the effect of daily TMP-SMX prophylaxis on feacal carriage rates of resistant isolates of Escherichia coli in HIV-infected adult patients in Lagos.
Methods: A total of 550 HIV-infected patients with CD4-cell counts of less than 350 cells/mm3 who were eligible for TMP-SMX prophylaxis and attending Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria, were recruited for this study. Stool/rectal swab samples were aseptically collected from the patients and processed using standard methods for culture and sensitivity.
Results: There was a baseline Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole resistance rate of 54% which increased to 77.9% in first 3 months, rising to 96.1% by 6 months and all isolates were resistant by the 9th month. There was also evidence of cross-resistance to other antibiotics with significance in association with TMP-SMX resistance (
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