Assessment of radioactivity concentrations and effective of radionuclides in selected fruits from major markets at Ijebu – Ode in Ogun State, southwest of Nigeria

Natural Radionuclides are elements that are found in the air, water and soil. They find their ways in to the plants through the leaves and absorption of nutrients and water from the soil through the roots. Intake of fruits is very essential for human beings as part of balance diet. The concentrations of natural radionuclides in some fruits from three major markets at Ijebu- Ode town in Nigeria were determined and annual committed effective dose to the consumers was also determined. The gamma spectrometry method was used for the analysis. The highest concentrations of 40K, 238U and 232Th were from pineapple of value 102.36 ± 10.81Bqkg-1, orange of value 12.18 ± 4.36Bqkg-1 and mango of value 8.01 ± 3.25 Bqkg-1 respectively. The average annual committed effective dose of the natural radionuclides to the consumers was calculated to be 0.11mSvyr-1, which is below the limit of 0.3mSvyr-1 recommended globally. This indicates that the ingestion of these radionuclides through the consumption of these fruits has no radiological health hazard to the consumers.Keywords: Fruit, radionuclides, concentration, dose, gamma spectrometr

Evaluation of Primordial Radionuclides in Ocimum gratissimum and health Risk to the Consumers at Ewekoro Southwest of Nigeria

Primordial radionuclides are transported in to the plants through the leaves and roots. Medicinal plants are widely used in Africa for prevention and treatment of diseases. Ocimum Gratissimum is medicinal plant that is so used in southwest of Nigeria due to its multifunctional traditional medicinal health uses and as spice in cooking. The research is to determine the radiological health risk of these primordial radionuclides to the  consumers of Ocimum Gratissimum in the study area. Fresh leaves of the medicinal plant were plucked from ten (10) different locations at Ewekoro where mining of limestone had been taking place in Ogun State, southwest of Nigeria, been the part of the plant that was commonly used. The concentrations of 40K, 238U and 232Th in the fresh leaves were determined using gamma spectrometry method, and average annual committed effective dose to the adult consumers was determined. No artificial radionuclide was detected. The highest annual committed effective doses of 40K, 238U and 232Th to the consumers of Ocimum Gratissimum were obtained to be 0.00133mSvy-1, 0.00147mSvy-1 and 0.00336mSvy-1 respectively. The highest excess lifetime cancer risk of 40K, 238U and 232Th to the consumers were calculated to be 0.0211 x 10-3, 0.0136 x 10-3 and 0.1434 x 10-3 respectively. The average annual committed effective dose and average excess lifetime cancer risk of the radionuclides to the consumers were calculated to be 0.0109mSvy-1 and 0.0379 x 10-3 respectively. The values were below the limits of 0.3mSvy-1 and 0.29 x 10-3 respectively,  recommended globally. The consumers of the medicinal plant do not have significant radiological health risk. Furthermore, the results obtained can serve as reference data for future studies in the study area and its environs. Keywords: Primordial Radionuclide, Medicinal plant, Dose, Cance

The chimpanzees of Oluwa Forest Reserve, southwest Nigeria

The lack of accurate information on the population of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) is a cause for concern on their conservation and management in Southwest Nigeria. We conducted surveys on the chimpanzees of Oluwa Forest Reserve, Ondo State between the month of September 2011 and February 2012. We used the combination of recce survey and GIS mapping to determine Chimpanzees’ locations in the reserve. Chimpanzee distribution was confined to the central portion of the OA2 axis of the reserve. This portion is approximately 39.22km2 representing 5.78% of the total size of the original area of the reserve. Four sightings of Chimpanzee groups were achieved with an average of 9.50 ± 1.55 individuals observed. We observed nests built on rock platforms. The numbers of tree nests observed at sleeping sites were usually fewer than the number of animals seen, indicating that not all of them build nest on trees at their nesting sites. These observations were new in nesting behavior of chimpanzees across Nigeria and it is postulated to be on account of insecurity and deprivation of essential material necessary for nesting in their night sleeping sites. We explained this on the conceptual frame work of psycho-infrastructuralism model

Evaluating rule breaking behavior in a Nigerian protected forest reserve area

This paper investigated the rule breaking conduct in a Nigerian protected forest reserve area in order to exploit natural resources using Randomized Response Technique (RRT) for data collection. Evident from this study show a higher proportion of the residents surrounding Oba Hills Forest Reserve, Nigeria illegally poach, encroach to farm, extract timber, gather firewood and graze their domestic animals in the conservation area. With the high level of noncompliance to the conservation rules in this study, there is a need for the government and conservation managers to identify and harness social norms that encourage compliance, as well as increasing probabilities of detection and stricter law enforcement on those that flout the conservation rules.Keywords: biodiversity conservation, sensitive behaviors, compliance, randomized response techniqu

Evaluation of Land use and Land Cover Changes in the Gold Mining Enclaves of Zamfara Sahel, Nigeria

Understanding land use and land cover changes and their underlying dynamics is critical to land reclamation and biodiversity management in mining enclaves and deceleration of desertification in the vast Zamfara Sahel of Northwestern Nigeria. This paper presents a quantitative analysis of land cover changes in the gold mining enclaves of Anka, Bukkuyum and Maru Local Government Areas in Zamfara State, Nigeria. Data were aggregated from field trips, remote sensing and geographical information system technologies and archives. Data and satellite images from three time periods of 1987, 2002 and 2020 were used for the analysis. The images were captured on yearly degradation rates of LULC classes within 100m, 200m and 300m of protected areas. Five LULC classes were identified and twenty-five transition classes were mapped out using GIS technology. Analysis shows bare ground/ built-up/rock outcrop LULC class expanded as mining activities had deleterious impacts on the land cover of the enclaves

Dynamics and Socioeconomic Drivers of Illegal Hunting of Wildlife Animal for Consumption in Oba Hills Forest Reserve in Southwest Nigeria

This study investigated the dynamics and socioeconomic drivers of illegal hunting of wildlife animal commonly called bushmeat in Oba Hills Forest Reserve (OHFR) in Southwest Nigeria. Two hundred and thirty-four households in 8 host communities were subjected to direct household survey using a multi-stage sampling technique. The results revealed that mainly young and middle-aged men engaged in group and seasonal bushmeat hunting, mostly during the dry season. Also, the scale of daily illegal bushmeat hunting is high in the protected area. Non-selective hunting has increased over the last five years with traditional means of hunting still prominent during the hunting expedition. Thus, the socioeconomic drivers (age, ethnicity and household size) had a strong relationship with illegal bushmeat hunting, and their odds ratio ranged between 2.11 and 3.73. Failure to provide stakes for the host communities’ inhabitants and weak penal system influenced illegal bushmeat hunting in OHFR. We conclude that the aforementioned factors need to be addressed for illegal bushmeat hunting to be tackled effectively. However, in the absence of political and economic stability, controlling illegal bushmeat hunting will remain extremely difficult and the future of wildlife conservation will remain bleak. Keywords: Protected area, bushmeat hunting, conservation, seasonal employmen

Acquired incisor malocclusion in an adult rabbit buck. A case report

A rare case of dental malocclusion in an adult white chinchilla rabbit buck is reported. A diagnosis of acquired incisor malocclusion was made based on the history, physical examination of the rabbit and postmortem examination of the skull. To the best of our knowledge, this appears to be the first reported case of this condition in Nigeria. It is suggested that the condition may be more common among rabbits in Nigeria and elsewhere than the paucity of reports on the incidence. Measures to be adopted in order to forestall dental malocclusion in rabbits are discussed. Keywords: Malocclusion, rabbit, incisor

Degree and Determinants of Host Communities’ Socio-Economic Dependence on Forest Products of Pendjari National Park, Benin Republic: Automatic Linear Modelling Technique

The study aimed at determining the degree and determinants of host communities’ socio-economic dependence on forest products of Pendjari National Park, Benin. Four hundred households in fourteen host communities of the Park were subjected to direct household survey through multistage sampling technique. Forest Dependency Indices were computed to determine the households’ dependence on forest products. An automatic linear modelling algorithm through forward stepwise model selection method was employed to model the main determinants to host communities' socio-economic dependence on forest products. Household age category (5-14 and above 60 years), total monthly income, education level of the household members (junior/senior high school, bachelor’s degree), place of birth, and religion were the main determinants. Most host communities were observed to be dependent on the park in varied forms and degrees, while Tanguieta and Sangou had the least and highest degree of dependence, respectively. Thus, the findings had provided a template for relevant authorities to rightly allocate resources for alternative livelihood means to the ranked host communities. However, a monitoring indicator had been developed to quantify and safeguard the harms of indigenous people to the biodiversity base. This is believed to create a synergy between sustainable development and indigenous peoples

PATHOMORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES AND BACTERIAL PATHOGENS ASSOCIATED WITH SWINE PNEUMONIAS IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

Pneumonia is a major economic threat to swine industry worldwide, however, there is still dearth of information on the pathology and associated pathogens in Nigeria, and these were therefore investigated. Lungs from 408 slaughtered pigs were randomly collected from abattoirs in Abeokuta, Ibadan and Lagos. The lung samples were cultured for bacterial pathogens using standard techniques, while formalin-fixed tissues were processed for histopathological examination. Grossly, the most consistent lesion was bronchopneumonia (35.3%). The main histopathological findings were lymphoid hyperplasia of bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) (88.2%), suppurative bronchopneumonia (63.6%), suppurative bronchitis and bronchiolitis with concurrent epithelial hyperplasia (57.1%), as well as thickened alveolar septa due to cellular infiltration consisting predominantly of neutrophils (54.1%). Ten different species of bacteria were isolated from the lung samples in which two or more pathogens were isolated from each sample (82.7%). Pasteurella multocida was the most frequently isolated bacterium (54.8%). Among the bacteria isolated, there were significant (P < 0.05) differences in the frequencies of isolation of β-haemolytic Streptococci, P. multocida, Haemophilus species and Escherichia coli between the pneumonic lungs and apparently normal lungs. The results of bacterial culture, gross and histopathological changes recorded in this study are consistent with bacterial pneumonia possibly caused by most of the bacteria identified in the present study.   &nbsp

Retrospective studies on the prevalence, morphological pathology and aetiology of renal failure of dog in Lagos and Abeokuta, Nigeria

No AbstractKeywords: postmortem, renal failure, nephritis, pathology, do