Public perception, practices, and readiness for post Covid-19 lifestyle in Ikolaba Community, Ibadan

Purpose: Besides medical researches that are focused on getting a vaccine, research on the social, economic and cultural implications of the Covid-19 virus are being done. No research has been done to assess the knowledge and practices of the people within a community of a known case of coronavirus in Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria. Therefore, this study assesses the public perception, practices of Covid-19 protocols and readiness for post lockdown. Research methodology: Research design was survey and the method used was interview. 22 respondents participated in the study. Results: The findings indicated that the public perceived the disease as a contagion and a killer. In addition, some did not observe the preventive measures while majority seem cautious. It is recommended that awareness and enlightenment should be intensified especially within the local communities by mobilizing heads of community to commence town halls campaigns. Limitation: Finance was a major limitation because residents wanted to be compensated before participation. Contribution: The implication of this study is that government efforts are impacting the public but more work is needed in the area of educating the public. Keywords: Attitude, Coronavirus, Obstacles, Perception, Readines

Influence of dietary inclusion of phytobiotics on growth performance, carcass and organ weight of broiler chickens

This study investigated the dietary inclusion effect of three Phytobiotics: Syzygium aromaticum (Cloves), Piper nigrum (Black pepper) and Tetrapleura tetraptera (Prekese) on performance, carcass traits and organ weight of broile rchickens. Two hundred-day old unsexed broilers were used for the study. The birds were allotted on weight equalization basis to four dietary treatments (T1, T2, T3 and T4) in Completely Randomized Design. Each treatment was replicated five times with 10 birds per replicate. Four experimental diets were formulated for each of starter and finisher phase respectively. Control diet (T1) with no phytogenic inclusion while T2, T3 and T4 were formulated with inclusion of 1% Syzygium aromaticum (Cloves), Piper nigrum (Black pepper) and Tetrapleura tetraptera (Prekese) respectively; and the experiment lasted for 8 weeks (4weeks for each phase). Feed intake, Weight gained and Feed conversion ratio were measured at starter and finisher phases while carcass and organ weight measurements were carried out at the end of finisher phase. Dietary inclusion of phytogenics recorded similar (P>0.05) values of growth performance parameters at starter phase whereas a significant ((P<0.05) effect were observed on weight gain, FCR, Live weight and plucked weight at finisher phase. It was observed that inclusion of cloves had improvement on final weight (FW), weight gain (WG) and FCR with higher (P<0.05) plucked weight

Knowledge of malaria amongst caregivers of young children in rural and urban communities in Southwest Nigeria

Purpose: To compare the awareness and treatment knowledge of malaria amongst caregivers of young children in urban and rural areas of Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area in Ogun State. Method: Structured questionnaires were administered to caregivers of children under the age of five years in 1472 households using a multistage random sampling technique. Results: Many respondents (65%) attributed the cause of malaria to mosquito bite. The knowledge of malaria treatment (particularly the knowledge of pediatric doses) was generally poor. Caregivers in urban areas had better understanding of the dosage regimen for both adult and pediatric doses (

Haematological and plasma biochemical parameters of the Nigerian laughing dove (Streptopelia senegalensis) and the Nigerian duck (Anas platyrhynchos)

As part of ongoing studies on the blood profiles of the Nigerian avian species, haematological and plasma biochemical parameters were determined in the Nigerian laughing dove (Streptopelia senegalensis). There were no significant sex differences in all the parameters studied. However, when the values that were observed in the Nigerian laughing dove were compared with those of the Nigerian duck (Anas platyrhynchos), the Nigerian duck had significantly higher mean corpuscular volume, total white blood counts, plasma urea, total protein and globulin, but significantly lower red blood cell counts, haemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, plasma potassium and albumin/globulin ratio than the Nigerian laughing dove. However, the packed cell volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, plasma sodium, creatinine and albumin were similar in the two species of bird

Clinical outcomes in hypertensive or diabetes patients who concomitantly use complementary medicines in Lagos, Nigeria

Background: The use of complementary medicines in addition to medical prescription by patients with hypertension, diabetes and other chronic diseases presents a challenge for healthcare providers in Nigeria and globally. There is very little data on the clinical outcomes in these patients.Objectives: To evaluate clinical outcomes in hypertensive or diabetic patients who use complimentary medicines in Lagos Nigeria .Design: Observational cross-sectional study.Setting: Lagos University Teaching Hospital Medical Outpatient Clinics.Subjects: Five hundred patients attending Lagos University Teaching Hospital Medical out-patient clinics with a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus or hypertension or diabetic hypertensive were studied.Main outcome measures: The effect of complementary medicines use on blood pressure and blood glucose control were evaluated.Results: The mean arterial blood pressure of non-users of complementary medicine was 115.329 mmHg and that of users was 105.138mmHg. Also the mean fasting blood sugar of non-users was 129.515mg/dl and that of users was 131.453mg/dl. (P>0.05).Conclusion: Although not statistically significant, complimentary medicines were found to be of advantage to hypertensive patients but not diabetic patients

Atropine exposure in adolescence predispose to adult memory loss in Wistar rats

Some of the brain malfunctions in adulthoods have been linked to the developmental process in their childhood, especially in most adolescent who have been exposed to one form of drug abuse or another. This study investigated the effect of atropine exposure at adolescence on the memory and histology of the frontal cortex of Wistar rats and its effects on adult memory. 20 male adolescent Wistar rats were used for the study. The rats were divided into two groups of 10 rats each. The first group were administered with100 mg/kg body weight of atropine (Atr), and the other 10 rats were given 10 mL/kg body weight of normal saline (NS) for 7 days at adolescence. On 8th day, the rats were subjected to novel object recognition test (NOR) and ‘Y’ maze test to assess their memory function, 5 rats from each group were euthanized using ketamine and were perfused transcardially with 4% paraformaldehyde. Thereafter, the brains were removed and processed for histology using H&E and Giemsa stain. The remaining 5 rats from each group were reared till adult (65 days postpartum) without treatment denoted as Atr-I and NS-I respectively. The same memory tests and histology study were conducted on the rats at adulthood. Data were analysed using Student t test and P<0.05 was set as significant level. Atr and Atr-1showed decline in memory neither index from NOR compared with NS and NS-I respectively. Atr-I shows decline in Y maze compared to NS-I. The study concludes that atropine exposed rats show significant signs of neural cell death in the frontal cortex which progresses into adulthood as evidence from the histological findings

A Survey of Lightweight Cryptosystems for Smart Home Devices

A Smart Home uses interconnected network technology to monitor the environment, control the various physical appliances, and communicate with each other in a close environment. A typical smart home is made up of a security system, intercommunication system, lighting system, and ventilation system. &nbsp;Data security schemes for smart homes are ineffective due to inefficiency cryptosystems, high energy consumption, and low exchange security. Traditional cryptosystems are less-applicable because of their large block size, large key size, and complex rounds. This paper conducts a review of smart homes, and adopts Ultra-Sooner Lightweight Cryptography to secure home door. It provides extensive background of cryptography, forms of cryptography as associated issues and strengths, current trends, smart home door system design, and future works suggestions. Specifically, there are prospects of utilizing XORed lightweight cryptosystem for developing encryption and decryption algorithms in smart home devices. The Substitution Permutation Network, and Feistel Network cryptographic primitives were most advanced forms of cipher operations with security guarantees. Therefore, better security, memory and energy efficiency can be obtained with lightweight ciphers in smart home devices when compared to existing solutions. In the subsequent studies, a blockchain-based lightweight cryptography can be the next springboard in attaining the most advanced security for smart home systems and their appliances. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp

Environmental Impact of Cassava Processing on Residents of Surulere Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria

The paper assessed the impacts of cassava processing industry on the residents of Surulere Local Government Area. Random sampling was employed to administer two hundred and sixty two (262) copies of a structure questionnaire to both the operators (103) and residents (159) in the selected areas. Descriptive statistics was employed to summarize nominal variables, while chi square was used to examine variations in the in the distribution socioeconomic characteristics of operators. The quantity of waste generated was determined using weighting scale and Likert scale rating was used to rate residents perception (RPI) on impacts of cassava processing on the environment. The findings showed that female is most dominant (81.6%) in the operation of cassava production than male. Majority of the cassava production is done in a medium scale (59.2%), (this increases generation of more waste (i.e. cassava peels) in the study area). It was observed from the measurement that cassava tuber with larger size generates more waste (10.50kg) compared to small sized cassava (8.00kg). The major types of pollution perceived by the residents is land pollution (RPI 2.69) and water pollution (RPI 2.48). This implies that waste generated particularly cassava peels and effluent have high negative effect on air environment. On the health impacts majority (33%) of the operators suffer from headache and sometimes ear and sight problems. The study recommended that Government should make adequate provision for facilities like waste packing vehicles to evacuate cassava peels from the immediate working environment. This will undoubtedly enhance effective and proper disposal of wastes. Government should also encourage employees to explore opportunity of turning waste to wealth by drying cassava peels and reselling it as livestock feeds. This will serve as additional income to operators and consequently improve their livelihood.  By adopting these possible recommendations, a sanitary and sustainable environment will be achieved. DOI: 10.7176/CER/11-8-04 Publication date:September 30th 201

Characterisation of activated charcoal, sawdust charcoal and rice husk charcoal as adsorbents in water treatment

This study is an investigation into the characterization of commercial activated charcoal, sawdust charcoal and rice husk charcoal as adsorbents for water treatment. The ground rice husk and waste sawdust collected, were sieved to obtain a nominal size of 1mm, washed and oven-dried for 12hours. The two materials were pyrolysized in a furnace for 30minutes, and the chars produced were later air-dried. The three charcoals (sawdust charcoal, rice husk charcoal, and the activated charcoal purchased from the market) were all subjected to X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis in order to characterize the filter materials. The SEM analysis showed that the three materials developed more pores, which is a property of an adsorbent. Likewise, the XRF and EDX analyses confirm that all the three adsorbents possess larger proportion of Silica, Carbon and Oxygen

Financial Development and Economic Growth in Nigeria: The Case Study of Nigeria

The study analyzed the effect of financial development on economic growth in Nigeria using time series data on annual growth rate of gross domestic product, real interest rate, the ratio of gross domestic savings to GDP, ratio of domestic credit to private sector to GDP over the period 1980 and 2019. While the variables real interest rate, the ratio of gross domestic savings to GDP, ratio of domestic credit to private sector to GDP served as explanatory variable, annual growth rate of gross domestic product was used as the dependent variable. The results indicated that two of the variables (real interest rate, gross domestic savings) are inversely related to the&nbsp; dependent variable (GDP annual growth rate) when combined together while domestic credit to private sector is positively related to the dependent variable with the coefficient of multiple determination showing that the model is of high good fit&nbsp; with&nbsp; approximately 93% of gross domestic product being explained by the variables included in the model, while the remaining 7% are factors inducing growth but were not captured in the model. Thus, the study, therefore, concluded that there is the need to adequately deepen the financial system through innovations, adequate and effective regulation and supervision, efficient mobilization of funds and making such funds available for productive investment, and improved services in order to propel economic growth