Evaluation of flesh and serum concentrations of Al, Zn, Mn and Sb in African cat fish (Clarias gariepinus) reared in plastic ponds in Benin City, Nigeria

Fishing in both natural and artificial habitats is a major occupation in Nigeria. Fishing in plastic ponds is one of such artificial habitats. This study seeks to determine and compare the bioaccumulation of selected toxic and essential trace metals-Aluminum, Antimony, Manganese and Zinc in body, serum and water habitat of Clarias gariepinus obtained from five different plastic fish ponds in Benin metropolis, using fishes from Ikpoba River as control. Catfish were obtained from five different farms and the controls were from Ikpoba River. The concentrations of Aluminum, Antimony, Manganese and Zinc were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometer. Results revealed that pond A Mn concentration (75.7 ± 1.2 mg/g),was lowest, and followed by pond B (96.8 ± 1.5). The level of Zn in body of pond A, B, C, D were all high (p<0.001). High level of Antimony was observed in pond A, B, C and D ranging from (0.019 ± 0.001 to 0.020 ± 0.0005mg/g). Zinc level was high in pond A, C, D, E ranging from (118.8±3.4 to 124.8±1.0 mg/g. Sb is slightly high in pond B, C, D with a range of (0.018±0.001 to 0.021±0.001) but was low in pond A (0.002±0.000) when compared with control (0.003±0.000). The above results were all statistically significant at (p<0.001).This study demonstrated an increase in the body and serum levels of toxic metals in Clarias gariepinus across the various ponds and the control river. The concentrations of aluminum, antimony, manganese and zinc in the body and serum of Clarias gariepinus were above the WHO recommended limit for fish and fish products. Hence, it is concluded that these metals have been bio-accumulated in the tissues and organs of these fish and may therefore pose an immediate threat on the health of consumers of fish and fish products from these various plastic ponds within Benin metropolis.Keywords: Toxic, Trace, Metals, Cat-fish, Plastic pond

Conversational Strategies in Ola Rotimi’s The gods Are Not to Blame

This paper examined the conversational features used by characters through talk in Ola Rotimi’s The gods Are not to Blame. Several studies have been carried out on Ola Rotimi’s works but this study was motivated by the scanty scholarly studies on the conversational strategies used in the text. In order to bring out the features of conversation in the text, the text was critically read, and salient conversational features were identified. The features were interpreted according to the messages they expressed in the text. The findings revealed that conversational features such as monologue, turn taking, turn allocation, speech overlap, error and repair mechanism, adjacency pairs, and insertion sequence were used to generate different effects in the text. The study concludes that the conversational features employed by the author create orderliness and regulate participants’ talk in the interaction towards actualising the thematic goals of the text. Thus, the study indicates that conversation analysis gives a deeper and better understanding of human utterances as portrayed through the characters in the text, thereby increasing the readers understanding of the text

Trends of Share Pricing In the Nigerian Stock Market

With the rapid development of the capital market in Nigeria, in recent years, coupled with the role it plays in the sphere of national growth and development, there is need for investors to put more attention to shares being traded on the stock market and how these prices tend to move over the years. This research paper tends to examine the roles, functions, rules and regulations of the capital market in share pricing. The research paper also identifies the factors and the various theories that are responsible in the changes of share prices over time. In this research paper, a specified model is used. Also, statistical and economic tools are used to show extent of the positive relationship that exist between share prices and exchange rate. The paper examines the market capitalization effects on share prices, while a negative relationship exist between share prices and inflation. The research paper which is centered on trends of share prices in Nigeria Stock market between 1988-2011 showed that market capitalization (MCAP) and exchange rate (EXRT) are very good determinants of share prices movement, while inflation (INFL) is not. Key Words: Across the board; Bear; Bull; Dividend; Bond: Equity; Offer for sales; Share; Stock Market; Underwriting.

Comparative assessment of different poultry manures and inorganic fertilizer on soil properties and nutrient uptake of maize (Zea mays L.)

This study investigated soil physicochemical properties and nutrient uptake of a drought-tolerant maize variety (DT-SR-WC2) in a derived savanna zone of Southwestern Nigeria when different composted poultry manures (CPM) and inorganic fertilizer (IF) were applied. This was with a view to determining the essential trace elements and nutritional quality of the test crop. The experiment was a randomized complete block design with six treatments [cockerel manure (CM), broiler manure (BM), layers manure (LM), equal proportions of cockerel + broiler + layers manures (CBLM), IF)] and zero manure/fertilizer application served as control. Each treatment was replicated three times. Three months after sowing, the maize ears were manually harvested and threshed for analyses. The results show that addition of CPM increased the soil properties, but only significantly (p < 0.05) with the soil organic carbon and cation exchangeable capacity when BM was applied. There were no significant (p > 0.05) differences among the treatments considered in the proximate compositions of the harvested maize grains. The concentrations of mineral and trace elements in the harvested maize were generally higher during the wet than dry seasons, but with only Cu showing significant (p < 0.05) difference among the elements. It was concluded that BM was the best choice among the CPM considered for enhanced soil health and nutrient uptake of maize.Keywords: Maize, cockerel manure, broiler manure, layers manure, quality maize, soil healt

Lag times and invasion dynamics of established and emerging weeds: insights from herbarium records of Queensland, Australia

Herbarium records provide comprehensive information on plant distribution, offering opportunities to construct invasion curves of introduced species, estimate their rates and patterns of expansions in novel ranges, as well as identifying lag times and hence “sleeper weeds”, if any. Lag times especially have rarely been determined for many introduced species, including weeds in the State of Queensland, Australia as the trait is thought to be unpredictable and cannot be screened for. Using herbarium records (1850–2010), we generated various invasiveness indices, and developed simple invasion and standardised proportion curves of changes in distribution with time for ~ 100 established and emerging weed species of Queensland. Four major periods (decades) of increased weed spread (spikes) were identified: 1850s, 1900–1920, 1950–1960 and 2000–2010, especially for grasses and trees/shrubs. Many weeds with spikes in spread periods did so only 1–2 decadal times, except for a few species with higher spike frequencies > 6; the majority of these spikes occurred recently (1950–1990). A significant proportion (~ 60%) of Queensland’s weeds exhibit non-linear increase in spread with time, and hence have lag phases (mean: 45.9 years; range: 12–126 years); of these lag-phase species, 39% are “sleeper” weeds with > 50 years of lag time (mainly trees/shrubs and grasses). Twelve traits of invasiveness, including lag time and species-specific/historical factors were screened, of which frequency of invasion waves, spread rates and residence time were the main drivers of weeds’ distribution. The low predictive power of lag time on weed distribution suggests that retrospective analyses offer little hope for a robust generalisation to identify weeds of tomorrow

Relationship between Ponderal Index, Mid-Arm Circumference/ Head Circumference Ratio and Clinical Assessment of Nutritional Status Score (CANSCORE) in the Determination of Nutritional Status of Newborn at Birth in Nigeria

Background: Early and accurate assessment of the nutritional status of newborns is important to many clinicians because of the potential immediate and late sequelae of malnutrition.Objective: To assess the relationship between different methods of assessing the nutritional status of neonates.Methods: Subjects were consecutive, live, singleton, full term neonates delivered in the hospital. The birth weights, Ponderal index, Mid arm circumference/head circumference ratio, birth weight for gestational age using intrauterine growth charts and Clinical Assessment of Fetal Nutritional Status Score (CANSCORE) were used to determine the nutritional status in the first 24 hours of life.Results: Of 386 subjects, 172 (44.6%) were males and 214 (55.4%) females. Nutritional status assessment using various indices showed the following prevalence of malnutrition: using birth weights, 54 (14.0%) were LBW; MAC/HC ratio showed 56 (14.5%), with PI, 64(16.6%), weight for gestational age, 112(29.0%) were SGA and CANSCORE showed 90(23.3%) as malnourished among the babies.MAC/HC showed a better specificity and had a more positive correlation than PI when compared to CANSCORE whilst PI showed a better sensitivity than MAC/HC when evaluated against CANSCORE.Conclusions: Prevalence of FM is high in this study. Intrauterine growth charts and CANSCORE appeared to identify more babies with FM than other methods. CANSCORE in this study has revealed the rising trend in the prevalence of FM when compared with other studies with similar methodology. Early routine assessment of the nutritional status of newborns should be carried out so as to reduce the risk of increased morbidity and mortality associated with fetal malnutrition

Ocular injuries caused by improvised explosion devices-case series of patients seen in National Eye Centre, Kaduna Nigeria

Aim: To highlight the pattern of ocular injuries as a result of improvised explosive devises by insurgents in Kaduna metropolis.Background: Ocular trauma is a cause of blindness in approximately half a million people worldwide and many more have suffered partial loss of sight. Trauma is the most important cause of unilateral loss of vision, particularly in developing countries. An improvised explosive device, also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. In line with the insurgency in parts of northern Nigeria, there is need to identify the common associated ocular injuries with the view to recommending preventive measures and providing adequate resources to managing the challenges.Methodology: Consecutive patients who presented with bomb blast associated ocular injuries and consented to the study from December 2011 through November 2012 were prospectively followed up. Demographic, clinical and operative data was entered into preformed questionnaire and analyzed with SPSS V16.Results: Seven eyes of five patients (2 bilateral) met the inclusion criteria with a mean age of 20 years (7-29 years), male to female ratio of 1.5: 1. Only one of the seven affected eyes had presenting VA of 6/60, 2 had NPL and 4 HM. Open globe injury was present in 3 eyes (1-ruptured, 2 corneal laceration) and retinal detachment in two eyes.Conclusion: Bomb blast explosion is associated with catastrophic blinding ocular pathology thus the need to providing needed equipment/manpower to contain it  and seek lasting solutions to the wave violent insurgency

Design, fabrication and evaluation of fish meal pelletizing machine

A 113.1kg/h fish meal pellet processing machine which produced 4mm diameter pellet, with an average length of 6mm was designed and fabricated. Design values of 210 was used for the maximum angle that the hopper wall formed with the vertical in the discharge zone, a critical stress of 1.3kPa of the ground particulate materials, and a density of 2.4521kg/m3 of the particulate materials, were used to obtain a hopper smallest outlet diameter of 12.7cm with a capacity of 24,118cm3 which proved efficient for the pelletizing machine. Two 3-cm diameter shafts carried the speed reduction gears with the perforated disc attached to the roller cutters on one end, while at the other end a 5hp motor was connected to the speed reduction gear by pulleys with diameters of 6cm and 12cm respectively. The speed reduction was 1:5 over a motor speed of 2000rpm. The fish meal pelletizing machine utilized 4kg of ingredients to produce 3.77kg pellets at an efficiency of 94.2%. The percentage loss due to unprocessed ground particulate materials was 5.8%.The moisture content of the fish meal pellets after 7days of drying in open air was 26.5% (wet basis). When tested for floatation, the pellets stayed afloat for 9 days, while the un-dried pellets only remained afloat for 2days. A combination of the weight of the twin roller cutters and the addition of some starch to the ground particulate materials assisted the compacting and gelatinization of pellet formed. This machine will be useful to medium and small scale aquaculture farmers and also reduce the need for foreign sources of fish meal in the aquaculture industry, thus conserving foreign exchange.Keywords: Ground particulate materials; mixing; compacting; gelatinizing; pelletizin

Effects of Housing Modifications on the Management of Pigs and Growth Performance

Pig industry in Nigeria is an important arm of the livestock sub-sector in the overall agricultural sector. The comfort of Pigs is determined by effective environmental temperature. It combines the effect of air temperature, flooring, and bedding. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of different intensive housing systems on the feed consumption level, weight gain and welfare of pigs fed with the same feed (diet) under different housing systems for 8 weeks. Nine Pigs were purchased from a reputable commercial farm and were divided into 3 treatment groups, T1, T2 and T3. T1 is a well built pen with cemented wall and floor. T2 is a pen built with bamboo wall, and cemented floor. T3 is built with bamboo wall without cemented floor – bare loamy soil. The Pigs were raised for eight weeks. The feed given and weight gained for eight weeks were recorded and analysed using ANOVA. Considering the consumption levels of all treatments, T2 had the lowest feed intake compared to other treatments. T2 had the highest weight gain while T3had the lowest. It is hereby concluded that T3 presented the best result as regards feed consumption, cost of construction and ease of management. Although it presented the lowest weight gain which is attributable to the initial weight and tipping of the feed trough (feed wastage). However, feed wastage can be minimized by using firmer feed trough

Pathogenicity And Cell Wall-degrading Enzyme Activities Of Some Fungal Isolates From Cowpea ( Vigna Unguiculata [L] Walp)

Nine fungal species isolated from cowpea seeds were used as inocula on four cowpea varieties commonly distributed to farmers in Ilorin, Kwara state, Nigeria by the National Seed Service, a subsidiary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The effects of fungi on germinability and seedling health were determined using seedling symptom test. Two of the virulent species were screened for the production of cell wall degrading enzymes using viscometric method. All the fungi reduced germination rate in all the cowpea varieties and different types of seedling symptoms were noted for the fungi. The symptoms included seed rot, chlorotic leaf development, stunted growth etc. Production of pectinases and cellulases by Aspergillus flavus and Penicillum sp. was observed and the virulence of the two organisms could be attributed to the activities of these cell wall degrading enzymes