Assessing Preservation of Tomato with the Use of Microwave Radiation

Postharvest losses of vegetables can occur at any point from harvest through collection and distribution to the final consumer. Thus, preservation is important for all stake holders involved from planting till consumption of these vegetables. There is therefore the need to look into the use of common methods including home appliances to increase the shelf-life of these produce. Research was conducted to investigate the use of microwave radiation from the kitchen microwave oven for the preservation of fruits using tomato as the test crop. The experiment was conducted inside the Laboratory of Agronomy department, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology LAUTECH, Ogbomoso Oyo state, Nigeria. Tomato fruits were harvested from the teaching and research farm of LAUTECH at maturity stage, and batched into (four) 4 groups of ten (10) tomatoes each then labelled (B1, B2, B3 and Bo – control).  The B1, B2, and B3 tomatoes were radiated using the kitchen microwave oven for 5, 10 and 15minutes at three microwave power levels of low (9.3GHz), med-low (9.5GHz) and high (10.0GHz) frequency. The samples were monitored under room temperature for ripening for 5weeks.The result shows that only 20% out of the radiated tomatoes at low frequency of 9.3GHz for 15minutes were ripened by the 5th week while Bo tomatoes were all ripened and spoilt by the 3rd week of observation. It is therefore recommended that tomato fruits can be preserved best at a recommended frequency of 9.3GHz for 15minutes. Keywords: postharvest losses, Electro-magnetic radiation (EMR), tomato preservation, kitchen microwave oven, DOI: 10.7176/ALST/76-05 Publication date:September 30th 201

Analyzing Uncertainty in Release Planning: A Method and Experiment for Fixed-Date Release Cycles

Release planning—deciding what features to implement in upcoming releases of a software system—is a critical activity in iterative software development. Many release planning methods exist, but most ignore the inevitable uncertainty in estimating software development effort and business value. The article’s objective is to study whether analyzing uncertainty during release planning generates better release plans than if uncertainty is ignored. To study this question, we have developed a novel release planning method under uncertainty, called BEARS, that models uncertainty using Bayesian probability distributions and recommends release plans that maximize expected net present value and expected punctuality. We then compare release plans recommended by BEARS to those recommended by methods that ignore uncertainty on 32 release planning problems. The experiment shows that BEARS recommends release plans with higher expected net present value and expected punctuality than methods that ignore uncertainty, thereby indicating the harmful effects of ignoring uncertainty during release planning. These results highlight the importance of eliciting and analyzing uncertainty in software effort and value estimations and call for increased research in these areas

DETECTION AND SEROTYPING OF MAREKS DISEASE VIRUS IN DISEASED CHICKENS IN ABEOKUTA

Outbreaks of Marek’s disease (MD) in vaccinated flocks still occur sporadically and lead to economic losses. This study reports the detection of serotypes 1 and 3 Marek’s disease virus using molecular techniques in pullets showing clinical signs of the disease. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was applied to evaluate the antibody response of chicks and the diseased pullets from the same parent stock against Marek’s disease (MD) at 4 and 21weeks of age respectively. Despite vaccination at day old, antibody titre in the chicks was negative while it was highly variable in the diseased pullets. From the results, the susceptibility of previously vaccinated birds to the pathogenic strain of MDV indicates inappropriate vaccination at day old and a call for concern in the poultry industry. It is therefore recommended that serology be carried out on birds to determine their immune status before and after MD vaccination. &nbsp

A Conceptual Semi-Humanoid Wireless Robotic Lecturer for Distance Learning (DL)

Information and Communications Technology is causing a worldwide revolution in virtually all fields of human endeavor. The education sector is not left out as the delivery of course content is no longer limited to the traditional teacher-student classroom interaction but also via electronic media. This paper presents a novel approach to e-Learning by leveraging on advancements in Machine-to-Machine communications (M2M), Internet-of-Things (IoT) and robotics technologies to design and construct a semihumanoid class teaching robot that aids teachers, lecturers and other educational personnel in communicating effectively with the students irrespective of their location and the distance using a plastic mannequin. The implementation of the system is achieved through hardware (mannequin) and software designs. The authors successfully developed a plastic mannequin with embedded electronics systems to work as a telepresence lecturer, allowing the elimination of time and distance between a professional remote educator and the students. The device was tested and compared with existing remote teaching technologies such as teleconferencing, telepresence with tablet screens and found to be more reliable, cheaper, and easy to use than the existing ones. The paper therefore concludes that the semi-humanoid robotic lecturer is a disruptive innovation in the world of Distance Education Learning (DEL)

Development of a Bluetooth-Based Contactless Automated Attendance Capture System for Large Halls and Auditoriums

Abstract-The g Attendance capture for large populations still remains a challenge for organizations such as Schools, Universities and Event organizers. This is due to the fact that the attendance capture process is sequential requiring individual identification and autentification process. This process usually takes up a lot of time and generates a lot of inconvenience for the attendees. This process is also subject to manipulations as the most common identification model involves the use of ID cards embedded with either RFIDs or identification methods to tie the user to the card. These cards can be given to third parties for the purpose of taking the attendance. This paper presents the development of a Bluetooth based system and a local identification system for the development of a contactless identification capture system for large halls. The system identifies the user using his fingerprint. When the identification is completed, the data is transmitted to a central data base using the Bluetooth transmission technology. This system will enable a contactless capturing of the attendance in large halls resulting in a system with a very high security level and no inconvenience for the attendees

ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE IN ENTEROBACTERIACEAE FROM INTENSIVELY-REARED APPARENTLY HEALTHY AND DISEASED POULTRY IN ABEOKUTA, NIGERIA

The emergence and wide-spread dissemination of antimicrobial resistant bacteria strains is a global phenomenon of great public health and economic implications. Antimicrobial resistance was investigated in enterobacteriaceae isolated from apparently healthy and diseased poultry birds using the broth micro-dilution method to determine antimicrobial minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). In all, 504 bacterial isolates including Escherichia coli (471), Klebsiella spp (28) and Salmonella enterica isolates (5) were studied. The isolates were resistant to ampicillin (88.5%), chloramphenicol (62.3%), ciprofloxacin (74.8%), enrofloxacin (81.0%), neomycin (83.9%), norfloxacin (78.8%), streptomycin (91.3%) and tetracycline (83.3%). The geometric mean MIC (µg/µL) of tested antimicrobials for enterobacteriaceae is as follows: ampicillin (102.5), chloramphenicol (48.4), ciprofloxacin (19.1), enrofloxacin (34.5), neomycin (47.7), norfloxacin (24.5), streptomycin (142.2) and tetracycline (62.5). Although rates of resistance to ampillin, streptomycin and tetracycline were similar among isolates from apparently healthy and diseases birds, resistance to chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, neomycin and norfloxacin were significantly higher (p<0.05) in isolates from diseased chickens than in those from apparently healthy chickens. The high rates of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria may contribute to the persistence of pathogens in poultry flock and ineffectiveness of antimicrobial chemotherapy during disease outbreaks.Â

Fuel Characterization of Agro-wastes and Briquettes Produced from Rice Husk, Groundnut Shell and Corncob Blends

The choice of agro waste for the production of briquettes for domestic and industrial cottage utilization depends on the residues’ physical and fuel characteristics. This study investigate the physical and fuel characteristics for both the residues and blends of rice hull, groundnut shell and corncob. The residues were subjected to size reduction process and variance analysis was used to establish the influence of each sample blends.  Different samples of briquettes were produced by blending rice hull (R), groundnut shell (G) and corncob(C) with different ratios of R:G:C respectively using cassava starch as a binder. The residue’ dimensions and densifications of the sample briquettes were determined using standard methods.The results revealed the following ranges of values; For the compressed residues, density (0.075 - 0.099Kg/m3), volume (0.001 - 0.002m3), height (1.0357 - 1.0343m). For the relaxed residues, density (0.049 - 0.210Kg/m3), volume (0.0001 -0.0002m3), height (1.0357 - 1.0343m). The residual density of rice hull, groundnut shell and corncob are 104, 105, and 103 (Kg/m3) respectively. The densification; compressed density (461.22 - 627.24 Kg/m3), relaxed density (285.47 - 393.63 Kg/m3), density ratio (0.56 - 0.66), relaxation ratio (1.52 - 1.79), and compaction ratio (1.46 to 2.01). Blend formulations affected the combustion characteristics of the briquettes, with low moisture briquettes possessing higher calorific values. The briquette formulation containing ratio 50:20:30 of rice hull: groundnut shell: corncob respectively had more positive attributes of biomass fuel such as lower relaxation ratio and high compaction ratio than the control and other formulated briquettes in this study. Generally, significant (p<0.05) differences existed between the samples in almost all the parameters.Keywords: Briquettes, Corn comb, Densification, Fuel Characterization, Groundnut shell, Rice hull

EVALUATION OF MATERNALLY-DERIVED ANTIBODIES AGAINST NEWCASTLE DISEASE VIRUS IN DAY-OLD CHICKS IN ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE

High maternally-derived antibodies (MDA) against Newcastle disease virus (NDV) in chickens can interfere with active immunity at early age. This study was conducted to assess the titre of MDA in chicks against NDV from two poultry breeder farms. Twenty-six blood samples were collected from day-old chicks randomly selected from two poultry breeding farms and forty blood samples were collected from the parent stocks of the same farms. The vaccination record of the parent stocks were collected while the antibody titres of the birds were estimated using Haemagglutination Inhibition (HI) test. The geometric mean titre (GMT) of MDA against NDV in chicks from Farms 1 and 2 were log 27.2 and log 27.4 respectively while the parent stocks from Farms 1 and 2 had log 27.7 and log 27.9HI units. The percentage of chicks from Farms 1 and 2 with MDA titre above protective level (&gt;log 23) were 90% and 100% respectively. It was concluded that MDA titres against ND virus was high in the chicks therefore vaccination at day one in the hatcheries and farms should be done after the immune status of the chicks are known since high MDA titre during vaccination neutralizes vaccine virus preventing active immunity.Â