SCREENING FOR ANTIMICROBIAL, PHYTOCHEMICAL AND ANTIOXIDANT PROFILE OF SOME WILD FRUITS AND SEEDS IN CANAANLAND, OTA, NIGERIA

The spread of antimicrobial resistance among pathogenic microorganisms has rendered most conventional drugs redundant. New sources of antimicrobial agents are being harnessed to develop novel drugs. The antibacterial activity of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of twenty fruits and seeds were evaluated against some multi-drug resistant clinical isolates Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhii, Pseudomonas aeruginiosa and Escherichia coli. Standard methods of antimicrobial and phytochemical assays, DPPH and nitric oxide radical scavenging, total antioxidant capacity and reducing power assays were employed. Broad spectrum antibacterial activity was shown by extracts of six out of the twenty plants: Caryota mitis, Cassia javanica, Syzygium samarangense, Veitchia merrilli, Bauhinia tomentosa and Cassia fistula with inhibition zones ranging from 20:t0.8 to 25:t0.1 mm. The minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations of the extracts were between 7.8 to 31.2 mg/ml and 15.6 and 62.5 mg/ml respectively. Phytochemicals present includes saponins, alkaloids, terpenoids, glycosides and high phenol and flavonoid contents in the range of 71.19 - 50.20mg/100g and 47.14 - 34.42mg/100g respectively. The extracts had considerably high antioxidant activity with IC50 values of 41.121-lg/ml in B. tomentosa and 36.57!-lg/ml in C. fistula. C. mitis had a total antioxidant capacity of 34.89 mg/100g. High phenol and flavonoid contents of the extracts significantly correlated with high antioxidant capacity. The presence of antimicrobial and antioxidant properties in these wild fruits and seeds opens up a new perspective in biotherapy as they could be harnessed as alternative drugs for treatment of microbial infections and management of disease

INVITRO ANTIMICROBIAL AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF Carica papaya AND Azadirachta indica LEAF AND STEM BARK EXTRACTS ON SELECTED CLINICAL ISOLATES

The search for alternative sources of antibiotic is a global challenge due to the increase in the emergence of resistant strams. Plants have been in use in traditional medicine before the era of chemotherapeutics and about 80% of the global population still uses them . . Azadirachta indica (neem) and Carica papaya are trees that have been found to possess antibacterial, antifungal, antiinflammatory, anti-tumour properties and also used as a pest icide. In this work, antibacterial, phytochemical and antioxidant potentials of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Carica papaya and Azadirachta indica leaf and stem bark was determined using antimicrobial sensitivity assay, minimum inhibitory concentration, minimum lethal concentration, Ferric reducing antioxidant power assay and Total antioxidant activity of extracts as indices. The test organisms were Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus au reus. Azadirachta indica leaf water extract and Azadirachta indica stem bark ethanol extract showed a clear zone of inhibition ranging from 10±0mm to 15.5±0.71mm and 10±0mm to 15.5±2.12mm respectively against all four test isolates, while others extracts had clear zones of inhibition against at least three test isolates with inhibition zones ranging from 10.5±0. 71mm to 15±1.41mm. Ethanolic extract of Carica papaya leaf was active against Bacillus subtilis alone (11.5±0.71mm).Some combined extracts expressed activity against all four isolate, while the highest individual extract inhibition zone was 15.5±2.12mm, combined extract was 18.5±0. 71mm against Salmonella typhimurium. All extracts had antioxidant activity and some of the phytochemicals present in the extracts include saponins, flavonoids, tannins, anthocyanin, betacyanin, quinones, cardiac glycoside, terpenoids, and phenols. However further research is still needed to identify the active phytochemica/s and their concentrations in the extract

Predictive modeling of entry flow at rotary intersections in Akure, a developing city and capital of Ondo state, Nigeria

Article Info Abstract Keywords: intersection traffic parameters entry flow model Predictive models for entry flow at rotary intersections in Akure -a developing city in Nigeria-have been developed. Data were collected at the intersections critical to traffic flow in the study area using a cine camera placed at a vantage point from the road sections during peak and off-peak periods in week days. Entry flow (qe) was modelled as a function of circulating flow (qc), delay (da), headway (h) and geometric features of the intersections. The data were fitted to a multiple linear regression equation to obtain the generalized flow models for peak and off peak periods. The equations obtained were validated using empirical data other than those used to calibrate the model. The adjusted R 2 values obtained during the peak and off peak periods were 95.8% and 87.7% respectively, indicating that the independent variables (circulating flow, delay and headway) made significant contributions in predicting the entry flow. The models developed can be used to evaluate entry flow at rotary intersections in the study area and other cities in developing countries with similar traffic characteristics for which such models are scarce, thereby facilitating planning and design of effective traffic control mechanisms

Mobility of the Poor in Akure Metropolis: Income and Land Use Approach

Nigeria being a developing economy still has a high percentage of low income earners. Mobility and modal choice affect us all in our daily life whether we are commuting to work or for recreational purpose. Catering for the effective and efficient mobility of this unique set of low income earners is a task for transport planners. This research assessed the mobility of the poor using land use and level of income. The study area was divided into six zones based on the land use configuration.Income level, frequency of trip and the predominant modal choice for both work and business trip were evaluated. The result showed that the use of taxi and motor cycle in the study area is high. The low income group has the highest frequency of trip base on the level of income and land use. The result of this research will aid the government at all levels and policy makers in formulating a good transportation scheme for the low income earners now and in the foreseeable future. It will also provide policy makers with an improved understanding of the travel behavior of the poor and their preferred modal choic

Mobility of the Poor in Akure Metropolis: Income and Land Use Approach.

Nigeria being a developing economy still has a high percentage of low income earners. Mobility and modal choice affect us all in our daily life whether we are commuting to work or for recreational purpose. Catering for the effective and efficient mobility of this unique set of low income earners is a task for transport planners. This research assessed the mobility of the poor using land use and level of income. The study area was divided into six zones based on the land use configuration.Income level, frequency of trip and the predominant modal choice for both work and business trip were evaluated. The result showed that the use of taxi and motor cycle in the study area is high. The low income group has the highest frequency of trip base on the level of income and land use. The result of this research will aid the government at all levels and policy makers in formulating a good transportation scheme for the low income earners now and in the foreseeable future. It will also provide policy makers with an improved understanding of the travel behavior of the poor and their preferred modal choice. Keywords: (Poor, Low Income Earners, Modal Choice, Land Use, Income

Measures that Enhance Favorable Levels of Service and their Modes of Sustainability on Major Roads in Akure, South-Western Nigeria.

Large cities in developing countries are characterized by a continuing growth in automobile ownership and insufficient transportation infrastructure and service development. The research provided information on the important parameters that engender various regimes of Levels of Service in Akure, Nigeria and brought out factors that enhance favorable Levels of Service and their modes of sustainability. This was achieved by collection of traffic metering parameters such as traffic composition and volume-capacity ratio; these were evaluated to determine the levels of services on the selected major roads such as Oke-Aro, Oke-Ijebu and Hospital which are critical in Akure metropolis. The traffic composition analysis revealed passenger car / taxi as the predominant mode for the entire route. Besides, the result also revealed increased volume of traffic, poor parking system, ribbon development/street trading, bad roads, poor geometric or operational constraints as factors affecting the level of service. Ultimately the result of this research will help transportation agencies and the government in proffering adequate measures for the reduction of traffic congestion on major roads in Akure and similar capital cities in Nigeria

The Design, Fabrication and Testing of Infrared Traffic Counter on Selected Major Dual-Carriageways in Akure - Nigeria

Conventional intrusive traffic counters such as inductive loop, pneumatic tubes, piezo- sensors are expensive to install and maintain, and are not readily available for various urban roads to facilitate traffic data collection, also manual counts by transport professionals have proven to be ineffective and prone to errors. The aim of this research is to design, fabricate and test an infrared traffic counter on the selected major dual carriageways in Akure metropolis. The counter was fabricated from these locally available materials such as Infrared transmitter and receiver, Microcontroller, LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), Oscillator, Connecting Wires, Mother board, Batteries, Capacitor, Resistor, and Pyrex plastic. The circuits for the infrared transmitter, microcontroller and receiver were designed by an existing software programs called “MIDE and “PROTUSE. Also locally designed counter, manual counts method and conventional counter were employed to collect volume. The volume result from the designed counter compared to the conventional counter was found to be 99% accurate. The volume/capacity result shows heavy congestion which shows unstable flow, high density and severe restrictions on a driver‟s ability to manoeuvre, with poor comfort and convenience. This research has shed light on the need to design locally made traffic counters which has overcame the demerit of manual counting on roads and eradicate the cost incurred in securing or purchasing an automatic counter

Capital Flight and Poverty Reduction in Nigeria

The literature from development economics asserted that two major spillover effects of the prevalence of capital flight and low rate of investment in developing economies are the persistent increase in unemployment and absolute poverty. Since an increase in the poverty rate can be viewed in terms of forgone private and public investment in some poverty reducing programmes like education, health intervention and job creation. Thus, this study investigates the interplay between capital flight and poverty reduction in Nigeria using secondary data covering the period between 1981 and 2017. This study employs the Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) test; Philip Perron (PP) test; Kwiatkowski, Phillips, Schmidt and Shin’s (KPSS) all forms of unit root tests; Johansen test for co-integration and Dynamic Ordinary Least Square (DOLS) for long run estimates. The study found that an increase in poverty level in the country would be preceded by raising capital flight coupled with increasing dependence ratio and decline in economic growth rate. In this scenario, the effect of a single digit economic growth is dissipated once the circle continues unabated. Consequently, this study recommends that the Federal Government of Nigeria through the relevant financial authorities should enforce regulation against illicit flow of capital and prosecute offenders. The Federal Government must be seen to support the agency efforts against illicit flow in the country