Prevention of Oxidation in Palm Oil Using Plants Extract

Palm oil is one of the major edible oils widely consumed in Nigeria. Palm oil sold in the markets has been known to be high in free fatty acid which indicates oxidation and many synthetic chemical used to combat oxidation; though effective have been considered not safe. The effect of extracts from ginger rhizome and basil leaves on the lipid oxidation was studied. Ethanolic extract (70%) of ginger and aqueous extract of basil leave were added to fresh palm oil at concentration 100ppm, 200ppm and 300pppm and were stored under room temperature for 60 days. The antioxidant activities of the extract, the effect of the extracts on the peroxide value, free fatty acid value and the antioxidant effectiveness of the extracts were evaluated at interval 14 days using standard methods. The DPPH  radical scavenging activity, ferric ion reducing power, and total phenolic content  of the ginger and basil extracts  were 76% and 58.4%; 13.3 and 86 in100mg/g; 133 and 48 in 100mg/g respectively. The sample treated with 300ppm of ginger extract was the lowest in peroxide values of 14.5meq/kg compared with the untreated sample with 25meq/kg. It also showed the highest antioxidant effectiveness at the 60th day of storage. Sample treated with 200ppm of basil extract shows the least of free fatty acid value of 8.58% at the end of 60th day as compared to the untreated sample with 11.47%. There are significant differences (p ˂ 0.05) in the peroxide value, free fatty values, antioxidant effectiveness of the untreated and treated palm oil. It was concluded that ginger and basil extract reduced lipid oxidation in palm oil. Keywords: Palm oil, Storage duration, Natural additives, Antioxidan

Chronicle of Exogenous Factors Influencing Infrastructure Maintenance in Residential Core of Akure, Nigeria

The thrust of this study is to reveal exogenous factors limiting effective infrastructure maintenance in the core of Akure. In the course of the study, 425 questionnaires were administered and retrieved from residents in this locale. Variables in this set of questionnaire were investigated analytically using Excel and SPSS software. Findings from the study revealed that attitude of misuse of facilities, ignorance, indiscipline, insufficient fund and age of facilities were the major antithetical factors affecting infrastructure maintenance in the core of Akure. It was equally unveiled empirically that bureaucratic reporting process, lack of discernible maintenance culture and poor response to maintenance request contributed to infrastructure maintenance challenges in the area. In view of this, the study recommends public enlightenment program for residents in this area to make judicious use of infrastructure assets in their domain. It equally advocates creative synergy between government and the governed through public-private partnership (PPP) initiative for effective maintenance and prompt repairs or replacement of ageing facilities in this locale

Implication of Household’s Income Composition on Infrastructure Maintenance in Residential Core of Akure, Nigeria

This study examines the implication of household income composition oninfrastructure maintenance in the residential core of Akure, Nigeria with aview to providing suggestive recommendations that will remedy identifiedproblems in the research locale. With regards to this, an estimated of 1%research population, amounting to 425, were served with questionnairesusing systematic random sampling technique with replacement. Findingsrevealed that residents in the study area are low income earners with largerpopulation influenced by market proximity, low prices of staple food itemsand affordable but tumbledown housing. Likewise, essential facilitiesare in poor state owing to poor maintenance. Besides, household incomeinduced variables considered in the study, which accounted for 75.6% ofthe challenges limiting routine facilities maintenance in the study area. Thestudy recommends skill acquisition training, resource collaborative effortsand soft loans scheme to boost the income generation of residents in thislocale

A Study on Anthropogenic Activities Influencing Flood Vulnerability in Ala Riverfront Residential Areas of Akure, Nigeria

This research investigates anthropogenic activities influencing flood vulnerability in Ala riverfront residential areas of Akure, Nigeria with a viewto identifying area susceptible to flood hazard in the river basin and tosuggest possible mitigation measures. With respect to data gathering for thestudy, 265 questionnaires which amounted to 1% of the research population were administered using simple random sampling. Findings from thesurvey revealed erection of buildings on riparian land and indiscriminatedumping of wastes into river bodies as factors responsible for the blockageof river channels and waterways. It also exposed resident’s poor dispositions to flood forecasts and non-adherence to other management measures.The study concludes by recommending public enlightenment campaignto reducing denizen’s vulnerability to flood disaster. There is the need forprovision of waste management and drainage facilities as well as regulardredging of the watercourse to stimulate its absorptive capacity in the eventof heavy downpour. It further suggests creation of artificial lake as natural basin to collect huge volume of water discharged from all watershedsleading to the river. Ultimately, stringent efforts of environmental and townplanning officers are needed to enforce total compliance to all intendedmanagement regulations to check the menace

Classification of extremist text on the web using sentiment analysis approach

The high volume of extremist materials online makes manual classification impractical. However, there is a need for automated classification techniques. One set of extremist web pages obtained by the TENE Web-crawler was initially subjected to manual classification. A sentiment-based classification model was then developed to automate the classification of such extremist Websites. The classification model measures how well the pages could be automatically matched against their appropriate classes. The method also identifies particular data items that differ in manual classification from their automated classification. The results from our method showed that overall web pages were correctly matched against the manual classification with a 93% success rate. In addition, a feature selection algorithm was able to reduce the original 26-feature set by one feature to attain a better overall performance of 94% in classifying the Web data

CORROSION PERFORMANCE OF 1014 MILD AND 304 STAINLESS STEELS IN ACIDIC MEDIA

Corrosion is a degradation of metallic materials under the action of the environment which requires oxygen and moisture to occur. This research work determined the corrosion performance of 1014 low carbon and 304 austenitic stainless steels in different concentration of acidic media. Corrosion tests were carried out using gravimetric technique. One hundred and eighty samples of the metals were prepared and immersed in containers of sulphuric acid (H2SO4), hydrochloric acid (HCl) and nitric acid (HNO3) at 1, 2 & 3 M. The samples were then removed every three days for a period of 15 days to measure the weight loss. These were used to calculate the corrosion rates. The chemical analysis was determined using an Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX).  Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was used to determine the texture of the samples. The results showed that the corroded samples had pitting corrosion damage and cracks propagated generally on the sample surfaces. The corrosion rates of the samples increased with increase in molarities of the reagents, Stainless steel samples had the least corroded surfaces. The study concluded that the higher the level of concentration of acidic media (1 to 3 M), the higher the corrosion rates of samples in increasing order of HNO3, HCl and H2SO4 especially for mild steel sample (4.35 to 17.90, 0.21 to 2.90 and 10.37 to 0.64 mm/y) after 360 hours of immersion respectively. &nbsp

Characterisation of ZnO nanoparticles prepared using aqueous leaf extracts of Chromolaena odorata (L.) and Manihot esculenta (Crantz)

Plant-mediated routes for synthesising metal oxide nanoparticles are gaining tremendous attention due to the benefits of the technique: simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and eco-friendliness. We compared the properties of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) made from aqueous leaf extracts of Chromolaena odorata and Manihot esculenta, both of which are abundant on the African continent. The phytochemical composition of the extracts was first assessed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to determine the types of biomolecules involved in the reducing and capping processes that result in ZnONP formation. After that, UV-Vis spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to study ZnONP formation, morphological characteristics, elemental composition, shape and size properties, and phase composition. The ZnONPs made with Chromolaena odorata leaf extract had a better distribution of spherical and hexagonal forms, with an average particle size of 42.35 nm. The ZnONPs made with Manihot esculenta leaf as a reductant had a particle size of 14.71 nm on average and were more agglomerated with poor particle distribution. Phytosterols were shown to be the most important biomolecules in the reduction and capping reactions, according to GC-MS and FTIR analyses. In this study, we created a cost-effective technique for the synthesis of ecofriendly ZnONPs for diverse applications, particularly in Africa, using Chromolaena odorata and Manihot esculenta leaves. Significance:• This study could provide useful information on how the phytochemicals embedded in Chromolaena odorata and Manihot esculenta could influence the properties of the ZnONPs obtained from them.• Differences in morphology and formation yield of ZnONPs are obtainable from aqueous leaf extracts of Chromolaena odorata and Manihot esculenta.• Chromolaena odorata and Manihot esculenta could serve as dependable raw materials for the green synthesis of ZnONPs in Africa

Classification of radical web text using a composite-based method

The spread of terrorism and extremism activities on the Internet has created the need for intelligence gathering via Web and real-time monitoring of potential websites for extremist activities. However, the manual classification for such contents is practically difficult and time-consuming. In response to this challenge, an automated classification system called Composite technique was developed. This is a computational framework that explores the combination of both semantics and syntactic features of textual contents of a Web page. We implemented the framework on a set of extremist Web pages - a dataset that has been subjected to a manual classification process. Thereby, we developed a classification model on the data using the J48 decision algorithm, to generate a measure of how well each page can be classified into their appropriate classes. The classification result obtained from our method when compared with other states of the art, indicated a 96% success rate overall in classifying Web pages when matched against the manual classification

Craniofacial dysmorphology in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome by 3D laser surface imaging and geometric morphometrics: illuminating the developmental relationship to risk for psychosis

Persons with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) are characterized inter alia by facial dysmorphology and greatly increased risk for psychotic illness. Recent studies indicate facial dysmorphology in adults with schizophrenia. This study evaluates the extent to which the facial dysmorphology of 22q11.2DS is similar to or different from that evident in schizophrenia. Twenty-one 22q11.2DS-sibling control pairs were assessed using 3D laser surface imaging. Geometric morphometrics was applied to 30 anatomical landmarks, 480 geometrically homologous semi-landmarks on curves and 1720 semi-landmarks interpolated on each 3D facial surface. Principal component (PC) analysis of overall shape space indicated PC2 to strongly distinguish 22q11.2DS from controls. Visualization of PC2 indicated 22q11.2DS and schizophrenia to be similar in terms of overall widening of the upper face, lateral displacement of the eyes/orbits, prominence of the cheeks, narrowing of the lower face, narrowing of nasal prominences and posterior displacement of the chin; they differed in terms of facial length (increased in 22q11.2DS, decreased in schizophrenia), mid-face and nasal prominences (displaced upwards and outwards in 22q11.2DS, less prominent in schizophrenia); lips (more prominent in 22q11.2DS; less prominent in schizophrenia) and mouth (open mouth posture in 22q11.2DS; closed mouth posture in schizophrenia). These findings directly implicate dysmorphogenesis in a cerebral-craniofacial domain that is common to 22q11.2DS and schizophrenia and which may repay further clinical and genetic interrogation in relation to the developmental origins of psychotic illness

Climate change adaptation options in farming communities of selected Nigerian ecological zones

This chapter examines the impacts of climate change on three tropical crops and assesses the climate change adaptation options adopted by rural farmers in the region. The study was conducted among farming communities settled in three major ecological zones in Nigeria. Over 37 years of data on rainfall and temperature were analyzed to examine climate change impacts on three major crops: rice, maize, and cassava. Farmers' adaptive capacity was assessed with a survey. Climatic data, crop yields, and survey data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The relation between rainfall/temperature and crop yields was examined using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Results show a high variation in the annual rainfall and temperature during the study period. The major findings from this research is that crops in different ecological zones respond differently to climate variation. The result revealed that there is a very strong relationship between precipitation and the yield of rice and cassava at p <0.05 level of significance. The results further showed low level of adaption among the rural farmers. The study concludes that rainfall and temperature variability has a significant impact on crop yield in the study area, but that the adaptive capacity of most farmers to these impacts is low. There is a need for enhancing the adaptation options available to farmers in the region, which should be the focus of government policies