Application of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for correcting multicollinearity and dimension reduction of morphological parameters in Bunaji Cows

This paper presents the application of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on the dimension reduction of morphological variables. Sixteen morphological variables were measured from 50 multiparous Bunaji cows. The correlation amongst most of the morphological variables was very high suggesting severe multicollinearity. Therefore, PCA was applied to verify whether the collinear variables could be combined to form composite scores. The application of the PCA effectively reduced the dimensionality of the 16 morphological variables into four artificial composite variables (called principal components) which were uncorrelated and independent of each other with standardized means of zero and standard deviation of one and explained 90.45% of the variation in the original morphological data set. Therefore, PCA can be used to correct the problem of multicollinearity and dimension reduction of morphological data in multiple regression analysis.Keywords: principal component, correlation, communality, body indices, orthogonal varima

Socioeconomic and Lifestyle Assessment of Selected Forest Based Communities in Omo Biosphere Reserve, Ogun State, Nigeria

This study assessed socio-economic characteristics and lifestyle of selected forest based communities in Omo Biosphere Reserve, Ogun state in  southwest Nigeria. The study aim was to explore the influence of socioeconomic factors on their lifestyle, quality of life and implications for forest  environment. A sample of 180 respondents from three enclaves was selected using simple random sampling. Data collected was analyzed using SPSS version 20 and presented as Tables and charts. The results showed that 86.11 per cent of them were adults between ages 31years and 70years who have families, responsibilities to cater for and have capacity to further expand their land into the forest. Only 2.2 per cent of the respondents  have no formal education indicating a great decline in illiteracy. About 75.56 per cent have incomes ranging between 500,000 to 1,000,000 yearly. 58 per cent respondents have a household size ranging between 6-10 persons. 7.22 per cent have farm size less than 3 Ha while the rest have more up to 10 Ha. 83 per cent of the respondents were involved in cocoa farming while the remaining 17 per cent shared kola, palm and plantain crops  farming. The type of constraints affecting the livelihood strategy often influences the mitigation measures undertaken by farmers in the study area. On health, malaria is the most prevalent disease experienced by 73.3 per cent respondents. However, the health care facilities are far from residents and also inadequate. As a result, about 95.6 per cent resorted to self-medication using herbs in case of illness. Younger and active age groups have their resultant socio-economic implications for forest environment but the obvious is its negativities in respect of exploiting more lands for farming hence, government should ensure increase awareness aimed at protecting the forest in order to prevent further forest encroachers. Keywords: Socioeconomic, Lifestyle, Communities, Fores

Assessment of Vehicular-Induced Emissions in some Selected Areas in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria

Vehicular emission is a major environmental health problem in the world today especially in developing countries including Nigeria. This study was centered on assessing the vehicular emissions pollutants such as Carbon monoxide (CO), Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S), Formaldehyde (HCHO) and Total Volatile Organic Compound (TVOC) in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. The sampling of the CO and H2S gaseous pollutants was done using H-4S gas analyzer while JCG60 gas detector was used to measure TVOC and HCHO. The meteorological parameters were measured with HTC-1 hygrometer thermometer. AQI was calculated to determine the status of the ambient air quality of the study areas. Carbon monoxide concentration obtained from the result ranges from 3.12-16.1 ppm with location C having the highest amount of 16.1 ppm which exceeds the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) standard of 10 ppm. The calculated AQI shows that the study areas are all polluted. Continuous measurement and inventory of air pollutants should be encouraged, as this will enable the policymakers to effectively implement control measures on air pollution

Roles of various virulence and resistance genes associated with Salmonella and methods of their identification

Salmonellosis is an infectious disease affecting human and animals. The virulence of Salmonella is a function of chromosomal and plasmid factors, many genes code for these factors. Salmonella genes can be classified as core (housekeeping) genes and accessory genes. The core genes of a species are those genes found in (nearly) all known members of the species and they include mostly genes that are necessary for the cell to survive and grow, these include gene encoding enzymes which function in biosynthetic pathways. Genes in the accessory genome are those unique to particular strains and are mainly in the following groups: genomic islands including Salmonella Pathogenicity islands (SPls), prophages, insertion sequences.Keywords: Genes, Pathogenicity, Resistance, Salmonella, Virulenc

Efficient health care service delivery using network analysis: a case study of Kwara State, Nigeria

This paper addresses challenges with prompt health care delivery using Network Analysis of Critical Path Model (CPM) to plan the hospital capacity with a view to achieving prompt health care service delivery. Hospital activities were identified as either critical and non critical, time or cost consideration was factored in. In all, 16 state health institutions were purposively selected on the basis of most equipped from 55 state health institutions. Data on patients’ arrival and departure were observed and recorded for a period of six months. This was subjected to further analysis to identify the most important activities (critical path) and less important together with their time duration. The average total time spent in the hospital was 43 minutes but with effective capacity planning using network analysis the total time was reduced to 18 minutes and the critical path (activities) were identified to be: A - Card section, F - Medical Doctor and H – Medical Team.Keywords: Critical Path Model (CPM), Capacity Planning (CP), Hospital Services, Network Analysi

Detection of Bacteriological Contaminants in Hand-Pump Fitted Borehole Water from a Residential Suburb in Ringim Local Government, Jigawa State

Water from borehole source can be contaminated due to indiscriminate waste disposal. This pilot study was conducted to assess the bacteriological quality of water from five (5) hand-pump-fitted borehole sources present in Sabon Gari quarters in Ringim Local Government Area of Jigawa State. Presumptive, confirmed and completed tests were employed to determine total and faecal coliforms from the water samples using most probable number (MPN) technique. Bacterial isolates were identified by standard microbiologicalmethods. Results obtained indicate that all the water samples across all the dilution strengths tested recorded substantial growth of total coliforms at 37.3°C while faecal coliforms were observed at 44°C after incubation for 48 h. Using the MPN table, the five water samples assayed recorded 50 MPN/100mL, 14 MPN/100mL, 3 MPN/100mL, 5 MPN/100mL and 1 MPN/100mL. Results were also positive for gas and acid production in all samples collected characteristic of presence of E. coli. The results obtained in this study show bacterial contamination of the water from the boreholes which may constitute a public health risk. It is therefore recommended that the water pumped from these boreholes should be subjected to  adequate treatment to meet World Health Organization (WHO) required  standard for potable water meant for drinking. Keywords: Boreholes, hand pump, most probable number, total coliforms and faecal coliforms

Seroprevalence of Brucellosis in sheep in Maigana and Birnin Gwari agro-ecological zones of Kaduna State, Nigeria

Brucellosis is an ancient and one of the world’s most widespread zoonotic diseases affecting public health and animal production. A cross-sectional study using simple random sampling was conducted between May and December, 2016 in Maigana and Birnin Gwari Agro-ecological zones of Kaduna State to determine the sero-prevalence of brucellosis in sheep. In addition the risk factors associated with sero-positivity in sheep were also assessed. A total of 400 sera samples comprised of 141 from males and 259 from females sheep were collected and screened for the presence of Brucella antibodies using Rose Bengal Plate test (RBPT) and competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA). Sera analysis revealed that, 16.5% and 10.8% were seropositive to Brucella infection by RBPT and cELISA, respectively. There was statistically significant association between sex of the sheep and seropositivity to Brucella infection using RBPT (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, no statistically significant association between the age and breed of sheep and seropositivity to Brucella infection using RBPT and cELISA, respectively (P > 0.05). This study shows evidence of Brucella infection with high prevalence mainly among female sheep and the disease can be considered as a potential risk for both susceptible animals and humans in the study area. Therefore, creating awareness about brucellosis, interdisciplinary partnership and complementary effort between veterinary and public health professionals is very important to control the transmission of brucellosis.Keywords: Brucellosis, Kaduna State, Sheep, Sero-prevalenc

A multi-site assessment of knowledge of Ebola virus disease among health workers in south-west Nigeria

Objective: Nigeria may have been certified free from Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) by the World Health Organization, but not without its aftermath on many, especially among health workers who came in contact with the infected during the West African outbreak in 2014.This study was conducted among health workers in three tertiary hospitals in South-West Nigeria. It aimed at assessing their knowledge of EVD in a bid to forestall future contagion from patients.Method: 600 consenting participants selected through two-stage sampling method were involved in the study. Primary data was retrieved through self-administered questionnaire.Results: Majority (84.0%) of the participants knew that EVD can be contacted through blood and bodily fluid of an infected person, (78.0%) knew that EVD can be prevented by avoiding contact with an infected person, while (76.0%) identified bleeding from orifices as one of the signs of EVD. However, (6.0%) of the participants did not know how EVD can be prevented.Conclusion: Result showed that participants have average knowledge of EVD and therefore, are not adequately informed of EVD. The study recommended wider dissemination of adequate information on EVD among health workers in tertiary hospitals to forestall future contagion of the infection from patients.Keywords: Knowledge, EVD, Contagion, Outbreak, Prevention, Bleedin

Prevalence of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia based on gross lesions in cattle at slaughter in Adamawa State, Nigeria

Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia is an important economic disease of cattle caused by Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies mycoides and manifested by anorexia, fever, dyspnoea, polypnoea, cough and nasal discharges. An eleven years (2006-2016) abattoir-based retrospective data were collated and analysed from Adamawa state Ministry of Livestock Production. Out of 241,700 cattle examined at post-mortem, 8,429 had CBPP-like lesions giving a prevalence of 3.49% (95% CI: 3.41-3.56). The overall prevalence for each local government area were 2.42% (95% CI: 2.35-2.49), 5.53% (95% CI: 5.30-5.74) and 8.97% (95% CI: 8.56-9.41) for Yola, Mubi and Ganye abattoirs respectively. There was significant association (p<0.05) between Local Government Areas and occurrence of CBPP. The annual highest prevalence of 5.75% (95% CI: 5.43-6.09) was recorded in 2010 with 1,128 cases and lowest prevalence of 2.43% (95% CI: 2.23-2.66) was recorded in 2007 with 505 cases. Based on season, highest prevalence rate of 3.85% (95% CI: 3.58-4.14) was recorded in February with 709 cases and lowest prevalence rate of 3.03% (95% CI: 2.80-3.28) was recorded in December with 605 cases. Both annual and monthly prevalence rates varied significantly (p<0.05). It was concluded that CBPP is endemic and widespread in Adamawa state. Hence, we recommend increased funding in the control of the disease, restriction of cattle movement and provision of cattle ranches.Keywords: Adamawa state, Cattle, Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, Gross lesions, Prevalenc