Studies on the Distribution of Plant-parasitic Nematodes Associated with Pineapple in Delta, Imo and Cross River states of Nigeria

Background: Plant-parasitic nematodes are important pests of horticultural crops causing damage and significant reduction in the crop yield of pineapple. A survey was conducted to determine the types, frequency and population distribution of plantparasitic nematodes associated with pineapple in some pineapple-producing states in Nigeria. A total of 30 farms were sampled from Delta, Imo, and Cross-River States using the Agricultural Development Project in each state as a pilot to locate representative farmlands in the States. Soil samples for the survey with were collected from the rhizosphere of the pineapple plants with the aid of a soil auger to a depth of about 15 cm and within a 25 cm radius from the base of the pineapple plants. Vermiform nematodes were extracted from 200g each of the composite samples using a modified Baermann extraction tray set-up. Objective: To provide an update on the diversity and population distribution of plant-parasitic nematodes associated with pineapple in Delta, Cross River and Imo states of Nigeria. Result: Fourteen species of Plant-Parasitic Nematodes (PPN) were found associated with pineapple from the fields surveyed as follow: Pratylenchus brachyurus, Meloidogyne incognita, Rotylenchulus reniformis, Helicotylenchus dihystera, Scutellonema brachyurum, Tylenchus sp., Hoplolaimus pararobustus, Criconemoides limitaneum, Paratylenchus minutus, Gracilacus sp., Hemicycliophora sp., Aphelenchus sp., Aphelenchoides sp. and Xiphinema nigeriense. The most prominent phytophagus nematode found in association with pineapple on all the fields was P. brachyurus with frequency ratings of 100%, 92% and 87% from Delta, Imo and Cross-river states respectively. Meloidogyne sp., Pratylenchus reniformis and Rotylenchulus reniformis were also frequently encountered in the three states. Grasilacus sp. was recorded on pineapple for the first time in Nigeria. Conclusion: The study indicated a widespread distribution of PPN on pineapple in south-south and south-east Nigeria which could be a factor responsible for low yields recorded in some pineapple fields. Therefore, there is an obvious need for pineapple farmers to control plant-parasitic nematodes for improved crop yield

Critical Review of Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) for Asset Management in Electric Power Distribution System

The purpose of maintenance is to extend equipment lifetime or at least the mean time to the next failure. Maintenance too incurs expenditures that result in very costly consequences when not performed or performed too little, and it may not even be economical to perform it too frequently. Therefore the two costs must be balanced. In the past, this balance had been estimated by extrapolating the experience obtained from existing systems and using the rule - of – thumb methods. Nowadays, the tempo of advanced and softiscated research in that direction has rendered such rule – of – thumb methods obsolete. The literature works describing the reliability centred maintenance methods for managing distribution assets have grown until the papers can now be numbered in thousands. This paper presents critical review of the various existing methods that have been developed by different reseachers and proposes a probabilistic model that will provide a quantitative connection between reliability and maintenance, a link missing in all the heuristic approaches

Estimating An Optimal Backpropagation Algorithm for Training An ANN with the EGFR Exon 19 Nucleotide Sequence: An Electronic Diagnostic Basis for Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer(NSCLC)

One of the most common forms of medical malpractices globally is an error in diagnosis. An improper diagnosis occurs when a doctor fails to identify a disease or report a disease when the patient is actually healthy. A disease that is commonly misdiagnosed is lung cancer. This cancer type is a major health problem internationally because it is responsible for 15% of all cancer diagnosis and 29% of all cancer deaths. The two major sub-types of lung cancer are; small cell lung cancer (about 13%) and non-small cell lung cancer (%SCLC- about 87%). The chance of surviving lung cancer depends on its correct diagnosis and/or the stage at the time it is diagnosed. However, recent studies have identified somatic mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene in a subset of non-small cell lung cancer (%SCLC) tumors. These mutations occur in the tyrosine kinase domain of the gene. The most predominant of the mutations in all %SCLC patients examined is deletion mutation in exon 19 and it accounts for approximately 90% of the EGFR-activating mutations. This makes EGFR genomic sequence a good candidate for implementing an electronic diagnostic system for %SCLC. In this study aimed at estimating an optimum backpropagation training algorithm for a genomic based A%% system for %SCLC diagnosis, the nucleotide sequences of EGFR’s exon 19 of a noncancerous cell were used to train an artificial neural network (A%%). Several A%% back propagation training algorithms were tested in MATLAB R2008a to obtain an optimal algorithm for training the network. Of the nine different algorithms tested, we achieved the best performance (i.e. the least mean square error) with the minimum epoch (training iterations) and training time using the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm

Nitrogen and weed management in transplanted tomato in the Nigerian forest-savanna transition zone

Weed infestation and inherent low soil fertility are among primary reasons for low yields of tomato in Nigeria. Field trials were carried out during the wet season of 2015 and 2016 to evaluate yield response of tomato to nitrogen (N) application and weed control methods in the forest-savanna transition zone of Abeokuta, Nigeria. Positive relationship exists between growth of weed species and increase in N application. Across the years of study, increase in N up to 90 kg/ha increased weed density by 11–25%, however, the increased N gave the transplanted tomato competitive advantage and thus enhanced weed smothering. Pre-transplant application of butachlor (50% w/v) or probaben® (metolachlor 20% w/v+prometryn 20% w/v) each at 2.0 kg a.i/ha followed by supplementary hoe weeding at 6 weeks after transplanting (WAT) significantly reduced weed density by at least 15% and increased fruit yield of tomato by at least 32%, compared to use of the pre-transplant herbicides alone, across both years of study. The greatest tomato fruit yield of 12.2 t/ha was obtained with pre-transplant application of butachlor at 2.0 kg a.i/ha followed by supplementary hoe weeding at 6 WAT, averaged for both years. In general, this study suggests that increased application of N up to 90 kg/ha, and complementary weed control by pre-transplant herbicide and hoe weeding at 6 WAT would improve yield of tomato in the forestsavanna transition zone of Nigeria

Screen House and Field Investigations of Arbuscular mycorrhiza and organic fertilizer for The Control of the Root - knot Nematode, Meloidogyne incognita Infecting Cowpea in South Western, Nigeria

This study was undertaken to determine the potential of individual and combined effects of Glomus mosseae, a mycorrhiza fungus and organic fertilizer for the management of Meloidogyne incognita, a root knot nematode infection of cowpea (IT90K-277-2) under Screen house and field conditions. The standardised method of evaluating crop germplasm for resistance to M. incognita including crop yield was employed. M. incognita caused significant reduction in the yield components of the cowpea variety both in the screen house and under field conditions. Single and combined treatments of Glomus mosseae and organic fertilizer significantly increased the pod weight, grain yield and number of pods per plant of cowpea plants as compared to nematode infected plants. Single treatments of Glomus mosseae and organic fertilizer significantly suppressed root galling; inhibited nematode reproduction and nematode population both in the screen house and under field conditions. The mixture of G. mosseae and organic fertilizer as a treatment was more effective than individual treatments in suppression of M. incognita. This study shows that G. mosseae has potential in the management of Root knot nematodes of cowpea and should be exploited with organic fertilizer serving as a viable carrier in Nigeria

EVALUATION OF Tithonia diversifolia AND Chromolaena odorata RESIDUES AS POTENTIAL ORGANIC COMPOST MATERIALS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF Meloidogyne incognita ON COWPEA (Vigna unguiculata L. WALP)

Screen house studies were conducted to assess the efficacy of Tithonia diversifolia and Chromolaenaodorata powder as alternative organic fertilizer materials in comparison with the local commercialneem organic fertilizer in the management of Meloidogyne incognita infection on cowpea (Vigna unguiculatavar. Ife Brown). The experiments were laid out in completely randomized design with six replications.Cowpea seedlings were raised in sterilized soils in plastic pots and inoculated with 5000 eggs ofM. incognita at two weeks after emergence. At 60 days after emergence, destructive sampling ofplants was done to assess nematode indices: root galls, nematode population and reproduction factor.Results obtained show that growth and yield of cowpea was significantly(p<0.05) improved by Tithoniaand Chromolaena soil amendments effectively as the neem fertilizer. It also show that, M. incognitainfectivity (number of galls, nematode population, reproduction) were significantly(p<0.05) reduced byTithonia and Chromolaena soil amendments as the neem fertilizer. The findings of this study recommendthe residues of these common weeds for evaluation in organic composting with potential forplant parasitic nematode management combined with release of nutrient to plants as organic fertilizer.

SCREEN HOUSE AND FIELD INVESTIGATIONS OF Arbuscular mycorrhiza AND ORGANIC FERTILIZER FOR THE CONTROL OF THE ROOT – KNOT NEMATODE, Meloidogyne incognita INFECTING COWPEA IN SOUTH WESTERN, NIGERIA

This study was undertaken to determine the potential of individual and combined effects of Glomusmosseae, a mycorrhiza fungus and organic fertilizer for the management of Meloidogyne incognita, aroot knot nematode infection of cowpea (IT90K-277-2) under Screen house and field conditions. Thestandardised method of evaluating crop germplasm for resistance to M. incognita including crop yieldwas employed. M. incognita caused significant reduction in the yield components of the cowpea varietyboth in the screen house and under field conditions. Single and combined treatments of Glomusmosseae and organic fertilizer significantly increased the pod weight, grain yield and number of podsper plant of cowpea plants as compared to nematode infected plants. Single treatments of Glomusmosseae and organic fertilizer significantly suppressed root galling; inhibited nematode reproductionand nematode population both in the screen house and under field conditions. The mixture of G.mosseae and organic fertilizer as a treatment was more effective than individual treatments in suppressionof M. incognita. This study shows that G. mosseae has potential in the management of Rootknot nematodes of cowpea and should be exploited with organic fertilizer serving as a viable carrier inNigeria

Antioxidant Activity of Hydro-Ethanolic Extract of Blighia sapida Stem Bark in the Pancreas of Alloxan-Induced Diabetic Rats

Blighia sapida is a plant belonging to the family of sapindaceae. In this study we aimed at investigating the possible antioxidant activities of hydro-ethanolic extract of Blighia sapida stem bark in the pancreas of  alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Administration of the extract at 100mg/kg body weight significantly (P<0.05) increased the activities of antioxidant enzymes catalase, glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase in the pancreas of diabetic rats. Also the concentration of reduced glutathione increased in the pancreatic tissues of the diabetic rats while the levels of malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl generally decreased in the pancreas of alloxan-induced diabetic rats during the course of the experiment. These are indications of antioxidant properties of the stem bark of Blighia sapida with 100mg/kg body weight of the hydro-ethanolic extract showing good antioxidant activities by comparing favourably well with metformin, a standard antidiabetic drug. Keywords: Blighia sapida, diabetes mellitus, antioxidants, antioxidant enzymes DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/9-16-03 Publication date: August 31st 201

Impact of Ethno-Religious Violence on Housing Delivery in Nigeria

Nigeria is an agglomeration of different ethnic nationalities with multiplicity of religious inclination of which Christianity and Islam are the dominant. The high level of intra and inter-ethnic rivalry between ethnic nationalities and extreme religious intolerance has resulted in many catastrophic clashes. These clashes have unquantifiable debilitating effects on the equilibrium of housing supply and delivery. The paper through deductive approach from secondary data in literature review, and descriptive analysis, examined the various ethno-religious violence from post-independence Nigeria and their causes in other to establish the impact on the housing sector. Findings revealed that the importance of houses in the African set up is beyond mere shelter, but are sacred and generational assets worth bequeathing. This underscores the reason it becomes target for attacks during ethno-religious violence. Deductive inferences made indicated that the more the loss of lives, the more number of internally is placed persons, the more the severity of the violence on housing and number of displaced persons. The study concluded that conflict resolution strategies are most required for a sustainable urban housing growt

Effects of poultry manure and carbofuran soil amendments on soil nematode population and yield of pineapple

Two field experiments were conducted at the National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan and the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta to assess the efficacy of poultry manure and carbofuran in suppressing nematode populations and promoting pineapple yield. Three rates of poultry manure (0, 20 and 25 tonnes per hectare) and carbofuran (0, 3.0 kg a.i/ha and 3.4 kg a.i/ha) were applied to pineapple plants in a Randomized Complete Block Design replicated three times in each of the two locations. Soil samples were collected from the rhizosphere of plants at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 months after planting to monitor soil nematode populations. Plant growth data were obtained by measuring the length and breadth of ‘D’ leaves for five randomly selected plants per plot. Flowering was induced at the 18th month by spraying with 0.5 kg ethephon in 2000L of water/ha. Results showed that Poultry manure and carbofuran treatments significantly (P < 0.05) suppressed plant-parasitic nematode populations in both locations. At harvest, significantly bigger fruit sizes, higher fruiting percentage and number of fruits were recorded on both poultry manure- and carbofuran-treated plots. It was concluded that appropriate management of plant-parasitic nematodes will promote higher fruit yields in pineapple farms in Nigeria