Understanding standard for guinea pig production in Nigeria: A review

Guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) is a promising micro-livestock which though is indigenous to South America, is also well adapted to Nigerian ecosystem. The meat is nutritious, with a protein content of 21%, which is higher than that of poultry, pork, mutton or beef. About 65% of its meat is edible with a low fat content and low cholesterol, making it the ideal meat in an increasingly health-conscious population. The animal has a short gestation period of (58-72 days), low cost of production, matures early, easy to manage and requires relatively little capital to set up. Nigerians are among the least consumers of animal protein in Africa, consuming less than World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended 67 g per day. The commonly conventional livestock species reared cannot meet the protein deficiency because their multiplication rate is not commensurate with the rapid increase in human population. In Nigeria, if the challenges of availability of quality concentrate feeds, problem of numerous pests and diseases, problem of excessive heat and problem of obtaining fast growing species of pups can be overcome, then guinea pigs farming has the potential of bridging the present protein deficiency gap in Nigeri

Electrical Resistivity Survey on Two Waste Dumpsites at Nguru, Potiskum, Yobe State, Nigeria to Determine the Effect of Leachates on Ground Water Aquifer

The research intends to bring out the contribution of leachate on groundwater in two dumpsites in Nguru and Potiskum all in Yobe state, Nigeria. A total of seven (7) and eight (8) VES by Schlumberger electrode with the use of Wenner electrode configuration. The results were interpreted by the use of WinRESIST for VES and IPWIN2INV for ERT. The study pointed out that, the area in question is comprised of four layers of geoelectric such as the topsoil, clay, sand, sandy clay and sand. The range of the first resistivity layer was from 6.16 Ωm to 332 Ωm in the first geo-electric layer and its thickness range from 2.77 m to 37.7 m and a depth range of 2.77 m to 37.7 m. the range of the second resistivity layer was from 16.5 Ωm to 37.9 Ωm which has the range of its thickness from 4.1 m to 10.7 m. The range of the third resistivity layer was from 101.2 Ωm to 288.2 Ωm which has the range of its thickness from 38.9 m to 99.7 m, and the first aquifer in the area. The range of the first resistivity layer was from 100.7 Ωm to 214.3 Ωm which has the range of its thickness from 28.5 m to 94 m. The fifth layer which is the second aquifer and has resistivity from 254 Ωm to 350 Ωm with a very large thickness. The range of the first resistivity aquifer is from 101.2 Ωm to 288.2 Ωm and the range of the second resistivity aquifer is from 253.8 Ωm to 350.1 Ωm. The 2D ERT profiles unveiled areas with low resistant zones and later discussed as zones penetrated by contaminants originated from dumpsites whereas high resistant zones represent areas of low or non-conductive materials in the area. Data obtained from four dumpsites indicated that leachate of the waste dumpsites penetrated into aquifers and polluted the groundwater. The existence of contaminants in the water was noted by a decrease in the formation resistant values. It is seen, from the results of the survey (geophysical) that the water in the area is polluted and it accounts for the prevalence of any disease related to water that are common in the are

Occurrence of pathogenic bacteria associated with Clarias gariepinus in selected fish farms of Kumbotso local governement area of Kano state, Nigeria

With the diminishing rate of natural fish resources globally, a reasonable percentage of fish and fish products supply now comes from aquaculture. However, quality production is highly required for sustainable demand and supply. It is in view of the aforementioned that this study was designed to examine the quality status of Clarias gariepinus in relation to pathogenic bacteria in two fish farms in Kumbotso Local Government Area of Kano State, Nigeria. 66 Clarias gariepinus with bodyweight 17g - 215g were randomly sampled from July to December 2012 followed by the isolation and identification of different pathogenic bacteria from skin and gill. A total of 132 samples comprising skin (1cm2) and gill (1g) were subjected to microbiological assays in the laboratory following standard procedures. Nutrient Agar, MacConkey Agar, Eoisin Methylene blue, Salmonella Shigella Agar and Blood Agar were used for isolation and maintenance of cultures during the study. Lactose broth, Brilliant Green lactose bile broth (BGLB) was used for the estimation of Escherichia coli Most Probable Number per 1cm2 of skin and 1 gram of gill (MPN/ml and MPN/g). The highest mean of Aerobic Plate Count (APC) was 1.26 x 104 cfu/ml while the highest mean of Escherichia coli MPN/1cm2 was 8.75. Bacterial pathogens isolated and percentage occurrences in parenthesis were Escherichia coli (54.27 %); Stapholococcus aureus (22.48 %); Pseudomonas aeruginosa (10.85 %); Salmonella paratyphi (9.30 %) and Enterobacter aerogenes (3.10 %). There was no significant difference (χ2 = 3.42, P > 0.05) in bacteria isolates from the two fish farms. The result from this study indicated that the fishes were less contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, thus consumers are safe to eat fishes harvested from these farms since all the values are within the recommended limit of < 5 x 105 cfu/g for APC and, 11 for Escherichia coli MPN/ml by International Commission for Microbiological Specification for Food (ICMSF, 2007).Keywords: Fish farm, Clarias gariepinus, Microbiological assays, Pathogenic bacteria

The Emergence of Anisotropic Superconductivity in the Nodal-line Semi-metal TlTaSe2

TlTaSe2 is a non-centrosymmetric quasi-2D crystal semi-metal hosting nodal-line topological features protected by mirror-reflection symmetry. Here, we investigated the superconducting properties of TlTaSe2 using the first-principles anisotropic Migdal-Eliashberg theory. The Fermi surface hosts well gapped multiband features contributed by the Ta 5d and Tl 6p orbitals. Moreso, anisotropic superconducting gaps were found to exist at 2.15 and 4.5 meV around the in-plane orbitals, coupling effectively with the in-plane phonons of the Ta and Tl atoms. Using the Allen-Dynes-modified McMillan formula, we found a superconducting transition temperature of 6.67 K, accompanied by a robust electron-phonon coupling constant {\lambda} of 0.970. This investigation provides valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying anisotropic superconductivity in TlTaSe2.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure

Catalytic Transformations of Alkynes via Ruthenium Vinylidene and Allenylidene Intermediates

NOTICE: This is the peer reviewed version of the following book chapter: Varela J. A., González-Rodríguez C., Saá C. (2014). Catalytic Transformations of Alkynes via Ruthenium Vinylidene and Allenylidene Intermediates. In: Dixneuf P., Bruneau C. (eds) Ruthenium in Catalysis. Topics in Organometallic Chemistry, vol 48, pp. 237-287. Springer, Cham. [doi: 10.1007/3418_2014_81]. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Springer Verlag Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.Vinylidenes are high-energy tautomers of terminal alkynes and they can be stabilized by coordination with transition metals. The resulting metal-vinylidene species have interesting chemical properties that make their reactivity different to that of the free and metal π-coordinated alkynes: the carbon α to the metal is electrophilic whereas the β carbon is nucleophilic. Ruthenium is one of the most commonly used transition metals to stabilize vinylidenes and the resulting species can undergo a range of useful transformations. The most remarkable transformations are the regioselective anti-Markovnikov addition of different nucleophiles to catalytic ruthenium vinylidenes and the participation of the π system of catalytic ruthenium vinylidenes in pericyclic reactions. Ruthenium vinylidenes have also been employed as precatalysts in ring closing metathesis (RCM) or ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). Allenylidenes could be considered as divalent radicals derived from allenes. In a similar way to vinylidenes, allenylidenes can be stabilized by coordination with transition metals and again ruthenium is one of the most widely used metals. Metalallenylidene complexes can be easily obtained from terminal propargylic alcohols by dehydration of the initially formed metal-hydroxyvinylidenes, in which the reactivity of these metal complexes is based on the electrophilic nature of Cα and Cγ, while Cβ is nucleophilic. Catalytic processes based on nucleophilic additions and pericyclic reactions involving the π system of ruthenium allenylidenes afford interesting new structures with high selectivity and atom economy

Melissopalynological, physicochemical and antioxidant properties of honey from West Coast of Malaysia

Stingless bees are native to tropical region and produce honey which are high in moisture content. Compared to honey from honeybees, there are limited studies on honey derived from stingless bees. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate the chemical composition and antioxidant activities of stingless bee honey. Fifteen types of honey were collected from six states in West Coast of Malaysia and pollen analyses were carried out. Four types of unifloral honey samples produced by stingless bees were selected to determine their physicochemical and antioxidant activities including total phenolic, total flavonoid and ascorbic acid contents. Melissopalynological study of 15 honey samples collected from different states showed presence of both unifloral and multifloral origins. Honey samples collected from Apis mellifera (honeybee) combs had lower number of total pollen compared to samples collected from Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica (stingless bees). Jambul Merak honey contains the highest phenolic and flavonoid contents with greatest color intensity and has the highest antioxidant potential. This study highlights the chemical composition and biological activity of honey from stingless bees which may increase its commercial value or to be utilised as potential functional food ingredient

Evaluation of serum lipid profile and sensory properties of spent layers fed diets supplemented with curry, mint and pawpaw leaves powder

Serum lipid profile and sensory properties of spent layers fed diets supplemented with curry, mint and pawpaw leaves including the phytochemicals in the leaves were evaluated. Spent layers numbering 210 were randomly allocated to seven broiler finisher diet (BFD); containing no supplement, 2 kg pawpaw leaf powder (PLP), 2 kg curry leaf powder (CLP), 2 kg mint leaf powder (MLP), 1 kg CLP + 1 kg PLP, 1 kg MLP + 1 kg PLP and 1 kg CLP +1 kg MLP levels for T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6 and T7 respectively in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) technique. The study was based on one week adaptation period and forth night feeding exposure to the supplement compositions. Serum lipid profile and sensory properties of meat were evaluated. The results revealed that supplementation of 2 kg of CLP and MLP in BFD fed to spent layers significantly reduce serum lipid profile components as compared to control except HDL. Results also indicated that supplementation of 2 kg of MLP in the BFD fed to spent layers significantly enhanced meat aroma and supplementation of 2 kg PLP significantly enhanced tenderness as compared to the control. The study concluded that supplementation of 2 kg CLP, MLP and PLP respectively, enhanced the serum lipid profile quality and sensory properties quality. On these bases, CLP, MLP and PLP could be included in diet of spent layer to improve the meat and serum lipid profile qualities

An investigation into the potential hindering factors of implementing performance information procurement system in Nigeria

Notably in the construction industry, procurement is evidently important and cannot be played down because it constitutes every phase of a project delivery system. The low-bid system has remained the most popular procurement system globally. In Nigeria, it lacks transparency and accountability. Therefore, the Nigerian Procurement system has shown a need to be stabilised by shifting risk and control to the expert who has the duty to act in the client’s best interest by adopting “Best Value Performance Information Procurement System (BVPIPS)" in contractor selection. This paper aims at identifying factors that can hinder the implementation of this innovative procurement system and their relative influence. A total 314 questionnaires were distributed to 5 construction industry professionals in Nigeria they are: Architects, Quantity Surveyors, Civil Engineers, Builders and Services Engineers. The data collected were presented and analysed using: cross tabulation, exploratory factor analysis and mean score ranking using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 and Microsoft Excel respectively. Likert scaling was used to measure the level of agreement of the respondents. The paper found out that the social factor, political factor, procurement environment factors and the cultural factor in the construction industry ranked 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively and which factors have a very strong relative influence on hindering the implementation of BVPIPS in the Nigerian construction industry. The implication of this study is, to help construction practitioners, researchers, academics, industry players, and other stakeholders to look into the significant issues that can hinder the implementation of PIPS in Nigeria and make better the delivery of projects in the construction industry. Therefore, these factors identified should be considered and precautionary measures taken when implementing BVPIPS in the Nigerian construction industry so as to accommodate innovative approaches such as BVPIPS to improve project delivery in Nigeria

Determination of the yield of intercropped maize in Bauchi, Nigeria, using correlation and path coeffecient analysis

No Abstract. IJOTAFS Vol. 1 (2) 2007: pp. 110-11

Effect of maize-legume mixture and nitrogen rates on the n-uptake and fertilizer n-recovery by maize inercrop

No Abstract. IJOTAFS Vol. 1 (2) 2007: pp. 149-15