Effects of Aspilia Africana on Conception Rates of Rabbit Does

. The study was conducted to investigate the conception rates of rabbit does fed Aspilia africana as forage using thirty (30) dutch breed rabbit does of average age of 6 months in a completely randomized design. The rabbits in all the treatment groups were fed the same concentrate diet 18.0% crude protein (CP) and 2620 kcal/kg Metabolizable Energy (ME) throughout the study and mixed forages which consisted of Ipomea batatas leaves, Centrosemapubescens, Musa sapientum leaves, and Panicum maximumfrom the commencement of the experiment until parturition. Introduction of the experimental forages followed immediately after parturition and consisted of three treatments (T1, T2 and T3). The treatment consisted of T1: mixed forages (Ipomea batatas leaves, Centrosema pubescens, Musa sapientum leaves, Panicum maximum) without Aspilia africana (control), T2: fresh Aspilia africana and T3: wilted Aspilia africana. The results of the study revealed no significant differences in gestation length, receptivity and conception rates of the does in the various treatment groups before the introduction of the test plants (Aspilia africana). During the period of administration of the test plant, the treated groups; T2 and T3 had significantly lower mean values for receptivity (T2 and T3 = 1) compared to T1(3), conception rates for T2 and T3were 0% and T1was 100%. The gestation length for the control was 30.5 days while gestation was not recorded for T2 and T3 since they did not conceive at all. The ovarian weight of the control T1 (0.20 g) was significantly higher than T2 and T3 both of which recorded 0.13 g for their ovarian weights. The study showed that Aspilia africana has anti-fertility properties

The Simple Urine Bag as Wound Drain Post-Craniotomy in a Low-resource Neurosurgical Practice: A Personal 4-year Prospective Cohort Study

Background: In the face of the practical non-availability of custom-made surgical wound drain materials, many other substitutes are used in  developing countries. These substitutes have their draw backs from which the Uribag appears to be free. The main objectives: To present our experience with the use of this cheap and readily-available material as post craniotomy wound drain in a Nigerian neurosurgical unitMethods: A 4-year prospective cohort study of the effectiveness, outcome with use and complications of the Uribag as post craniotomy wound drain in a consecutive cohort of neurosurgical patients. Data analyzed include the patients’ brief demographics; the types of cranial surgery in which drain was used; the drain performance, and any associated untoward drain /wound events.Results: The drain was used for this purpose in 107 patients over 4 years. Nineteen have been excluded from this analysis because they died too soon post op for drain performance to be measured. The 88 patients analyzed included 60 males (68%); age range 11 days to 75 years.Cranial surgery was for trauma in 42% and for brain tumour resection and other cranial procedures in the rest. The drain output ranged from 40mls to 960mls and was in place for an average of 3 days. There was 1 episode (1.1%) of drain dislodgement; 3 of drain blockage (3.4%) and 5 cases (5.7%) of wound complication post drain removal. All wounds healed with primary intention otherwise.Conclusions: The Uribag is an effective, very cheap, and complication-free, closed tube wound drain substitute for cranial surgery.Keywords: postsurgical wound drain substitute, developing country, craniotomy, neurosurgery, Uriba

Flooding in Nigeria and Sustainable Land Development: Case of Delta State

Several Nigerian communities had in recent times experienced an upsurge of groundwater flooding with devastating effects. The demand for land for development had not been without attendant problems caused by the flood and neglect of building and other related laws. The work identified main factors that cause groundwater flood and their effects thereof. Questionnaires were designed and administered on respondents from the research area, while a relative severity index established. It was found from the analysis of combined responses using the weighted means method that property values are adversely affected by flood. And that flood activities hinder appreciable land development. This paper recommends among other things the enforcement of building and other laws aimed at reducing the incidence and effect of flood and the use of modern digital GIS devices in flood forecasting

Lime and Mango Juice as Coagulants for Soft Cheese Made from Fresh or Reconstituted Milk

In order to simplify the cheese-making process and find suitable alternatives to sodom apple as coagulant, cheese was prepared from fresh and reconstituted milk using lime and mango juice as coagulants. Treatments correspond to fresh milk coagulated with lime (FML), reconstituted milk coagulated with lime (RML), fresh milk coagulated with mango (FMM), reconstituted milk coagulated with mango (RMM). Chemical composition of cheese varied significantly across the treatments. Total solids was 49.9, 43.4, 49.6 and 42.1%; protein was 20.6, 18.1, 21.6 and18.9%; while fat content was 22.4, 19.7, 21.6 and 17.9% for FML, RML, FMM and RMM respectively. Protein and fat content of cheese made from fresh milk was higher than that from reconstituted milk. Mango-precipitated cheese had higher protein than lime-precipitated cheese while lime-precipitated cheese had higher fat content than mango-precipitated cheese. Cheese yield varied from 11- 16% with lime-precipitated cheese having higher yields than mango-precipitated cheese, and fresh milk yielding more cheese than reconstituted milk. Acceptability scores were 7.1, 7.1, 7.1 and 6.6 for FML, RML, FMM and RMM respectively on a scale of 1-9. Except for RMM which had a significantly lower score, there were no significant differences in acceptability for FML, RML and FMM. When compared with wara cheese purchased from the open market, lime and mango-precipitated cheese generally had better consumer acceptance than wara (acceptability score of 6.7).   These results show that lime and mango juice can serve as suitable alternatives to sodom apple juice as coagulants for fresh cheese. Reconstituted milk can also be used for making cheese where availability of fresh milk is limited. Keywords: fresh cheese, coagulants, lime, mango, mil

Financial Analysis of Small Scale Cattle Fattening Enterprise in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State, Nigeria

This study was conducted to determine the financial analysis of Small-Scale beef Cattle enterprise in Bama Local Government Area of Borno. Purposive method of sampling was use to select the two districts based on the prevalence of Cattle Fattening Enterprise. The second stage sampling involved random selection of 45 fatteners from a sampling frame of 450 sample frame. The data was collected through the use of structured questionnaire. The data collected include information on the output and the inputs used and their prices using the questionnaire method of data collection. The data collected were analysed using the Net farm income analysis, gross profit margin ratio, current ration and debt/asset ratio. The result of the Net farm income analysis showed ?208,310.00 per head of cattle fattened. The result of the gross profit margin ration revealed a ratio of 0.43:1, implying that for everyone naira invested in the fattening enterprise, 43 kobo will be realized. Similarly, the result of the current ration revealed a ratio of 172:1, implying that the current assets can more than pay for the current liabilities in the event of bankruptcy. And the debt/asset ratio indicates the ratio of 6032:1, implying high solvency. Therefore, the study revealed that the small-scale cattle fattening enterprise is profitable and viable venture. The main constrain militating against the smooth operation of the enterprises is the lack of access to formal credit facilities. This implies that the small fattening enterprises have no access to any formal credit institutions in the study area. Keywords: Financial analysis, profit ratio, cattle fattening enterprise

Profitability of Feeding Sun-Dried Poultry Dropping based Diets as Supplement to Goat

The profitability of feeding dried poultry droppings-based diet as a supplement in goat production enterprise was analyzed in this present study. The data generated in the study was analyzed using gross margin analysis and profitability ratio. The result of the budgetary analysis showed that the highest total cost of Rs 855.9/goat was incurred, the highest total revenue of Rs 1254.3/goat, highest gross margin of Rs 773.24/goat and highest net farm income of Rs 713.24/goat were observed for the supplemented treatment groups (T2-T5). The profitability ratio gave the best benefit-cost ratio of 4.62, a rate of return of 3.62, a gross ratio of 0.22 and an expense structure ratio of 0.12. This suggests that feeding of dried poultry droppings-based diet to goats is a profitable enterprise. This present study, therefore, recommends the supplementation of sun-dried poultry dropping based diet at 80% inclusion level for maximum profitability of goat production enterprises