A modified energy efficient multi-hop routing protocol in wireless sensor networks

Energy efficient routing protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is an important area of research due to energy limitations. It is therefore important to maximize the limited energy so as to increase the network lifetime of the WSN. In this paper, a modified energy efficient multi-hop routing protocol (mEEMRP) in a 200 m2 field is presented. This protocol is based on a technique that involves balancing load between communication management (CM) nodes during the multi-hop routing of aggregated data to the base station (BS), where the residual energy (RE) levels of CM nodes are considered as well as the distance between neighboring CM nodes. Simulation results showed that mEEMRP yielded a 1.77% improvement over energy efficient multi-hop routing protocol (EEMRP) in terms of network lifetime. More so, the proposed mEEMRP also improved the energy consumption and the number of packets received at the BS by 4.83% and 7.41%, respectively.Keywords: Routing protocol, Multi-hop routing, Network lifetime, mEEMRP, EEMR

The effect of plant growth regulators on callus initiation in wormwood (Artemisia annua L.)

Studies were carried out in the Biotechnology laboratory of Plant Science Department of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria to study the effect of some plant growth regulators on the in vitro initiation of callus using the leaves of Chiyong variety of Artemisia annua. The explants were sterilized and incubated on Murashige and Skoog basal media augmented with varying concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 3.0 μm/l of Giberellic acid (GA3), Benzyle amino purine (BAP), Naphthyle acetic acid (NAA),2,4-Dichlrophynoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), Indole butyricacid (IBA) and Kinetin (Kin). The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design with 2 replicates. Low BAP concentration of 0.5 μm/l and a high concentration of NAA of 3.0 μm/l as well as equal concentration of BAP of 1.0 μm/l and IBA of 1.0 μm/l had the least days (7days) to regeneration. For regeneration percent, equal low concentrations of BAP of 0.5 μm/l and NAA of 0.5 μm/l had the highest performance of 94%. However, no significant difference was observed between treatments with respect to vigor. Equal low concentrations of BAP (0.5 μm/l) and (0.5 μm/l) NAA and BAP(1.0 μm/l) combined with IBA(1.5 μm/l) had the highest height. Results of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) indicated significant difference among the treatments compared with the control (P<0.05). Therefore, combined BAP and NAA treatment is an efficient protocol for callus initiation and proliferation. A combination of GA3 and BAP is suitable for shoot initiation from callus using cultures of A. annua.Keywords: Artemisia annua, in vitro, Nodal cuttings, growth regulator

Antibacterial and phytochemical screening of Ziziphus jujuba (jujube/magarya) leaf extract in Kaduna Metropolis

Ziziphus jujuba from the family of Rhamnaceae is widely distributed in both tropical and subtropical countries. Different parts of the plant have been used traditionally for several biological purposes including fungal and antibacterial and antidiarrheal. This study was aimed to assess the antibacterial activity of Ziziphus jujuba leaf extract against bacteria isolated from vaginal swab. Preliminary phytochemical screening of the leaves extract of Ziziphus jujuba was carried out using standard analytical methods. The aqueous and ethanol extracts of Ziziphus jujuba leaf were screened for antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli isolated from vaginal swabs using agar well diffusion and broth dilution assay. The results of the phytochemical constituents revealed the presence of alkaloids, steroids, tannins, phenols, cardiac glycosides, and terpenes in the ethanol extract while alkaloids, steroids, tannins, cardiac glycosides, phenols, and saponins were present in the aqueous extract. The inhibitory zones of the ethanol extract against S. aureus ranged between 13.00- 15.00 mm while that of E. coli ranged between 7.00- 10.00 mm at 50 and 100 (mg/ml) respectively. The inhibitory zone of the aqueous extract against the clinical isolates of S. aureus ranged from 9.00- 11.00 and 6.00-8.00 (mm) for E. coli at 50 and 100 (mg/ml) respectively. However, S. aureus was more susceptible to the extract with an MIC of 100 mg/ml. The observed inhibitory activities of the leaf extract against the clinical isolates could be due to phytochemical constituents present in the plant extracts of Ziziphus jujuba

Phytochemical analysis and antibacterial activity of stem bark extracts of Detarium microcarpum against bacteria causing gastrointestinal tract infections in humans

Detarium microcarpum is used by different ethnic groups for treatment of various diseases in Nigeria and several parts of West African. The      phytochemical constituents of the stembark extract of D.microcarpum were analyzed using qualitative methods. The antibacterial activity of the stembark extracts against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were tested using the agar well diffusion method. The phytochemical investigation revealed that presence of tannins, saponin, steroids, flavonoids, glycosides, phenols and terpenoids. The plant extracts exhibited anti bacterial potential against the tested organisms at different concentrations 100 mg/mL , 50mg/mL 25 mg/mL and 12.5 mg/mL )), with S. aureus having the highest zone of inhibition of 21 mm at 100 mg/mL with ethanolic extract. Therefore, this study suggests that D. microcarpum stembark has phytochemical constituents. The antibacterial activity exhibited by the extracts could be as a result of the phytochemicals presents

Morphometric variations among three different populations of Cobia, Rachycentron canadum (Linnaeus 1766) in Peninsular Malaysia

Cobia Rachycentron canadum, is one of the emerging aquaculture species but is usually a non-target resource in fisheries industry and within Malaysia, their landings are among the highest worldwide. Identification of stocks with unique morphological characters is important for effective management and sustainable utilization. Morphometric variations among three different cobia populations from Kedah, Terengganu and Johor were studied. All the morphometric characteristics varied among the three populations as all the elements of the first Eigen vector were positive. Discriminant analysis suggested that head depth (HD) and maximum body depth, (MaxD) were the most varied among the populations. Cobia populations from Kedah and Johor were in a single cluster in the dendrogram with a 63.69% similarity while Terengganu was in another cluster with a similarity of 8.01% from Kedah and Johor. The differences in the observed morphometry may be resulted from different trophic activities and/or habitat productiveness explored by each of the populations

A game player expertise level classification system using electroencephalography (EEG)

The success and wider adaptability of smart phones has given a new dimension to the gaming industry. Due to the wide spectrum of video games, the success of a particular game depends on how efficiently it is able to capture the end users' attention. This leads to the need to analyse the cognitive aspects of the end user, that is the game player, during game play. A direct window to see how an end user responds to a stimuli is to look at their brain activity. In this study, electroencephalography (EEG) is used to record human brain activity during game play. A commercially available EEG headset is used for this purpose giving fourteen channels of recorded EEG brain activity. The aim is to classify a player as expert or novice using the brain activity as the player indulges in the game play. Three different machine learning classifiers have been used to train and test the system. Among the classifiers, naive Bayes has outperformed others with an accuracy of 88%, when data from all fourteen EEG channels are used. Furthermore, the activity observed on electrodes is statistically analysed and mapped for brain visualizations. The analysis has shown that out of the available fourteen channels, only four channels in the frontal and occipital brain regions show significant activity. Features of these four channels are then used, and the performance parameters of the four-channel classification are compared to the results of the fourteen-channel classification. It has been observed that support vector machine and the naive Bayes give good classification accuracy and processing time, well suited for real-time applications

Throughput Efficient AODV for Improving QoS Routing in Energy Aware Mobile Adhoc Network

Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs) is a type of wireless network that is made up of mobile nodes which coordinate themselves without the help of a central coordinator. The network topology changes as nodes are mobile. One of the major challenges of MANET is limited bandwidth which tends to mitigate the Quality of Service (QoS) of the network as users are not satisfied.  A variety of routing protocols has been employed aiming at improving the throughput of the network in order to meet user demands. This paper proposes the development of a throughput efficient Ad-hoc On demand Distance Vector (TE-AODV) routing protocol targeted towards improving the QoS of MANET by mitigating network overhead. In this work, all nodes are assumed to be transmitting while calculating their Instant Processing State (IPS) using the concept of knapsack problem. A threshold value for node IPS is set and any node below the set threshold value is not considered during data transmission. An improved Location Aided Routing (iLAR) is used for route search process which helped in reducing network overhead. Results from simulation showed that TE-AODV has improved the throughput of energy aware Ad-hoc On demand Distance Vector (E-AODV) routing protocol. TE-AODV improved the network throughput by 2.9% as a function of simulation time and 3.7% as a function of mobility of node over the E-AODV routing protocol

Incidence of organophosphate and carbamate poisoning in dogs within Maiduguri, North-eastern Nigeria

The persistent application of chemicals in pest control and agricultural processes possess a public health concern as their use are often associated with acute or chronic poisoning cases in both humans and animals. In veterinary medicine, pesticides such as organophosphates and carbamates are exclusively used in ectoparasitic control through pour on, tick bath and fumigation. The incidence of organophosphate or carbamate poisoning in dogs within Maiduguri, north-eastern Nigeria was assessed using three government approved and licensed veterinary centres. Data were obtained through the review of three years (2016-2018) retrospective cases of organophosphate/carbamate poisoning and administration of questionnaires to actively practising veterinarians. Investigation revealed that organophosphate/carbamate poisoning in dogs within Maiduguri metropolis constituted 37% of poisoning cases and was on the increase in recent years with 22.96% of the total cases reported in 2016, 34.08% in 2017 and 42.96% in 2018. The case was most prevalent at the peak of the rainy season around July and August. The common clinical signs observed include salivation, vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle spasms, severe weakness and paralysis. Management was usually supportive and symptomatic while antidotal therapy revolved on atropine sulphate only. The effect of ageing in organophosphate poisoning was neglected by most of the clinicians as more than 50% would administer atropine sulphate without considering the duration of the onset of poisoning. It was concluded that the incidence of organophosphate and carbamate poisoning in dogs in Maiduguri constituted 37% of all poisoning cases where 22.96% and 42.96% of it were reported in 2016 and 2018, respectively. Enlightenment programmes for the public and professionals are recommended on the increased cases of poisoning and proper use of antidote in the treatment of chemical toxicosis

Utilization of Palm Oil Mill Residue as Sustainable Pavement Materials: A Review

The advances in industrial technology have led to a major rise in the amount and forms of residue, especially during the processing of agricultural products. With the paradigm shift towards renewable energy and sustainability, there is much emphasis on biomass energy around the world which generates an immense volume of residues yearly. These residues are burgeoning issues because they are not effectively managed and utilized. Hence, one solution is utilizing them in the pavement industry. This article focuses on palm oil mill residues that are abundantly available and discarded in Malaysia. This study evaluates published works of literature relating to the utilization of these residues like the Palm Oil Fiber (POF), Palm Oil Fuel Ash (POFA), and Palm Oil Clinker (POC) and Palm Kernel Shell (PKS) in the pavement industry. The outcome of the review acknowledges the greater sustainability potential of these residues with affirmative and satisfactory performance via the result of numerous research work. Also, with a reduction in CO2-emission, low radioactivity, and heavy metal leaching level. Therefore, the review suggests more exploration and utilization of the residue in the pavement industry since it promotes safety and harness sustainability