Application of Radiometric Surveys to Delineate between Sedimentary Terrain and Basement Complex: A case study of Sagamu and Abeokuta, South Western Nigeria

NaI (TI) detector crystal coupled to a Canberra series 10 plus multichannel analyser (MCA) was used to analyse the soil samples collected from Sagamu (Sedimentary terrain) and Abeokuta (Basement complex) in South Western Nigeria. The use of the soil samples is to determine the activity concentrations due to radium, thorium and potassium so as to delineate between the two terrains using radiometric survey. From the result of the activity concentrations of these radionuclide, the mean value of the activity concentrations of 40k (72±48) in sedimentary terrain is higher than in 226Ra (35± 20) and 232Thorium (43 ±26) respectively. In the basement complex, the average value of the activity concentration of 40k (80 ±46) was also higher in 226Ra (44±18) and 232Thorium (53 ± 25) respectively. The relatively high value recorded 40k radionuclide may be attributed to the perceived variations in the environment resulting from past activities. The results shows that the activity concentration of the radionuclides is higher in basement complex than in sedimentary terrain thus, delineate between the two terrains since it is well know that in basement complex, granites contain high concentrations of uranium, thorium and potassium. Keywords: key words: Activity concentrations, Basement complex, Radiometric survey, Sedimentary terrain, Soil sample

Groundwater Concentration of Trace Elements In Gbede Area of Oyo State, Nigeria

The availability of good quality water is indispensable feature for preventing diseases and improving quality of life. The study area, Gbede is located between latitude 8˚17’37.7” and 8˚17’49.8’’ North and between Longitude 4˚20’45.9’’ and 4˚20’58.8 East on Old road from Ogbomoso to Ilorin. Water samples from eleven shallow well, one deep well and two boreholes were analyzed using the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer to access the suitability of water for human consumption and domestication purposes. The selected trace metals iron, manganese, lead, silicon and cadmium which may be toxic in excess when present in drinking water were determined. The results obtained for the trace metals concentrations range from iron (1.38-1.65mg/L) with an average of 1.52mg/L, manganese (0.6-1.46mg/L) having an average of 1.03mg/L, lead (0.3-1.8mg/L), 1.05mg/L on average, silicon (10-14mg/L) with 12mg/L on average, and cadmium (0.31-0.32mg/L) with 0.32mg/L average respectively. Iron and cadmium exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) Standard guideline for portable water usage. The result reflects high pollution of iron and cadmium which may be associated with lateritic rocks present in the study area. It is therefore recommended that for a safe and quality water, a treatment process must be introduced in the area

Evaluation of Aeromagnetic Data of Ilesha Area of Oyo State Nigeria using Analytical Signal (ASM) and Local wavenumber (LWN)

This paper presents the analysis and interpretation of an aeromagnetic data of Ilesha area, (Sheet 243) sourced from Nigeria Geological Survey Agency. The area is located between 7.5oN and 8.0oN of latitude and longitude 4.5oE to 5.0oE. Two methods: Analytic Signal Method (ASM) and Local wavenumber (LWN) were used. These methods were used to process and analyse the data so as to generate the depth to magnetic sources as well as the source locations. The results obtained showed a shallower depth range limit for ASM between 0.348 km and 1.28 km, which is less than the result of LWN within the range of 0.478 km-1.51 km. The results also revealed more source locations in ASM result in comparison with LWN. The overall results of the methods have revealed the prospect of the lithology of the area for magnetic mineral exploration in the field of applied geophysics.Keywords: Aeromagnetic survey, Analytic signal, Magnetic Anomaly, Local wave number, litholog

Effect of vitamin A and vitamin C supplementation on oxidative stress in HIV and HIV-TB co-infection at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Nigeria.

Background: HIV and TB infections are both associated with elevated oxidative stress parameters. Anti-oxidant supplementation may offer beneficial effects in positively modulating oxidative stress parameters in HIV and HIV-TB infected patients. We investigated the effects of vitamin A and C supplementation on oxidative stress in HIV infected and HIV-TB co-infected subjects. Methods: 40 HIV/TB co-infected and 50 HIV mono-infected patients were divided into 2 equal groups. Participants provided demographic information and blood was collected to determine oxidative stress parameters before and after vitamin A (5000 IU) and C (2600 mg) supplementation for 1 month. Results: There was a significantly (p < 0.05) higher level of Malondialdehyde (MDA) at baseline for HIV infected subjects compared with HIV-TB co-infected subjects. There was a significantly (p < 0.05) lower level of MDA and higher level of Catalase (CAT) in subjects administered supplementation compared to subjects without supplementation for the HIV infected group. There was a significantly lower level of Reduced Glutathione (GSH), Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) and higher level of MDA after one month of supplementation compared with baseline levels for HIV/TB co infected subjects. A similar result was also obtained for the HIV mono-infected groups which had a significantly lower level of SOD, MDA and CAT compared to the baseline. There was a significantly lower level of GSH and SOD, and higher level of MDA after supplementation compared with the baseline for HIV/TB co-infected subjects. Comparing the indices at baseline and post no-supplementation in HIV/TB co-infection showed no significant differences in the oxidative stress parameters Conclusion: HIV/TB co-infection and HIV mono-infection seems to diminish the capacity of the anti-oxidant system to control oxidative stress, however exogenous anti-oxidant supplementation appears not to have beneficial roles in positively modulating the associated oxidative stress

Phytochemical analysis of Ficus thonningii: A qualitative study

This study assessed the phytochemical contents of the aqueous, ethanol, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of the fruit, leaves, root, and stem of F. thonningii at selected concentrations. The contents of alkaloids, tannins, saponins, volatile oils, phenols and flavonoids were determined qualitatively in these extracts at selected concentrations. The results obtained showed that alkaloids are present in the leaves, roots and stem barks of Ficus thonningii. The volatile oil is found in the stem bark, root bark, and fruit (aqueous only) of the plant. Saponin is found to be concentrated in all the extracts of the plant. Phenol is found to be concentrated in the fruit of the plant. Its presence is also confirmed in the leaves (at few concentrations) and present in trace amount in the stem bark. Tannin is found in the fruit, root bark and leaves of Ficus thonningii.  Flavonoids are found in all the parts of Ficus thonningii. The variety of phytochemicals confirmed in the fruit, leaves, stem, and root barks of Ficus thonningii show that the plant is pharmacologically active

Economic gains from maize research in West and Central Africa: an overview

Agricultural research by national systems and international institutes has contributed to the increase in maize production and productivity in West and Central Africa (WCA) over the last three decades. This subregion accounted for about 43% of maize production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) from 1998-2000, compared with 17% 30 years ago (1968-1970). Yields improved by 41% from an average of 858 kg ha"' in 1970 to about 1210 kg ha"' in 2000. During the period under review, a large number of disease resistant varieties were released, methods for more effective control of pests and diseases were developed, and institutional capacity and capability of the NARS were greatly strengthened. One impact of maize research is the improvement in the standard of living of maize producers. Spillover effects of maize research include but are not limited to a better and greater use of improved technologies for the production of other crops and economic gains to the maize importers and consumers in WCA. There is evidence that the rate of increase in the real price of maize was not significant and was less than that of other food commodities

Assessment and Analysis of Precambrian Basement Soil Deposits Using Grain Size Distribution

The article presents the grain size distribution of soil samples from the Precambrian basement within the purview of the textural properties, deduced transportation history and the numerical assessments using statistical parameters. The fourteen soil samples collected from the study area were subjected to sieve analysis in the laboratory for the determination of their grain size distribution. The statistical parameters’ study includes the graphic mean, skewness, sorting and kurtosis. The result of the analysis of the soil samples ranged from coarse to fine-grained samples, moderately and poorly sorted, positively and negatively skewed and the kurtosis also shows leptokurtic as the most dominant which suggests the samples poorly distributed and moderately sorted at the centre of the grain size distribution. These results also suggest the geological environment of the soil samples could be responsible for the poorly and moderately sorted exhibited by the samples deposited in the location

Economic evaluation of systems intercropping food crops with leguminous cover crops in the derived savanna of Nigeria

Simultaneous intercropping is a crop-management strategy that is applied by the majority of small-scale farmers in the derived savanna of West Africa. Developing improved systems that are close to farmers' practices is likely to lead toadoption. This paper report economic results from a 2year on-station evaluation of four systems (sole maize, maize + Mucuna, maize + Pueraria, and maize + Pueraria + Mucuna in the first year, each rotated with maize + cassava in the second year) in which food crops were simultaneously planted with leguminous cover crops with and without fertilizer at Ibadan, Nigeria. Systems with Pueraria and those with Pueraria/Mucuna were more profitable than the others and seemed to be promising technologies for simultaneous intercropping of food crops and cover crops for the derived savanna of West Africa. However, these systems were associated with variability in t5he economic returns that need to be taken into consideration when targeting improved systems to farmers. Improved systems that integrate leguminous cover crops with fertilizer application were technically and economically superior to those without fertilizer. This is an indication that combining cover crops with inorganic fertilizer is an efficient strategy to address the issue of low productivity in West African agriculture